William D. O’Brien

About William D. O’Brien

William D. O’Brien, age 59, is Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Officer (CRO) and Corporate Secretary of Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. (PBHC). He has been with Pathfinder Bank since 1999, appointed CRO and Corporate Secretary in January 2020, overseeing Enterprise Risk Management, Compliance, BSA/AML, Physical Security, Fraud, and Information Security . Company performance indicators show net income of $12.9M in 2022, $9.3M in 2023, and $3.4M in 2024, while the company’s total shareholder return (TSR) value of a $100 investment moved from 152.3 in 2021 to 172.8 in 2022, 129.4 in 2023, and 108.7 in 2024 .

Past Roles

External Roles

No external board or public-company roles for O’Brien were disclosed in PBHC proxies .

Fixed Compensation

Performance Compensation

Short-term cash incentive framework (company-wide program applies to executives; individual weights/targets for O’Brien are not disclosed):

Long-term equity incentives (awards outstanding for O’Brien):

Program-wide guardrails and features:

• Anti-hedging and anti-pledging: directors and NEOs prohibited from hedging or pledging PBHC stock; no margin accounts .
• Equity plan clawbacks and no option repricing: 2024 Equity Incentive Plan includes clawback triggers and prohibits option repricing; director equity grant cap $20,000/year .
• RSUs: In Jan 2025, 125,000 RSUs were granted to senior executive officers vesting 25% annually starting Jan 31, 2026; specific individual allocations not disclosed .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

Alignment and pledging:

• None of the shares beneficially owned by directors and executive officers, including O’Brien, have been pledged as collateral .
• Company policy prohibits pledging and hedging by directors and NEOs .

Outstanding option portfolio and near-term expirations:

• 16,555 options expire in 2026 (10,81 and 11,35 strikes), potentially creating exercise timing considerations; remaining 1,500 options expire in 2030 .

Employment Terms

• No individual employment agreement or change-in-control agreement is disclosed for William D. O’Brien in 2023–2025 proxies. Company-wide practices include double-trigger vesting for service-based awards upon involuntary termination following a change in control and pro-rata treatment for performance awards; clawbacks apply to cash bonuses and equity .

Related party transactions (mortgage program per SOX and insider lending rules; no preferential terms beyond employee program):

Performance & Track Record

Company performance (Net Income and TSR):

Notes:

• O’Brien’s tenure as CRO began in 2020; performance tables reflect company-wide outcomes rather than individual attribution .

Compensation benchmarking and pay practices:

• 2023 compensation consultant (Blanchard) benchmarked executive pay; program emphasizes competitive base pay, at-risk cash incentives tied to performance, and equity alignment; no tax gross-ups in change-in-control agreements; bonus clawback policy in place .

Say-on-Pay and shareholder feedback:

• Last Say-on-Pay prior to 2024: approved by 96.2% of voting shareholders (2021 cycle) .

Compensation Peer Group (Program Context)

Peer group used by Blanchard for benchmarking (examples): Chemung Financial (CHMG), Greene County Bancorp (GCBC), Orange County Bancorp (OBT), Evans Bancorp (EVBN), Norwood Financial (NWFL), ESSA Bancorp (ESSA), FNCB Bancorp (FNCB), Franklin Financial (FRAF), CB Financial Services (CBFV), First Keystone (FKYS), LINKBANCORP (LNKB), etc. .

Equity Plan and Vesting Policy Highlights

• 2024 Equity Incentive Plan authorized up to 300,000 shares across options, restricted stock, RSUs; minimum 95% of awards vest no earlier than one year after grant; no option repricing; director annual equity cap $20,000; death/disability acceleration (service awards), pro-rata for performance awards; double-trigger vesting on change in control .

Risk Indicators & Red Flags

• Hedging/Pledging: Prohibited for directors and NEOs; none pledged by executives (reduces misalignment risk) .
• Option Repricing: Explicitly prohibited (shareholder-friendly governance) .
• Related Party Loans: Employee mortgage program at slightly below-market rates permitted for all employees; O’Brien participated within policy (no preferential treatment beyond program) .
• Executive Coverage: No disclosed individual CIC agreement for O’Brien (may reduce parachute risk, but also reduce retention protection during transactions) .

Investment Implications

• Alignment: O’Brien holds 34,409 shares and 18,055 fully exercisable options with none pledged, and is subject to strict anti-hedging/pledging rules—indicative of solid alignment with shareholders .
• Selling/Exercise Pressure: 2016 options expiring in 2026 (total 16,555) create near-term exercise timing considerations; 2030 options (1,500) extend runway .
• Pay-for-Performance: Cash bonus ($39.9k for 2024) tied to company-wide financial metrics under a stated clawback policy; absence of disclosed individual metric weights/targets limits transparency but program design aligns pay to outcomes .
• Retention Risk: No specific employment or CIC agreement disclosed for O’Brien—combined with modest 2024 base salary ($210k), retention relies on equity participation and internal succession planning rather than contractual protection .
• Company Trend Context: TSR and net income have trended lower since 2022; executive incentives remain structured with clawbacks and equity alignment—investors should monitor whether 2025 RSU grants to senior executives (allocations not disclosed) enhance retention and long-term focus .

Overall: O’Brien’s risk and compliance leadership, equity exposure, and non-pledging stance support alignment. The 2026 option expiry is the primary technical overhang for insider exercise timing. Lack of a disclosed CIC agreement may modestly elevate retention risk in a strategic transaction, offset by culture and equity programs.

Citations:  
- Roles, age, tenure, responsibilities: **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:36]** **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:36]** **[1609065_0000950170-23-015035_pbhc2023_def_14a.htm:34]**  
- Compensation (salary, bonus, other comp): **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:17]** **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:18]**  
- Bonus clawback and pay practices: **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:15]** **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:16]** **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:16]**  
- Options outstanding and terms: **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:21]**  
- Ownership & %: **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:7]** **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:8]**  
- Anti-hedging/pledging: **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:10]** **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:11]**  
- TSR & Net Income: **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:24]** **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:23]**  
- Equity plan features: **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:37]** **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:38]** **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:39]** **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:41]**  
- Say-on-Pay: **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:44]**  
- Peer group: **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:18]**  
- Related party mortgage program entries: **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:9]** **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:10]**  
- CIC agreements (others) and plan features: **[1609065_0000950170-24-046248_pbhc-2024-def_14a.htm:20]** **[1609065_0000950170-25-057234_pbhc-20250423.htm:19]**