Mark J. Augenstein
About Mark J. Augenstein
Mark J. Augenstein is Executive Vice President, Operations of Peoples Bancorp Inc. and Peoples Bank, roles he has held since October 2020; he has been employed by Peoples Bank since September 2001 . He is 51 years old as of the 2025 proxy filing . Company-level performance context: in 2024, corporate scorecard results were Pre-Tax/Pre-Provision EPS $5.03, Efficiency Ratio 57.93%, Pre-Tax/Pre-Provision ROAA 1.95%, and Net Charge-Offs 0.37% of average loans (with absolute minimum “circuit breaker” thresholds met) ; over the three-year period ended 2023, Peoples’ CEO realizable pay ranked at the 56th percentile while TSR ranked at the 82nd percentile versus peer group, indicating alignment between pay and shareholder returns .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peoples Bancorp Inc. / Peoples Bank | Executive Vice President, Operations | Oct 2020 – present | Not disclosed |
| Peoples Bank | Senior Vice President, Operations | Jul 2012 – Sep 2020 | Not disclosed |
| Peoples Bank | Vice President, Operations | May 2007 – Jun 2012 | Not disclosed |
External Roles
None disclosed in company filings reviewed .
Fixed Compensation
- Peoples’ executive pay program comprises base salary, annual cash incentives, and long-term equity-based incentives, plus benefits and perquisites; base salary levels target market median for comparable roles, with adjustments based on contribution and objectives .
- Specific base salary and bonus amounts for Mr. Augenstein are not disclosed in the Summary Compensation Tables, which list only named executive officers (NEOs) .
Performance Compensation
- Annual and long-term incentives are determined by corporate scorecard metrics (pre-tax/pre-provision ROAA, efficiency ratio, pre-tax/pre-provision diluted EPS, net charge-offs as % of average loans) plus individual goals; a “circuit breaker” requires minimum corporate performance to pay any incentives .
| Corporate Metric | Threshold | Target | Maximum | 2024 Actual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Tax/Pre-Provision ROAA | 1.63% | 2.04% | 2.45% | 1.95% |
| Efficiency Ratio | 59.04% | 57.32% | 55.60% | 57.93% |
| Pre-Tax/Pre-Provision Diluted EPS | $4.14 | $5.17 | $6.20 | $5.03 |
| Net Charge-Offs / Avg Total Loans | 0.30% | 0.20% | 0.15% | 0.37% |
- Cash incentive payout potentials as a % of base salary: for “Other Executive Officers,” Threshold 10%, Target 40%, Maximum 60% (EVP Operations is an executive officer; specific category assignment is not named) .
- Long-term equity incentives are awarded as restricted common shares from a pool sized by corporate results; awards require threshold performance and absolute minimum levels, and distribution considers contributions to strategic plan .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Beneficial ownership table lists current directors and NEOs individually as of Feb 24, 2025; Mr. Augenstein is not included among those named NEOs, so his individual share count is not disclosed in that table .
- Alignment policies: NEOs must hold at least 50% of vested restricted shares (net of tax withholding) while employed ; directors, officers, and employees are prohibited from holding Peoples securities in margin accounts or pledging them as collateral, and are prohibited from hedging/short sales/publicly-traded options .
- Insider trading pre-clearance is required for NEOs, and a clawback policy applies to executive incentive compensation .
Employment Terms
- No employment agreements were entered into with NEOs in the 2024 proxy; specific employment contract terms for Mr. Augenstein are not disclosed .
- Change-in-control agreements and severance multiples are disclosed for certain NEOs (e.g., Wilcox at 2.99x; Bailey, Donlon, Kirkham, Wyatt at 2.00x), with double-trigger requirement, continued benefits, and 12–15 month non-compete; Mr. Augenstein’s CIC status is not disclosed .
- Annual risk assessment of compensation programs is conducted; committee oversight and controls are designed to avoid excessive risk-taking .
Say-on-Pay & Shareholder Feedback
- Say-on-pay proposals have been approved by a significant majority at each of the last 16 annual meetings (as of 2025) .
- In 2022, the advisory vote on 2021 compensation received 96% approval of common shares voted, including abstentions .
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- Hedging and pledging of company stock are prohibited for directors, officers, and employees .
- Double-trigger CIC required; clawback policy in place; annual risk review of incentive programs .
- Filings state none of the executive officers are or have been involved in legal proceedings requiring disclosure in the 2024 proxy .
Investment Implications
- Retention: Long tenure since 2001 as an operations leader suggests institutional knowledge; no disclosed personal CIC/severance terms or individual equity holdings reduce visibility into personal retention economics .
- Alignment: Program-level safeguards—performance-based equity vesting, holding requirements on vested shares, clawbacks, and prohibition of pledging/hedging—support alignment and mitigate insider selling pressure .
- Performance linkage: Incentive design focuses on pre-tax/pre-provision profitability, efficiency, and credit quality—key levers for bank valuation—providing clear metrics to assess pay-for-performance outcomes each year .
- Governance signal: Consistently strong say-on-pay support and TSR outperformance vs peers (82nd percentile over 3 years to 2023) indicate investor comfort with compensation structures and execution, though individual executive-level holdings/disclosures for Mr. Augenstein remain limited .