Jill Hurley
SYNOVUS FINANCIALAbout Jill Hurley
Jill K. Hurley is Synovus’ Chief Accounting Officer (elected August 2018) and Corporate Controller (since January 2020), and a certified public accountant with prior experience at IberiaBank and Regions Bank as well as 10 years in public accounting . As of the 2024 proxy, she was 44 and in her sixth year as CAO and fourth year as Controller . Executive incentive design at Synovus links pay to multi-year performance via ROATCE (as adjusted) and relative TSR, with the 2021–2023 PSU cycle paying 134% of target on results of 17.8% weighted-average ROATCE and 59th percentile TSR .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Synovus Financial Corp. | Chief Accounting Officer | Aug 2018–present | Lead corporate accounting, control environment, external reporting |
| Synovus Financial Corp. | Corporate Controller | Jan 2020–present | Consolidation, technical accounting, reporting oversight |
| IberiaBank Corporation | Director of Financial Reporting & Accounting Policy | 2015–2018 | Directed SEC reporting and policy standard-setting |
| Regions Bank | Business Unit Controller | 2012–2015 | Finance leadership over business unit accounting and controls |
| Public Accounting | CPA | ~10 years (pre-2012) | Assurance and technical accounting foundation |
External Roles
No public company board memberships or external directorships disclosed in reviewed filings .
Fixed Compensation
Synovus’ detailed compensation tables cover named executive officers (CEO/CFO and other NEOs); individual base salary, target/actual bonus, and award values for the Chief Accounting Officer were not disclosed in the proxies reviewed. Company constructs include annual base salary setting and short-term cash incentives, with 2023 NEO outcomes driven by adjusted EPS, adjusted ROAA, and corporate/personal objectives .
Performance Compensation
Company incentive architecture that applies to executive officers; Jill Hurley’s individual awards are not separately reported in proxies.
- Short-term incentives (2023): Measures and weights shown below; payouts for NEOs were 85–95% of target for 2023 based on results between threshold and target for EPS/ROAA and above-target corporate/personal performance .
- Long-term incentives: PSUs (60% of ongoing annual award value) and RSUs (40%), with PSU payouts 0–150% based on weighted adjusted ROATCE and relative TSR over three years; RSUs vest one-third per year over three years .
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjusted EPS (Annual Incentive, 2023) | 50% | Threshold/Target not publicly quantified | Between threshold and target | Component contributes to 85–95% overall payout for NEOs | Annual cash, paid within 2.5 months post-year end |
| Adjusted ROAA (Annual Incentive, 2023) | 25% | Threshold/Target not publicly quantified | Between threshold and target | Component contributes to 85–95% overall payout for NEOs | Annual cash |
| Corporate & Personal Objectives (Annual Incentive, 2023) | 25% | Qualitative scorecard | Above target | Component contributes to 85–95% overall payout for NEOs | Annual cash |
| PSUs – Relative TSR (2021–2023) | Part of PSU formula | 50th percentile = 100% | 59th percentile | 119% | 100% vest after 3 years; service vesting applies |
| PSUs – Weighted Avg ROATCE (as adjusted, 2021–2023) | Part of PSU formula | 11.8% target | 17.8% (weighted) | 150% | 100% vest after 3 years; service vesting applies |
| PSUs – Overall Payout (2021–2023) | — | — | — | 134% of target | 100% vest after 3 years |
| RSUs (Time-based) | 40% of LTI | — | — | — | Vest 33⅓% per year over 3 years |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Policy/Guideline | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stock Ownership Guidelines | CEO 6× salary; all other executive officers 3× salary | 2022 update raised CEO multiple to 6×; retention of 75% of net shares until guideline achieved . 2023 proxy reiterates 6× CEO and 3× others; compliance noted for NEOs as of Jan 1, 2023 . |
| CEO “Hold Until Retirement” | Retain 50% of net shares until retirement after hitting guideline | Applies to CEO; further alignment device. |
| Clawbacks | Mandatory (restatements) and Discretionary (material risk or inaccuracies) | Administered by Compensation & Human Capital Committee. |
| Anti-Hedging | Prohibits hedging/derivatives for directors/executive officers | Applies to executives and certain insiders. |
| Anti-Pledging | Pledging of Synovus stock prohibited | Reduces collateral-driven selling risk. |
Insider transactions: Programmatic Form 4 data retrieval failed due to data access restrictions (401). No transaction-level analysis can be provided from the tool in this session; approach would assess sales (S), awards (A), and tax withholding (F) patterns and post-transaction holdings to infer selling pressure and retention if data access is restored (insider-trades skill guidance) [ReadFile('/public/skills/insider-trades/SKILL.md')].
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Election dates | Chief Accounting Officer (Aug 2018); Controller/Corporate Controller (Jan 2020) |
| Employment agreements | Synovus discloses limited employment contracts overall; specific individual employment agreement for Jill Hurley not disclosed in reviewed filings . |
| Change-of-control / severance | Company-wide practice includes “double-trigger” provisions and accelerated vesting language in executive agreements (examples disclosed for CEO/CFO; CAO-specific terms not disclosed) . |
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance architecture is robust: multi-year PSUs tied to ROATCE and relative TSR with demonstrated above-target payouts for 2021–2023; RSUs time-vested ensure retention. This structure suggests incentives that align accounting leadership with shareholder returns and capital efficiency .
- Alignment risk appears contained by policy: 3× salary ownership guideline for executive officers, anti-hedging/anti-pledging, and dual clawback regimes reduce misalignment and forced selling risks from collateralized positions .
- Visibility on individual CAO compensation and holdings is limited: absence of CAO-specific proxy tables constrains direct assessment of base salary/bonus, award sizing, and beneficial ownership; a Form 4 review (once accessible) is necessary to quantify vesting-related selling pressure and post-transaction ownership levels [ReadFile('/public/skills/insider-trades/SKILL.md')].
- Governance and retention: Long-run vesting schedules, retention requirements until ownership guidelines are met, and company practice of limited individual employment contracts suggest balanced retention incentives for non-NEO executive officers; no Jill Hurley-specific severance or change-of-control economics are disclosed .