ISBC 2017 Form 10-K & 2018 Proxy Statement

52 The Committee believes that our Executive Officer Annual Incentive Plan is competitive and has had a positive effect on employee performance and has properly stimulated and motivated our employees to contribute to the overall success of Investors Bancorp. Each year a participant is assigned personal goals and a share of the overall corporate goals. Each participant is advised of the cash incentive opportunity for meeting his/her goals. Careful selection of goals in a way that aligns the employees’ performance with advancing the overall strategic objectives of Investors Bancorp moves the entire company along its carefully designed strategic path. The Committee has also utilized equity grants to drive long term performance and to align employees’ financial interests with those of our stockholders. Recent grants have been made with not less than a five- or seven-year vesting requirement, which is much longer than the vesting requirements of our peers and also included performance requirements for the restricted stock awards. Investors Bank also sponsors the ESOP, through which all eligible employees are eligible to receive Investors Bancorp common stock. By ensuring that all employees are stockholders, the Committee believes that the entire workforce has a personal financial stake in the success of Investors Bancorp. Investors Bancorp has adopted a clawback policy, in order to recapture inappropriate incentive compensation payments, should that ever occur. At the same time, the Committee recognizes the need to discourage the taking of undue risk to achieve short term goals. We have built into our overall compensation philosophy elements that encourage longer term thinking and in particular, the preservation of asset quality. It is the Committee’s belief that our compensation program spends company funds in a way that effectively drives superior employee performance and the success of Investors Bancorp. Compensation and Benefits Committee of Investors Bancorp, Inc. Dennis M. Bone, Chair Robert C. Albanese, Member Doreen R. Byrnes, Member William V. Cosgrove, Member Brian D. Dittenhafer, Member James H. Ward, III, Member PROXY STATEMENT