Use tables efficiently

Before

Share Ownership Guidelines

Named Executive Officers are required to meet and maintain the following share ownership target:

  • Total shareholdings, meaning common shares/equivalents plus all exercisable and unexercisable options and SSARs.

The target is expressed as a percentage of total shares outstanding at December 31, 2010, and was derived from a study of senior executives’ share ownership within our competitive peer group. The table below shows the ownership targets. The following table shows each Named Executive Officer’s actual share ownership as of December 31, 2010.

Total Shares/Equivalents as percentage
of Shares Outstanding
Chief Executive Officer 0.07%
Other Named Executive Officers 0.03%
Name Total Shareholdings as Percentage
of Shares Outstanding – Actual
John Smith 0.12%
Sally Jones 0.04%
Fred White 0.01%
Margaret Brown 0.18%
George Black 0.06%

 

Before, with commentary

Share Ownership Guidelines

Named Executive Officers are required to meet and maintain the following share ownership target:

  • Total shareholdings, meaning common shares/equivalents plus all exercisable and unexercisable options and SSARs. [It looks odd to have a single bullet—-kind of like an outline with a (1) but no (2).]

The target is expressed as a percentage of total shares outstanding at December 31, 2010, and was derived from a study of senior executives’ share ownership within our competitive peer group. The table below shows the ownership targets. The following table [This could look like a mistake, since “the following table” is often used to indicate “the table below.” I eliminate the second table in my version, but if I had wanted to keep it, I would have said something like “the table immediately following that” or “the second table.”] shows each Named Executive Officer’s actual share ownership as of December 31, 2010.

Total Shares/Equivalents as percentage
of Shares Outstanding
Chief Executive Officer 0.07%
Other Named Executive Officers 0.03%

[The header should indicate that these are the targets (just like the header in the second table indicates that the numbers reflect actual holdings).]

Name Total Shareholdings as Percentage
of Shares Outstanding – Actual
John Smith 0.12%
Sally Jones 0.04%
Fred White 0.01%
Margaret Brown 0.18%
George Black 0.06%

 

[This company is using two tables when one would consume less space and be easier to understand. Right now I need to match up holdings from one table with a target from another. Those numbers could easily be placed next to each other in a three column table. In addition, if I have forgotten who the CEO is, I need to flip pages to find that name so I will know which individual has the higher ownership target.]

After

Share Ownership Guidelines

Named Executive Officers are required to meet and maintain a share ownership target for “total shareholdings,” which means common shares/equivalents plus all exercisable and unexercisable options and SSARs.

The target is expressed as a percentage of total shares outstanding at December 31, 2010, and was derived from a study of share ownership among senior executives in our competitive peer group. The table below shows the ownership targets and the actual share ownership for each Named Executive Officer as of December 31, 2010.

Executive Target – total
shares/equivalents as a
percentage of shares
outstanding
Actual – total
shares/equivalents as a
percentage of shares
outstanding
John Smith 0.07% 0.12%
Sally Jones 0.03% 0.04%
Fred White 0.03% 0.01%
Margaret Brown 0.03% 0.18%
George Black 0.03% 0.06%