Slowing revenue growth and negative shareholder returns resulted nearly flat compensation for CEOs in 2015, according to the Korn Ferry Hay Group 2015 CEO Compensation Study. CEOs received the lowest pay increase in five years. In addition, also for the first time in five years, shareholders experienced a negative return.

Overall, total direct compensation for the 300 CEOs at the largest firms last year to file their proxy between May 1, 2015, and April 30, 2016, increased 2.7% to $11.7 million, slower than the 5.0% median growth rate in the previous year. Median annual compensation for CEOs was flat at $3.5 million, including base salary growth of 2.3% to $1.3 million and annual incentive payments remaining at $2.3 million. Long-term incentives increased for the fifth consecutive year, rising 5.1% to a median value of $8.4 million.

2015 median CEO compensation increases and values:

• Base salary: up 2.3% to $1.25 million
• Annual incentive: no change at $2.30 million
• Total annual: no change at $3.47 million
• Long-term incentives: up 5.1% to $8.35 million
• Total direct: up 2.7% to $11.70 million

“When companies were seeing double digit returns, boards and shareholders were much more likely to approve higher CEO compensation packages,” said Irv Becker, North America leader for Korn Ferry Hay Group’s executive pay and governance practice. “But with today’s uncertain market and slower growth rates, compensation committees and shareholders will put CEO pay under a much more intense spotlight.”

Performance-based long-term incentives reached their highest level ever in this year’s study, accounting for 33% of CEO pay packages in 2015, which overall is up from 25% in 2011. Bonuses were the second-heaviest weighted component of pay, making up 21% of the median CEO’s total direct compensation.

“Based on the current environment, we continue to see a shift to performance-based and long-term compensation packages for US CEOs,” Becker said. “With this being the lowest total shareholder return since the beginning of the ‘say on pay’ era and active shareholders pushing for more performance-linked pay, it’s no surprise that we continue to see the use of more performance-based equity awards in our study this year, a trend that we expect to continue.”

The 2015 study was conducted by the Hay Group division of Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) and examined all forms of pay for CEOs at 300 companies with revenue in excess of $9.2 billion in fiscal year 2015.