The Wall Street Journal released a report questioning whether or not it pays to tell investors extra compensation details. The articles argues that these moves aimed at eliminating investor complaints may backfire by generating increased suspicion over pay packages. Case in point: El Paso. The company offered investors a one-page profile for each of its top officers, featuring a photo, biography, equity grants, and pay highlights. However, the company is still facing criticism from investors who complain that the profile leaves out total compensation while the profiles are "more prominantly placed than they should be". Still, other companies are exceeding the requirements by disclosing specific performance targets for executive bonuses and grants, which is a strategy yet to come under fire from activist investors.

So, are these new executive disclosure rules helpful for the average investor? While they may appear much more helpful on the surface, they tend to hide a multitude of other problems just below. Between negative total pay disclosures, stock option reporting rules, and the variety of presentation formats, the disclosures can be difficult for the average investor to decipher. Ultimately, most investors are simply looking for specific performance targets and accurate total compensation amounts - perhaps the SEC will eventually amend its disclosure rules to make these two variables more apparent than they are now.