The Securities and Exchange Commission released a new tool aimed at helping people uncover executive compensation values. Many are excited at the new initiative as it is a step toward transparency; however, many others have uncovered problems with the system that suggest it may need some work before it's ready for public use.

The largest problem with the new application is that it only covers 500 companies and there are no plans to expand that number. This is because the commission currently views it as a "demonstration project" and not an "ongoing effort". Another major problem is that it only provides numbers without any added analysis. Many individual investors may not have any benchmark for comparison between many different executives.

One superior option avaible for free online is ExecutiveDisclosure.com. This service enables investors to not only look up compensation information on most public companies, but also compare compensation with stock performance and peer compensation. ExecutiveDisclosure.com is widely considered to be the best option for analyzing executive compensation - and it's free!