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Bankwell Financial Group Executive Compensation (FY25)

BWFG · Executive and director compensation, fiscal 2024 to 2025
Data as of September 7, 2026Latest filing (8-K): May 20, 2026
119 figures on this page: 112 cited to the filing that reported them, 7 calculated from figures it prints. See the citations
Total compensation for Christopher Gruseke, Chief Executive Officer, came to $1,336,526 in fiscal 2025, and compared with the $1,003,069 reported for fiscal 2024, Gruseke's total was 33.2% higher. Meanwhile, the say-on-pay proposal drew 96.7% of votes cast for or against in favor at the meeting held May 20, 2026 for fiscal 2025. Separately, companies named in the disclosed peer group include ACNB Corporation, Arrow Financial Corporation, Bar Harbor Bankshares, BCB Bancorp, Inc. and Capital Bancorp, Inc., among others. The company reported 3 named executive officers for fiscal 2025.
Chief executive, fiscal 2025
◇
Christopher Gruseke
Latest say-on-pay support
=
May 20, 2026
What changed from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2025
The figures that moved, and by how much. Analysis of these figures is part of the Velarion platform.
Chief executive total compensation — Christopher Gruseke: $1,003,069 → $1,336,526 (33.2% higher)

Frequently asked questions

Answers drawn from the data on this page.
Who is Bankwell Financial Group's chief executive and what were they paid?
Total compensation for Christopher Gruseke, Chief Executive Officer, came to $1,336,526 in fiscal 2025. Compared with the $1,003,069 reported for fiscal 2024, Gruseke's total was 33.2% higher.
What was Bankwell Financial Group's say-on-pay result?
The say-on-pay proposal drew 96.7% of votes cast for or against in favor at the meeting held May 20, 2026 for fiscal 2025.
Which companies are in Bankwell Financial Group's peer group?
Companies named in the disclosed peer group include ACNB Corporation, Arrow Financial Corporation, Bar Harbor Bankshares, BCB Bancorp, Inc. and Capital Bancorp, Inc., among others.

Executive compensation

Every element reported for each named executive officer, by fiscal year.
Fiscal 2024
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Christopher Gruseke
Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇———◇◇
Matthew McNeill
President and Chief Banking Officer
◇◇◇———◇◇
Christine Chivily
Executive Vice President & Chief Credit Officer
◇◇◇———◇◇
Fiscal 2025
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Christopher Gruseke
Chief Executive Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Matthew McNeill
President and Chief Banking Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Ryan Hildebrand
Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero. A negative change in pension value is shown but, as the company reports it, not included in the total.

Equity awards granted

Individual awards as disclosed: type, date, unit counts at each level, and grant date value.
Fiscal 2025
OfficerAwardGrant dateThreshold unitsTarget unitsUnits grantedMaximum unitsExercise priceGrant date fair value
Christopher R. GrusekePSU◇—◇———◇
Matthew McNeillPSU◇—◇———◇
Ryan J. HildebrandPSU◇—◇———◇
Fiscal 2023, 2024 are included in the PDF.
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero. Threshold, target and maximum apply only to performance awards and are never shown for time-based or option awards.

Outstanding awards

Awards still held at fiscal year end.
As disclosed at fiscal 2025 year end
OfficerAwardUnvested unitsMarket value of unvested unitsExercise priceExpires
Matthew McNeillRSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
Christopher GrusekeRSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
PSU◇◇——
Ryan HildebrandPSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Director compensation

What each non-employee director was paid.
Fiscal 2025
DirectorFees earned in cashStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Blake S. Drexler
Board chair
◇◇————◇
Eric J. Dale
◇◇————◇
Todd H. Lampert
◇◇————◇
Anahaita N. Kotval
◇◇————◇
Darryl M. Demos
◇◇————◇
Lawrence B. Seidman
◇◇————◇
Carl M. Porto
◇◇————◇
Jeffrey R. Dunne
◇◇————◇
Kevin D. Leitao
◇◇————◇
Christopher R. Gruseke served on the board in fiscal 2025 and received no compensation for board service. Executive directors are typically paid through their executive roles, shown above.
Earlier years are included in the PDF.
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Disclosed peer group

The companies this board named as its compensation comparison group. The list is disclosure; the comparison is analysis.
Fiscal 2025
  • ACNB Corporation ACNB
  • Arrow Financial Corporation AROW
  • Bar Harbor Bankshares BHB
  • BCB Bancorp, Inc. BCBP
  • Capital Bancorp, Inc. CBNK
  • Chemung Financial Corporation CHMG
  • Citizens & Northern Corporation CZNC
  • Citizens Financial Corporation CFG
  • Fidelity D&D Bancorp, Inc. FDBC
  • First Bank symbol not shown
  • Hanover Bancorp HNVR
  • Hingham Institution for Savings HIFS
  • LINKBancorp LNKB
  • Meridian Corporation MRBK
  • Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. MCB
  • Mid Penn Bancorp MPB
  • NB Bancorp NBBK
  • Orange County Bancorp OBT
  • Orrstown Financial Services, Inc. ORRF
  • Peoples Financial Services Corp. PFIS
  • Princeton Bancorp Inc. BPRN
  • Shore Bankshare symbol not shown
  • The First Bancorp, Inc. FNLC
  • Unity Bancorp, Inc. UNTY
  • Western New England Bancorp, Inc. WNEB

Say-on-pay history

Shareholder support for the compensation program, by year.
YearMeetingSupportVotes forVotes againstAbstentions
2025May 20, 2026=◇◇◇
2024May 21, 2025=◇◇◇
2023May 29, 2024=◇◇◇
2022May 31, 2023=◇◇◇
2021May 25, 2022=◇◇◇
2020May 26, 2021=◇◇◇
2019August 12, 2020=◇◇◇
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What this page does not include

Everything above is a fact Bankwell Financial Group disclosed, and it is free. Everything below is our analysis of those facts, and it is not.
Peer benchmarking
Where Bankwell Financial Group sits against its disclosed peers — percentile position by role and by pay element, and the ranking behind it. The disclosed peer group is free; comparisons across it are part of the Velarion platform.
Executive Compensation Report — $1,500
Written compensation analysis
A read of the pay program as designed and as paid: incentive structure, goal rigor, the alignment between the committee's stated philosophy and what the numbers show.
Executive Compensation Report — $1,500
Board and governance analysis
Committee composition, independence, director pay positioning, and the governance provisions read together rather than listed.
Board Governance Report — $1,200
Realizable pay
What the awards above are actually worth today against what they were valued at on grant, and what the gap says about the pay-for-performance link.
Velarion Intelligence
Adviser switching and vote outcomes
Two datasets covering compensation-adviser changes and what followed a contested vote. Both are part of the Velarion platform.
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Citations

Every figure on this page is cited to the document that reported it. Select any figure to see its citation.
119 figures on this page: 112 cited to the filing that reported them, 7 calculated from figures it prints.
112 cited to the filing
7 calculated from the filing

Documents cited

  1. 0001505732-26-000079
  2. 0001505732-26-000064
    EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION PROGRAM · INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS · Outstanding Equity Awards at 2025 · Summary Compensation Table
  3. 0001505732-25-000094
  4. 0001505732-25-000079
    Summary Compensation Table
  5. 0001505732-24-000104
  6. 0001505732-23-000168
  7. 0001505732-22-000132
  8. 0001505732-21-000137
  9. 0001505732-20-000094
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Velarion, “Bankwell Financial Group executive compensation, FY2024–FY2025.” https://intel.velarion.ai/comp/BWFG (accessed 2026).
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Banking rankings

Chief executive pay — BankingCEO pay ratio — BankingSay-on-pay support — Banking

Peers Bankwell Financial Group discloses

The companies named in BWFG's own disclosed peer group.

ACNB CorporationArrow Financial CorporationBar Harbor BanksharesBCB Bancorp, Inc.Capital Bancorp, Inc.Chemung Financial CorporationCitizens & Northern CorporationCitizens Financial CorporationFidelity D&D Bancorp, Inc.Hanover BancorpHingham Institution for SavingsLINKBancorpMetropolitan Bank Holding Corp.Mid Penn BancorpNB BancorpOrange County BancorpOrrstown Financial Services, Inc.Peoples Financial Services Corp.Princeton Bancorp Inc.The First Bancorp, Inc.Unity Bancorp, Inc.Western New England Bancorp, Inc.

Terms on this page

Say-on-Pay VoteCEO Pay RatioMedian Employee CompensationAll companies
Cite this data
APA
Velarion Company Intelligence. (2026). Velarion database: executive and board compensation data (Version 2026Q3) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22283854
BibTeX
@misc{velarionData2026,
  author = {{Velarion Company Intelligence}},
  title = {Velarion database: executive and board compensation data},
  year = {2026},
  version = {2026Q3},
  doi = {10.5281/zenodo.22283854},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22283854}
}
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