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Hancock Whitney Executive Compensation (FY25)

HWC · Executive and director compensation, fiscal 2023 to 2025
Data as of September 7, 2026Latest filing (8-K): April 30, 2026
271 figures on this page: 261 cited to the filing that reported them, 10 calculated from figures it prints. See the citations
John Hairston, President and CEO, received $6,334,741 in total compensation for fiscal 2025, and Hairston's total moved 9.8% higher from the $5,769,326 reported for fiscal 2024. The company reported a chief executive pay ratio of 87:1 for fiscal 2025, against median employee compensation of $71,697. For fiscal 2025, shareholders backed the say-on-pay proposal with 98.9% of votes cast for or against in favor at the meeting held April 29, 2026. The disclosed peer group includes Associated Banc-Corp, BankUnited Inc., BOK Financial Corp., Cadence Bank and Columbia Banking System Inc., among others.
Chief executive, fiscal 2025
◇
John Hairston
Latest say-on-pay support
=
April 29, 2026
Chief executive pay ratio
◇
To the median employee
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 — John Hairston: $5,769,326 → $6,334,741 (9.8% higher)
Say-on-pay support: 97.3% → 98.9% (1.6 points higher)
CEO pay ratio: 76:1 → 87:1 (14.5% higher)

Frequently asked questions

Answers drawn from the data on this page.
Who is Hancock Whitney's chief executive and what were they paid?
John Hairston, President and CEO, received $6,334,741 in total compensation for fiscal 2025. Hairston's total moved 9.8% higher from the $5,769,326 reported for fiscal 2024.
What was Hancock Whitney's say-on-pay result?
For fiscal 2025, shareholders backed the say-on-pay proposal with 98.9% of votes cast for or against in favor at the meeting held April 29, 2026.
Which companies are in Hancock Whitney's peer group?
The disclosed peer group includes Associated Banc-Corp, BankUnited Inc., BOK Financial Corp., Cadence Bank and Columbia Banking System Inc., among others.
What is Hancock Whitney's chief executive pay ratio?
The company reported a chief executive pay ratio of 87:1 for fiscal 2025, against median employee compensation of $71,697.

Executive compensation

Every element reported for each named executive officer, by fiscal year.
Fiscal 2023
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
John Hairston
President and CEO
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
D. Loper
Chief Operating Officer
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Michael Achary
Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Fiscal 2024
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
John Hairston
President and CEO
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
D. Shane Loper
Chief Operating Officer
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Michael Achary
Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Christopher Ziluca
Chief Credit Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michael Otero
Chief Risk Officer
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Fiscal 2025
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
John Hairston
President and CEO
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
D. Loper
Chief Operating Officer
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Michael Achary
Chief Financial Officer
◇—◇—◇◇◇◇
Christopher Ziluca
Chief Credit Officer
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Michael Otero
Chief Risk 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 S. ZilucaPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Christopher S. ZilucaRSU◇——◇——◇
D. Shane LoperPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
D. Shane LoperRSU◇——◇——◇
John M. HairstonRSU◇——◇——◇
John M. HairstonPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Michael M. AcharyRSU◇——◇——◇
Michael M. AcharyPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Michael OteroPSU◇◇◇—◇—◇
Michael OteroRSU◇——◇——◇
Fiscal 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
Michael AcharyRSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
John HairstonRSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Michael OteroRSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Christopher ZilucaRSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
D. LoperRSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
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
Jerry L. Levens
Board chair
◇◇————◇
Christine L. Pickering
◇◇————◇
Randall W. Hanna
◇◇————◇
Frank E. Bertucci
◇◇————◇
Constantine S. Liollio
◇◇————◇
Thomas H. Olinde
◇◇————◇
Moses H. Feagin Sr
◇◇————◇
Sonya C. Little
◇◇————◇
Suzette K. Kent
◇◇————◇
Sonia A. Pérez
◇◇————◇
C. Richard Wilkins
◇◇————◇
H. Merritt Lane
◇◇————◇
Joan C. Teofilo
◇◇————◇
Albert J. Williams
◇◇————◇
Hardy B. Fowler
◇—————◇
John M. Hairston 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.

Director fee schedule

The standing retainers and premiums the board pays, as published.
Board cash retainer◇
Board equity retainer◇
Total board retainer◇
Board chair premium◇
Audit committee chair◇
Audit committee member◇
Compensation committee chair◇
Compensation committee member◇
Nominating and governance chair◇
Nominating and governance member◇
Equity is delivered as Restricted Stock.
Stock ownership guideline: 5x annual cash retainer ($275,000)

Disclosed peer group

The companies this board named as its compensation comparison group. The list is disclosure; the comparison is analysis.
Fiscal 2025
  • Associated Banc-Corp ASB
  • BankUnited Inc. BKU
  • BOK Financial Corp. BOKF
  • Cadence Bank CADE
  • Columbia Banking System Inc. COLB
  • Comerica Inc. CMA
  • Commerce Bancshares Inc. CBSH
  • Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. CFR
  • F.N.B. Corp. FNB
  • First Interstate BancSystem FIBK
  • Fulton Financial Corp. FULT
  • Glacier Bancorp Inc. GBCI
  • Old National Bancorp ONB
  • Pinnacle Financial Partners PNFP
  • Prosperity Bancshares Inc. PB
  • Simmons First National Corp. SFNC
  • SouthState Corp. SSB
  • Synovus Financial Corp. SNV
  • Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. TCBI
  • UMB Financial Corp. UMBF
  • United Bankshares Inc. UBSI
  • United Community Banks Inc. UCB
  • Valley National Bancorp VLY
  • Wintrust Financial Corp. WTFC

Say-on-pay history

Shareholder support for the compensation program, by year.
YearMeetingSupportVotes forVotes againstAbstentions
2025April 29, 2026=◇◇◇
2024April 23, 2025=◇◇◇
2023April 24, 2024=◇◇◇
2022April 26, 2023=◇◇◇
2021April 27, 2022=◇◇◇
2020April 21, 2021=◇◇◇
2019April 29, 2020=◇◇◇
2018April 24, 2019=◇◇◇
2017May 24, 2018=◇◇◇
2016April 26, 2017=◇◇◇

Chief executive pay ratio

As calculated and reported by the company.
Ratio
◇
Median employee compensation
◇
Chief executive total compensation
◇
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What this page does not include

Everything above is a fact Hancock Whitney disclosed, and it is free. Everything below is our analysis of those facts, and it is not.
Peer benchmarking
Where Hancock Whitney 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.
271 figures on this page: 261 cited to the filing that reported them, 10 calculated from figures it prints.
261 cited to the filing
10 calculated from the filing

Documents cited

  1. 0001193125-26-197105
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  2. 0001193125-26-109512
    CEO Pay Ratio · Director Compensation · Director Compensation Program · Grants of Plan-Based Awards · and 2 more sections
  3. 0000950170-25-058042
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  4. 0000950170-25-036849
    Summary Compensation Table
  5. 0000950170-24-048689
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  6. 0000950170-24-029681
    Summary Compensation Table
  7. 0000950170-23-015502
  8. 0000950170-22-006527
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  9. 0001564590-21-020105
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  10. 0001193125-20-130947
    Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
  11. 0001564590-19-013038
  12. 0000750577-18-000028
  13. 0000750577-17-000017
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This page is free to cite. Attribution we ask for:
Velarion, “Hancock Whitney executive compensation, FY2023–FY2025.” https://intel.velarion.ai/comp/HWC (accessed 2026).
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Banking rankings

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

Peers Hancock Whitney discloses

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

Associated Banc-CorpBankUnited Inc.BOK Financial Corp.Columbia Banking System Inc.Comerica Inc.Commerce Bancshares Inc.Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc.F.N.B. Corp.First Interstate BancSystemFulton Financial Corp.Glacier Bancorp Inc.Old National BancorpPinnacle Financial PartnersProsperity Bancshares Inc.Simmons First National Corp.SouthState Corp.Synovus Financial Corp.Texas Capital Bancshares Inc.UMB Financial Corp.United Bankshares Inc.United Community Banks Inc.Valley National BancorpWintrust Financial Corp.

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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