EX-10.32 15 pgr-20171231exhibit1032.htm EXHIBIT 10.32
Exhibit 10.32
RESTRICTED STOCK UNIT AWARD AGREEMENT
(2012 Performance-Based Award – Investment Results)
This Agreement (“Agreement”) is made this <Grant Date> by and between< Participant Name> (“Participant”) and The Progressive Corporation (the “Company”).
1. Definitions. Unless otherwise defined in this Agreement, each capitalized term in this Agreement shall have the meaning given to it in The Progressive Corporation 2010 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (collectively, the “Plan”). References herein to performance results of the Company mean the applicable results achieved by the Subsidiaries and Affiliate of the Company.
2. Award of Restricted Stock Units. The Company grants to Participant an award (the “Award”) of performance-based restricted stock units (“Restricted Stock Units” or “Units”), pursuant and subject to the Plan. The Award is based on an initial award value of <# of Units> Units (the “Initial Award Value”). The number of Restricted Stock Units that are ultimately earned pursuant to the Award (if any) will be determined based on the Initial Award Value and the procedures and calculations set forth in this Agreement. The maximum potential Award is a number of Units equal to two (2) times the Initial Award Value (the “Maximum Award Value”).
3. Condition to Participant’s Rights under this Agreement. This Agreement shall not become effective, and Participant shall have no rights with respect to the Award or any Restricted Stock Units, unless and until Participant has fully executed this Agreement and delivered it to the Company. In the Company’s sole discretion, such execution and delivery may be accomplished through electronic means.
4. Restrictions; Vesting. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan and this Agreement, Participant’s rights in and to Restricted Stock Units shall vest, if at all, as follows:
I. Investment Performance Criteria. Provided that at the Company’s 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, the Company’s shareholders approve the Fourth Amendment to the Plan, the following shall control the vesting of Units under this Agreement:
a. Evaluation Period. The “Evaluation Period” shall be the three-year period comprised of the calendar years 2012, 2013 and 2014.
b. Certification. The Award shall vest (if at all) only if, to the extent, and when the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors (the “Committee”) certifies:
i. the Performance Ranking of, and Performance Factor for, the Company’s Fixed-Income Portfolio (as each of those terms are defined in Subparagraph c. below); and
ii. the corresponding number of Restricted Stock Units (if any) that have vested as a result of such performance.
If the Committee certifies the vesting of a number of Units that is less than the Maximum Award Value, then with respect to all other Units that could have been earned under this Agreement, the Award will terminate and be forfeited automatically.

c. N umber of Units Vesting. The number of Restricted Stock Units (if any) that vest in connection with the Award will be determined by application of the following formula:
Number of Units Vesting = Initial Award Value x Performance Factor
i. The Performance Factor will be determined after the expiration of the Evaluation Period based on the fully taxable equivalent total return of the Company’s fixed-income investment portfolio (the “Fixed-Income Portfolio” or “Portfolio”), in comparison to the total returns of the group of comparable investment firms identified by Rogers Casey (the “Investment Benchmark”), each calculated for the three calendar years comprising the Evaluation Period. After the end of the Evaluation Period, Rogers Casey will determine the firms that are included in the Investment Benchmark in accordance with the criteria specified on Exhibit I hereto. Rogers Casey will also supply to the Company the monthly total return data for each of the Investment Benchmark firms for the three-year period ending on the last day of the Evaluation Period.
Investment results for the Fixed-Income Portfolio will be marked to market, including the benefit of any state premium tax abatements for municipal securities held in the Portfolio that are realized by the Company during the Evaluation Period, in order to calculate the Portfolio’s fully taxable equivalent total return, compounded on a monthly basis, for the Evaluation Period. The investment performance achieved by the Fixed-Income Portfolio for the Evaluation Period will then be compared against the total returns of the firms included in the Investment Benchmark for the same period, also compounded on a monthly basis, as determined by the Company from the monthly performance data supplied by Rogers Casey for each firm in the Investment Benchmark, to determine where the Fixed-Income Portfolio’s performance falls on a percentile basis when compared to the firms in the Investment Benchmark, as further described in Exhibit II hereto (“Performance Ranking”).
The Portfolio’s Performance Ranking will be used to determine a performance score of between 0.00 and 2.00 for the Evaluation Period, based on the following schedule:

Score = 0.00 Rank at or below |  | Score = 1.00 Rank equal to |  |  | Score = 2.00 Rank at or above |
25th Percentile |  | 50th Percentile |  |  | 75th Percentile |

A Performance Ranking between the values identified in the schedule will be interpolated on a straight-line basis to generate the Performance Factor, as further described on Exhibit II.
ii. The Company will work with Rogers Casey to ensure, to the extent practicable, that the list of firms comprising the Investment Benchmark and all data necessary to calculate the Performance Ranking and the Performance Factor are received by March 1st of the year immediately following the Evaluation Period. In all events, distributions under this Agreement must be

made on or before March 15th of the year immediately following the Evaluation Period.
iii. In the event that Rogers Casey (or its successors or assigns) ceases to provide or publish the information required to calculate the Performance Factor, or modifies the information in such a way as to render the comparisons required by this Agreement to be not meaningful, in the Committee’s sole judgment, the determinations required above shall be made using such comparable Company and other investment data as may be available from another recognized provider of investment industry data as the Committee may approve in its sole discretion.
II. Alternative Performance Criteria. If the Company’s shareholders do not approve the Fourth Amendment to the Plan at the 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, the following shall control the vesting of Units under this Agreement:
a. Growth Evaluation Period. The “Growth Evaluation Period” shall be the three-year period comprised of the years 2012, 2013 and 2014.
b. Certification. The Award shall vest (if at all) only if, to the extent, and when the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors (the “Committee”) certifies:
i. the extent to which the Company’s performance results have satisfied the performance criteria set forth in both Subparagraphs c. and d. below; and
ii. the corresponding number of Restricted Stock Units (if any) that have vested as a result of such performance.
Such certification shall occur as soon as practicable after the end of the Growth Evaluation Period, but in any event must occur (if at all) on or before January 31, 2017 (the “Expiration Date”). If the Committee certifies the vesting of a number of Units that is less than the Maximum Award Value, the Award will terminate and be forfeited automatically with respect to all other Units that could have been earned under this Agreement.
c. Profitability Requirement. The Award shall not vest unless the Company has achieved a combined ratio of 96 or less, determined in accordance with GAAP, for the twelve (12) consecutive fiscal months immediately preceding the date of the certification described in Subparagraph b. above (the “Profitability Requirement”).
d. Number of Units Vesting. Provided that the Profitability Requirement has been satisfied, the number of Restricted Stock Units (if any) that vest in connection with the Award will be determined as follows:
i. The Company’s compounded annual rate of growth in “Written Premiums” (defined below) for the Growth Evaluation Period for the Company’s Private Passenger Auto and Commercial Auto businesses (“Company Growth Rate”) will be compared to the compounded annual rate of growth of the Private Passenger Auto and Commercial Auto markets as a whole for the Growth

Evaluation Period (“Market Growth Rate”), in each case determined as provided below. If the Company Growth Rate exceeds the Market Growth Rate, the applicable calculation required by the following table will determine the number of Restricted Stock Units vesting:

Performance vs. Market |  | Determination of the Number of Units Vesting
If the Company Growth Rate exceeds the Market Growth Rate by 3 percentage points or more |  | Initial Award Value x 2.00 (i.e., the Maximum Award Value)
If the Company Growth Rate exceeds the Market Growth Rate by more than 2 but less than 3 percentage points |  | Initial Award Value x (1.00 + (Company Growth Rate – Market Growth Rate – 2.00)) Example: Company Growth Rate = 2.50%; Market Growth Rate = 0.10%; Number of Units vesting will equal Initial Award Value x (1.00 + (2.50 - 0.10 - 2.00)) = Initial Award Value x 1.40
If the Company Growth Rate exceeds the Market Growth Rate by exactly 2 percentage points |  | Initial Award Value
If the Company Growth Rate exceeds the Market Growth Rate by less than 2 percentage points |  | Initial Award Value x ((Company Growth Rate – Market Growth Rate) / 2.00) Example: Company Growth Rate = 2.50%; Market Growth Rate = 1.10%; Number of Units vesting will equal Initial Award Value x ((2.50 – 1.10) / 2.00) = Initial Award Value x 0.70

ii. If the Company Growth Rate is equal to or less than the Market Growth Rate, or if the Profitability Requirement has not been satisfied with respect to the Award prior to the Expiration Date, none of the Award shall vest, and the Award shall be forfeited in its entirety.
iii. For purposes of these determinations:
A. Subject to the provisions of Subparagraphs B., C. and D. below:
1. “Written Premiums” shall mean premiums written directly during the applicable time period for the specified types of business, without taking into account reinsurance;
2. The Company Growth Rate will be the compounded annual rate of growth in Written Premiums during the Growth Evaluation Period, determined by comparing (a) the annual aggregate Written Premiums of the Company in its Private Passenger Auto and Commercial Auto businesses for 2014, as reported by A.M. Best in its annual report currently known as the “A2 Report,” with (b) such Written Premiums of the Company for 2011 as reported in A.M. Best’s A2 Report; and

3. The Market Growth Rate will be the compounded annual rate of growth in Written Premiums during the Growth Evaluation Period, determined by comparing (a) the aggregate Written Premiums of the U.S. Private Passenger Auto market and the Commercial Auto market for 2014, as reported in A.M. Best’s A2 Report, with (b) such Written Premiums for 2011 as reported in A.M. Best’s A2 Report, but excluding (in each case) the applicable Written Premiums of the Company;
B. If 2014 is a 53-week year under the Company’s fiscal calendar, then in determining the Company Growth Rate as set forth in Subparagraph A. above, the aggregate Written Premiums for such year will be reduced by an amount equal to twenty percent (20%) of the Written Premiums of the Company in fiscal December 2014 in its Private Passenger Auto and Commercial Auto businesses, as determined from the Company’s records;
C. In making the calculations required under this Agreement, the Company Growth Rate and the Market Growth Rate shall each be rounded to the nearest thousandth of a whole percentage point and (if applicable) the number of Restricted Stock Units vesting shall be rounded to the nearest thousandth of a whole Unit (or, in each case, as otherwise reasonably determined by the Company); and
D. In the event that A.M. Best ceases to publish the A2 Report, or modifies the A2 Report in such a way as to render the comparisons required by this Agreement to be not meaningful, in the Committee’s sole judgment, the determinations required above shall be made using such comparable Company and industrywide data as may be then available from A.M. Best in any successor or replacement report or publication, or such comparable data as may be available from another nationally recognized provider of insurance industry data, in each case as the Committee may approve in its sole discretion.
III. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, at or prior to the time of vesting, the Committee, in its sole discretion, may reduce the number of Restricted Stock Units that otherwise would vest according to this Agreement, or eliminate the Award in full. The Committee, in its sole discretion, may treat individual participants differently for these purposes. Any such determination by the Committee shall be final and binding on the Participant. Under no circumstances shall the Committee have discretion to increase the award to any Participant in excess of the number of Units that would have been awarded at vesting based on this Paragraph 4 (excluding adjustments required by Section 3(c) of the Plan).
IV. The Award shall vest in accordance with and subject to the foregoing except to the extent that, prior to the Committee’s certification of the Award, the Award has been forfeited under the terms and conditions of the Plan.
5. Dividend Equivalents. Subject to this Paragraph 5, Participant shall be credited with Dividend Equivalents with respect to the outstanding Award prior to the applicable vesting date. All Dividend Equivalents so credited will be deemed to be reinvested in Restricted Stock Units on the date

that the applicable dividend or distribution is made to the Company’s shareholders, based on the Initial Award Value and any Units resulting from prior reinvestments of Dividend Equivalents, in the number of Units determined by dividing the value of the Dividend Equivalents by the Fair Market Value of the Company’s Stock on such date (rounded to the nearest thousandth of a whole Unit or as otherwise reasonably determined by the Company); provided, however, that if Dividend Equivalents cannot be reinvested in Units due to the operation of Section 3(a) of the Plan, such Dividend Equivalents will be credited to Participant as a cash value based on the Initial Award Value and any Units resulting from prior reinvestments of Dividend Equivalents, which cash value shall be held by the Company (without interest) subject to this Agreement. The Units and, if applicable, cash value resulting from the reinvestment of such Dividend Equivalents shall be subject to the same terms and conditions, and shall vest or be forfeited (if applicable) at the same time, upon the same conditions, and in the same proportion, as the Initial Award Value set forth in this Award.
6. Units Non-Transferable. No Restricted Stock Units (and no Dividend Equivalents credited hereunder) shall be transferable by Participant other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and then only in accordance with the Plan. In the event any Award is transferred or assigned pursuant to a court order, such transfer or assignment shall be without liability to the Company, and the Company shall have the right to offset against such Award any expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by the Company in connection with such transfer or assignment.
7. Deferral of Award. If Participant is eligible, and has made the appropriate election, to defer the Award into The Progressive Corporation Executive Deferred Compensation Plan (the “Deferral Plan”), at the time of vesting, the Restricted Stock Units that would otherwise vest under this Agreement shall be considered to be deferred pursuant to the Deferral Plan, subject to and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Deferral Plan and any related deferral agreement.
8. Termination of Employment. Except as otherwise provided in the Plan or in this Paragraph 8, or as determined by the Committee, if Participant’s employment with the Company is terminated for any reason other than death or Qualified Retirement, the Award and all Restricted Stock Units held by Participant that are unvested or subject to restriction at the time of such termination shall be forfeited automatically.
a. If the vesting of Units hereunder is determined under Subparagraph 4.I. (Investment Performance Criteria) hereof, in the event that any such termination of employment occurs, for any reason other than death or for Cause, after the end of the Evaluation Period but prior to the Committee’s certification of results for the Evaluation Period, the Award shall not be forfeited at the time of Participant’s termination, and Participant shall be eligible to participate in the vesting of Restricted Stock Units under this Agreement only to the extent certified by the Committee, subject to the provisions of the Plan; and
b. If the vesting of Units hereunder is determined under Subparagraph 4.II. (Alternative Performance Criteria) hereof, in the event that any such termination of employment occurs, for any reason other than death or for Cause, after the end of the Growth Evaluation Period but prior to the “first opportunity to certify results” (defined below), the Award shall not be forfeited at the time of Participant’s termination, and:
i. if Participant has not satisfied the requirements for a Qualified Retirement, Participant shall be eligible to participate in the vesting of Restricted Stock Units under this Agreement only to the extent certified by the Committee at the time of such first opportunity to certify results, but if certification does not occur upon such first opportunity to certify results, the Award shall be forfeited automatically;

ii. if Participant has satisfied the requirements for a Qualified Retirement, Participant shall be eligible to participate in the vesting of Restricted Stock Units under this Agreement only to the extent certified by the Committee at the time of such first opportunity to certify results, but if certification does not occur upon such first opportunity to certify results, then pursuant to Section 10 of the Plan, fifty percent (50%) of such Award shall remain in effect and fifty percent (50%) of the Award shall be forfeited (or in certain cases, if the applicable requirements are satisfied, all of such Award shall remain in effect), and the portion that remains in effect shall thereafter vest, if at all, in accordance with this Agreement, but subject at all times to Section 10 of the Plan;
provided, however, in either case, that if, prior to certification by the Committee, the Committee determines that Participant is engaging in, or has engaged in, a Disqualifying Activity, the Award and all applicable Restricted Stock Units that are then unvested or subject to restriction shall be forfeited automatically as of the Disqualification Date determined by the Committee. Any determination by the Committee that the Participant is engaging in, or has engaged in, any Disqualifying Activity, and of the Disqualification Date, shall be final and conclusive on Participant.
For purposes of this Paragraph 8.b., the phrase “first opportunity to certify results” means the date which is the earlier to occur of: (i) the last day of the calendar month immediately following the month in which A.M. Best publishes the A2 Report (or, if applicable, the calendar month immediately following the month in which the successor or replacement report or data described in Subparagraph 4.II.d.iii.D. above is published) for the third year of the Growth Evaluation Period, or (ii) a meeting of the Compensation Committee is held at which such report or data is reviewed (whether or not a certification occurs) or a written action is executed by the Committee in lieu of such a meeting.
9. Distribution at Vesting. Subject to the provisions of the Plan and this Agreement, upon vesting of all or part of the Award, the Company shall distribute to Participant one share of the Company’s Stock in exchange for each such vested Restricted Stock Unit, and the remaining Restricted Stock Units (if any) shall be cancelled. Unless determined otherwise by the Company at any time prior to the applicable distribution, each fractional Restricted Stock Unit shall vest and be settled in an equal fraction of a share of the Company’s Stock.
10. Taxes. No later than the date as of which an amount relating to the Award first becomes taxable, Participant shall pay to the Company, or make arrangements satisfactory to the Committee regarding the payment of, any federal, state and local taxes and other items of any kind required by law to be withheld with respect to such amount. The obligations of the Company under the Plan shall be conditional on such payment or arrangements and the Company and its Subsidiaries and Affiliate, to the extent permitted by law, shall have the right to deduct any such taxes from any payment of any kind otherwise due to Participant. At vesting, Restricted Stock Units awarded under this Agreement will be valued at the Fair Market Value of the Company’s Stock on such date.
Participant must satisfy the minimum statutory tax withholding obligations resulting from the vesting of Restricted Stock Units (“Minimum Withholding Obligations”) either (a) by surrendering to the Company Restricted Stock Units that are then vesting with a value sufficient to satisfy the Minimum Withholding Obligations, or (b) by paying to the Company the appropriate amount in cash or, if acceptable to the Company, by check or other instrument. Unless Participant advises the Company of his or her election to use an alternative payment method, Participant shall be deemed to have elected to

surrender to the Company Restricted Stock Units that are then vesting with a value sufficient to satisfy the Minimum Withholding Obligations. If Participant requests that the Company withhold taxes in addition to the Minimum Withholding Obligations, such additional withholding must be satisfied by Participant either (x) by paying to the Company the appropriate amount in cash or, if acceptable to the Company, by check or other instrument, or (y) provided that Participant has obtained the approval of either the Company or the Committee (as required under rules adopted by the Committee) prior to the date of vesting, by surrendering unrestricted shares of the Company’s Stock that are not being distributed to Participant as a result of the vesting event and that have then been owned by Participant in unrestricted form for more than six (6) months.
Under no circumstances will Participant be entitled to satisfy any such additional withholding by surrendering Restricted Stock Units, shares of the Company’s Stock that are being distributed to Participant as a result of the vesting event, or other shares of Stock that have then been owned by Participant in unrestricted form for six (6) months or less. In addition, under no circumstances will Participant be entitled to satisfy any Minimum Withholding Obligations or additional withholding by surrendering Restricted Stock Units that are not then vesting or any Restricted Stock Units that Participant has elected to defer under Paragraph 7 above. All payments, surrenders of Units or shares, elections or requests for approval must be made by Participant in accordance with such procedures as may be adopted by the Company in connection therewith, and subject to such rules as have been or may be adopted by the Committee.
11. Non-Solicitation. In consideration of the Award made to Participant under this Agreement, for a period of twelve (12) months immediately following Participant’s Separation Date (defined below), Participant shall not directly or indirectly recruit or solicit for hire, or hire, or assist in any manner in the recruitment, solicitation for hire or hiring, of any employee or officer of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or in any way induce any such employee or officer to terminate his or her employment with the Company or any of its Subsidiaries. For purposes of this Paragraph, “Separation Date” means the date on which Participant’s employment with the Company or its Subsidiaries is terminated for any reason.
12. Recoupment. If the Securities and Exchange Commission adopts final rules under Section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that require, as a condition to the Company’s continued listing on a national securities exchange, that the Company develop and implement a policy requiring the recovery of erroneously awarded compensation, and such regulations are applicable to Participant and the Award granted pursuant to this Agreement, then the following shall apply:
In the event that the Company is required to prepare a restatement of one or more of its financial statements due to the material noncompliance of the Company with any financial reporting requirement under the federal securities laws, the Company will be entitled to recover from Participant, and Participant will promptly upon written demand return to the Company (whether or not Participant remains an employee of the Company at the time of such restatement or thereafter), the amount of any Award granted hereunder that (i) was paid or distributed to Participant (or any assignee or transferee permitted under Paragraph 6 above) during the three year period preceding the date on which the Company is required to prepare such restatement, and (ii) is in excess of what would have been paid or distributed to Participant (or any such assignee or transferee) under the restatement, or such other amount as may be required by the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission or, if applicable, the New York Stock Exchange.

The provisions of this Paragraph 12 are in addition to the rights of the Company as set forth in Section 14(h) of the Plan.
13. Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes and cancels any other agreement, representation or communication, whether oral or in writing, between the parties relating to the Award, provided that the Agreement shall be at all times subject to the Plan.
14. Amendment. The Committee, in its sole discretion, may amend the terms of this Award, but no such amendment shall be made that would impair the rights of Participant, without Participant’s consent.
15. Acknowledgments. Participant: (a) acknowledges receiving a copy of the Plan Description relating to the Plan, and represents that he or she is familiar with all of the material provisions of the Plan, as set forth in such Plan Description; (b) accepts this Agreement and the Award subject to all provisions of the Plan and this Agreement; and (c) agrees to accept as binding, conclusive and final all decisions and interpretations of the Committee relating to the Plan, this Agreement or the Award.
Participant evidences his or her agreement with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and his or her intention to be bound by this Agreement, by electronically accepting the Award pursuant to the procedures adopted by the Company. Upon such acceptance by Participant, this Agreement will be immediately binding and enforceable against Participant and the Company.

THE PROGRESSIVE CORPORATION
By: | /s/ Charles E. Jarrett
|  | Vice President & Secretary

EXHIBIT I
INVESTMENT BENCHMARK CRITERIA
After the end of the Evaluation Period, Rogers Casey will determine the firms comprising the Investment Benchmark for the Plan year from its records and will supply to the Company the monthly total returns and any other relevant data for each of those firms for the Evaluation Period.
A firm will be included in the Investment Benchmark if Rogers Casey is able to determine from its records that:

1. | The firm has provided monthly data regarding its holdings and investment return, as necessary to determine or calculate such firm’s monthly total return, and to evaluate such firm’s compliance with each of the criteria set forth below, for the entire Evaluation Period; and

2. | At all times during the Evaluation Period, the information provided by the firm shows, or Rogers Casey is able to calculate, that such firm’s investment portfolio satisfies each of the following criteria:

Duration: |  | Effective Duration between 1.5 years and 5.0 years
Credit Quality Average |  | = A, or = AA, or = AAA, or = AAA+
Convexity (%) |  | >= -1
Sector Allocation: |  | U.S. High-Yield Corporate Debt <= 10%
Sector Allocation: |  | Mortgages <= 60%
Sector Allocation: |  | U.S. Investment-Grade Corporate Debt <= 60%
Sector Allocation: |  | CMBS <= 60%
Sector Allocation: |  | ABS <= 60%
Sector Allocation: |  | Emerging Markets Debt <= 5%

3. | The Company will have no discretion to alter the Investment Benchmark list after it is finalized by Rogers Casey.

EXHIBIT II
DETERMINATION OF PERFORMANCE RANKING AND PERFORMANCE FACTOR
Once all the total returns are calculated, the data is sorted in descending order from highest to lowest total return. From here, the process to compute the Performance Factor is as follows:
INTERPOLATED VALUES FOR SETTING TOP AND BOTTOM 25% LEVELS
The top 25% and bottom 25% total return rankings are computed based on the total number of firms in the Investment Benchmark, excluding the PCM Fixed-Income Portfolio return. For example, if there were 279 participants, the return required to earn a 2.00 portfolio performance factor would be determined by interpolating between the sixty-ninth and seventieth firm’s returns, since 25% of 279 = 69.75. The same procedure would be used to determine the 0.00 portfolio performance factor.
The total returns, computed by Investment Accounting, for the interpolated positions are calculated as follows (continuing to use an example of 279 survey firms):
Interpolated Value = Firm 69 return – ((Firm 69 Return – Firm 70 Return)*0.75)
Firm 69 = 18.35%
Firm 70 = 18.23%
Firm 69.75 (Interpolated Value) = 18.35% – ((18.35% – 18.23%)*0.75) = 18.26%.
In this case, the PCM Performance Factor will equal 2.00 if its total return equals the interpolated value for Firm 69.75 or 18.26%. A similar calculation is then used to determine the bottom 25% group and interpolated value for a 0.00 performance score.
Once the two groups are computed, top and bottom 25%, the remainder of the performance scores are calculated as follows:
Performance score variance = (2.00) / Number of positions from first participant after the top 25% ranking to the 1st participant in the bottom 25% ranking. In the case of 279 participants, the number of positions to divide the 2.00 performance factors by would be 142.
The calculation for the performance score variance from 2.00 – 0.00 would be:
2.00 / 142 = .014085 per position for 279 firms
In the case of a tie in total returns between firms, each firm will have the same performance score, one step under the next higher position. The next lowest position would then be stepped down by a factor based on the number of participants who tie. In the case of a tie between two firms, the step down will be twice the performance score variance to maintain the proper stepping to the 0.00 performance score level.
Example: If firms 70 and 71 each had the same total return in the 279 firm example, then firms 70 and 71 would each have a Performance Factor of 1.985915, which is 2.00 – .014085. The number 72 position in this example would have a performance score of 1.957746, which is the required step down from 70 to 72.

In addition, if the returns are tied between the interpolated value set for the 2.00 performance score and any position below the 2.00 level, those lower positions will also be set to a 2.00 performance score. The step down factor in the performance score will work similarly as noted in the example above. For the last 25% group, all firms with total returns equaling the last interpolated total return value would have the same performance score as the last interpolated value (.014085), and all others in the last 25% group would have a 0.00 Portfolio Performance Factor.
Once all the performance scores have been created, from 2.00 to 0.00, PCM’s return is compared to the rankings to determine its Performance Factor. If the PCM return is not in the top or bottom 25% and does not match the return of any participant, then PCM’s Performance Factor is an interpolated value between the firms with the next highest and next lowest returns.
The interpolation computation for the Performance Factor based on PCM’s return is as follows:
Performance score of firm below PCM return + (PCM’s Return – Return below PCM) / (Return above PCM – Return below PCM) * (Performance score of firm above PCM – Performance score of firm below PCM)
Assuming the following data, using the 279 firm example:

Firm |  | Performance score |  |  |  |  | Total return |
Firm above PCM |  | 0.90 |  |  |  |  | 13.61 |
PCM |  |  |  |  |  | 13.39 |
Firm below PCM |  | 0.89 |  |  |  |  | 13.34 |

The calculation of PCM’s Performance Factor is:
0.89 + (13.39-13.34) / (13.61-13.34) * (0.90-0.89) = 0.89
The final performance score is rounded to the nearest one-hundredth, if necessary.