Four Tree says advisors recommend Willis Lease stockholders vote against Jones

Four Tree Island Advisory, a top-10 stockholder of Willis Lease (WLFC) Finance, announced that independent proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass, Lewis & Co. have recommended that stockholders vote AGAINST the election of Stephen Jones and approval of the company’s executive compensation at the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders scheduled to be held on May 26. Four Tree Island continues to urge fellow stockholders to vote AGAINST all proposals other than the ratification of the independent auditor. In its report, ISS noted “unmitigated pay-for-performance misalignment,” “problematic one-time awards” and that “the chairman’s base salary is relatively high, annual bonuses are outsized and discretionary, with undisclosed performance goals.” Similarly, in its report, Glass Lewis noted that “shareholders may reasonably question the substantial one-off grants provided to Mr. Charles Willis for a multitude of reasons” and that “the aggregate value of the non-forfeited grants also provides cause for substantial concern.”