WASHINGTON, DC—Let it not be said that REIT executive officers live paycheck to paycheck. That's partly because for 99% of the largest real estate trusts, long-term incentives represent the most sizable components of their executives' compensation, according to FTI Consulting.

Fifty-one percent of named executive officers' compensation came through LTIs; the figure rises to more than 58% in the case of CEO pay. "Accordingly, LTI awards generally receive substantial scrutiny from investors and proxy advisors and also require the most time and consideration from the compensation committee and management," according to the FTI report prepared by senior managing director Larry Portal and senior director Katie Gaynor.

The majority of REITs use a combination of two or more equity compensation vehicles, with 87% of the top 125 companies granting time-vested restricted stock/LTIP units. Performance shares—i.e. shares or units of stock that may be earned based on the achievement of specified performance hurdles over a pre-determined time period—are becoming more prevalent, with 69% of REITs granting such awards last year, up from 54% in 2013.