NEW YORK CITY-It’s been a strong year for publicly-traded REITs--and for top executives and shareholders it’s been a lucrative one as well. A recent study from global business advisory firm FTI Consulting found that total compensation increases for top REIT executives, at the median, held the line at 13%, but ranged from increases of 2% to more than 30% in total pay overall.

The executive compensation report--which looked at 117 public REITs across all property sectors in June 2011--found that salary adjustments for REIT CEOs increased at the median by 14%, but ranged from flat to increases of more than 32%. Compensation for REIT CFOs was comparable, with total compensation increasing at the median by 14%. The report notes that equity compensation amounts have “increased significantly” over the last several years and salary adjustments have rebounded by approximately 5% to 10% above pre-recession compensation levels.

One of the reasons for this trend, says Anthony Saitta, managing director of real estate solutions at FTI Consulting, is due to compensators creating performance-based plans for personnel that are contingent upon total return to shareholders, which in turn, drives the amount of equity that companies are reporting. “It directly links the amount of money that executives can earn with the company, in which case, both executives and shareholders win,” Saitta says.