Executive Compensation in APAC 2025: What Top Leaders Really Want - Flexibility, Purpose, and Personalised Value

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In today’s competitive and fast-evolving market, executive compensation is no longer just about the paycheque. The Executive Compensation Insights 2025 - APAC Edition reveals a pivotal truth: financial incentives matter, but flexibility, purpose and personalisation now sit at the heart of retention and attraction strategies.

As companies across Asia-Pacific face a tightening talent market, understanding what truly motivates senior leaders is essential. At Maestro, we’ve seen firsthand how the right executive setup - not just the right executive - can transform organisational outcomes. Here’s what’s changing, and how Maestro helps you stay ahead.

Beyond the Salary: What Executives Expect Today

While 83% of executives receive performance-related bonuses, they’re increasingly seeking customised, long-term value, not just cash. Compensation is becoming a reflection of personal and professional ambition and that means:

• Performance-weighted pay is dominant, but 1 in 4 leaders want their compensation tied to personal performance, not just company-wide EBITDA or revenue.
• Executives are advocating for flexible benefits, like hybrid work, profit sharing and wellness support.
• The expectation? More transparency, more customisation and more alignment with purpose.

Maestro’s Take: We match organisations with fractional executives who understand these evolving dynamics - leaders who thrive on impact, autonomy and agility.

Flexibility Is No Longer a Perk - It’s a Baseline

The report confirms what we’re seeing every day: flexibility is the new currency of leadership satisfaction. 42% of APAC execs work remotely at least two days a week, but nearly 30% still lack hybrid access.

When it comes to attracting elite talent, rigid work structures are a dealbreaker.

Maestro Advantage: Every Maestro works within flexible frameworks - remote, hybrid or embedded. This creates better outcomes for clients and higher satisfaction for talent.

Travel Still Matters - But Values Do Too

Despite the remote revolution, 90% of executives in APAC still travel for business. Face-to-face matters for trust and complex decision-making, but it's increasingly weighed against sustainability goals and wellbeing.

Leaders now expect organisations to balance global mobility with conscious leadership.

How We Help: Maestro’s model supports global reach without the burnout. Our talent embedment approach is designed to reduce waste, improve agility and deliver sustainable velocity.

Key Leadership Traits in 2025

The APAC region places top value on:

• Strategic Thinking
• Emotional Intelligence
• Problem-Solving
• Cross-Cultural Agility

But here’s what’s telling - only 16% of executives access personal coaching or structured support, even though wellness is self-managed through fitness, diet and family time.

Opportunity: Companies partnering with Maestro get access not just to high-impact experts, but to a community where ongoing support and development is baked into the model.

How Maestro Aligns With Emerging Compensation Trends

Final Word: Compete Smarter, Not Louder

The era of executive handcuffs is over. Today’s leaders want to co-create value, not just cash it. The organisations that will win are those that recognise this shift and embrace fractional, flexible, future-ready models.

At Maestro, we don’t just fill roles. We embed impact. Want to unlock the next chapter of executive leadership? Let’s talk.

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