Total direct compensation to CEOs, including salaries, bonuses and long-term incentives, rose 8.9 percent in 2006 driven by strong corporate results and shareholder returns, according to a study released by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The median total compensation for American CEOs at the 350 large public companies surveyed was $8.2 million last year.

Performance-based pay was up with more than half of the companies surveyed providing such compensation. Mercer’s annual survey of proxy filings also found that benefits and perquisites made up only 15 percent of the typical CEO’s total package, or less than $1.3 million at the median. Most of the added value to total compensation came from the annual increase in pension values, which were about $1 million.

In related news, the Associated Press reported yesterday that J. Barry Griswell, CEO of Principal Financial Group Inc., received compensation valued at more than $9 million last year. The compensation included $1 million in salary, $2.5 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation that was a reward for the company’s performance last year and about $5.4 million in stock and options.