The 2009 ESPP Survey
To help companies make effective decisions under changing economic conditions, the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) and the Certified Equity Professional Institute (CEPI) partnered in a research project on practices in employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs). The NCEO/CEPI survey, conducted in June and July 2009, includes responses from over 400 companies. With questions written by experts in the field, the resulting data is a unique source for insight into trends in plan design, participation rates, compensation cost, run rates, overall satisfaction with the plan, and more.
ESPPs are getting more focus as companies reevaluate their equity compensation plans. Many advocates suggest that ESPPs may be a more cost-effective, shareholder friendly way to provide for broad-based equity and that they are less vulnerable to rapid downward swings in stock prices. Others say these plans should play only a nominal role and offer minimal discounts. In the face of this controversy, the NCEO/CEPI data are your best source for answers to help you navigate the best course for your company. You will learn:
- How many companies extend their ESPPs to non-U.S. employees
- What percentage of companies changed the look-back feature last year
- What the difference is in participation rates for managers versus hourly employees
- What the most common offering periods and discounts are
- What percentage of compensation cost is typically represented by an ESPP
- Whether companies limit the number of shares per employee
The Comprehensive Report and the Survey Data are available for purchase through the
NCEO.
Comprehensive Report
The full report of survey data is a 50-page PDF document that provides descriptive statistics for all items in the survey, narrative describing methods and highlights, and analysis of the relation between plan design features and outcomes such as satisfaction and changes in participation rates.
Data
The raw data are available to those willing to consent to the confidentiality agreement (see the NCEO webpage for the terms and conditions). The data include answers to nearly all of the items in the questionnaire for the 412 responding companies, although identifying information and answers to open-ended questions are not included. Purchase of the data includes a Microsoft Excel file with the data and a guidebook describing the structure of the data.
You can order the comprehensive report or the data, or you can order both the report and the data in a single package for less than what you would pay if buying them separately. CEPs or CEP exam candidates can purchase the comprehensive report, the data or both at the NCEO membership rate. Contact the CEPI at cepi@scu.edu to receive this special rate.
Details on pricing and more information on the Survey can be found on the NCEO website at http://www.nceo.org/main/misc.php/id/152/
