It’s share plan chutes and ladders.

People can find financial concepts boring – that’s why you need to get them engaged and excited. Consider how you would speak to your employees about the effects of macro-economics on their stock plans? Or how to make sure that the “need-to-know” details are presented in an informative, educational and engaging way? This is a session with a difference and will focus not just on the importance of knowledge sharing to help create financial wellness for your workforce, but how you can find interesting ways to communicate and engage with employees.

Creating an engaging and reflective forum, we will get the audience involved in the discussion by beginning the session with a game, where the audience will have their own understanding of specific macro-economic concepts put to the test. One side of the room will be against the other and for each topic accurately explained by a team, they will move forward one space on the board. If the team doesn’t know an answer, they’ll move backwards, representing the setback a lack of knowledge can have on their employees.

From inflation, to volatility, ROI or AMT, and 10B5-1 plans, we’ll be covering the fundamentals to ensure the audience leaves this session better equipped to support their employees in understanding how macro-economics might impact their equity compensation. Following this, our panel will move on to look at practical solutions to educate your workforce, with a particular focus on video libraries as an interactive hub for educational resources.

This session will cover six new ideas for your stock compensation radar. We’ll explore modernization strategies to make your stock programs more successful, less costly, more equitable, more differentiated, and better equipped for what may lay ahead.  Topic will include how you can time travel with prior day close, the outsized benefits of fractional shares for both tax withholding and ESPP, exploring different vesting levers and more!

CPE CREDIT HOURS: 1.5*

Field of study: Specialized Knowledge
Levels: O
Delivery method: Group live
Advanced preparation: None

CEP Continuing Education (CE) credit:1.25 credits

Please visit our Continuing Education and Event Policies pages for more information.

With global employee populations on the rise, so is the demand for globally compatible compensation plans. As issuing various forms of equity compensation from foreign plans to employees becomes more common, it is important to carefully review the plans prior to issuance.

When expanding a share scheme into new territories, an appendix will usually suffice to ensure the plan meets the respective domestic country's tax efficient rules, but our panel has encountered some common issues affecting employees in Canada, the UK and the US.

Attendees will learn:

• The current taxation rules and issues which require close attention when reviewing foreign plans
• Simple fixes and discuss the issues that may not be possible to fix in each country
• How to navigate new UK legislation to ensure the foreign plan is compliant

While rising stock values are generally seen as positive, companies that have high stock prices and offer broad equity to their employees may face certain challenges. One such challenge arises during sell-to-cover tax withholding at vesting events, where participants are typically required to sell a whole share on the market to generate cash for tax payment, with the remaining amount being paid to the employee. However, many employees would prefer to keep the remaining value in company shares instead of receiving cash for the difference.

Hear experts from Amazon, Microsoft, and Moss Adams share their insights and describe the journey towards implementing a fractional share at vest offering. Their innovative approaches allow participants to sell only a portion of a share to cover their tax obligations at vesting, enabling employees to retain a higher ownership stake in the company. This strategic shift offers numerous advantages to employees, empowering them to benefit from increased company ownership while effectively managing their tax liabilities.

Attendees will learn:

• The rationale for allowing Fractional Shares at vesting
• The journey to implementing Fractional Shares at vesting
• Lessons learned and initial perspectives on the implementation process