Transitioning to a public company is a defining moment—particularly when equity programs must scale quickly across multiple countries. For newly public organizations, the real challenge begins after the bell rings: building equity plans that meet heightened governance expectations while supporting a growing, global workforce.
 

Drawing on lessons learned from recent IPOs, this session explores critical post-IPO considerations including Day 1 trading readiness for officers and executive leadership roles (ELRs), scalable equity operations, and the realities of managing cross-border tax, compliance, and award administration. Through real-world examples, speakers will share how companies have balanced control and flexibility—creating equity programs that are resilient, compliant, and built for international growth.
 

KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Understand post-IPO equity requirements, including trading readiness for officers and executives.
• Learn how to build equity processes that adapt to regional expansion, operational growth, and evolving governance needs.
• Gain practical strategies for handling tax withholding, award modifications, and local compliance across jurisdictions.

Equity programs only create value when employees truly understand them. Yet for many—particularly those with limited financial experience—equity benefits feel complex, confusing, or out of reach. This panel brings together seasoned equity and communication leaders to share how companies are simplifying equity education and making participation more accessible across all employee populations.
 

Experts will focus on practical communication strategies that cut through confusion, correct common misconceptions, and drive engagement—from ESPP enrollment decisions to understanding the value of RSUs. Through real-world examples, the panel will highlight how interactive videos, digital content, and intuitive modeling tools can build equity literacy and confidence across a global workforce.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• How to communicate equity concepts clearly without losing accuracy or credibility.
• Which tools and formats most effectively increase employee understanding and participation.
• How to address common misconceptions that prevent employees from engaging with equity.

Global equity programs bring complex reporting obligations that touch multiple stakeholders throughout the plan lifecycle—from implementation to plan termination or conversion in an M&A context. This session brings together legal experts, corporate issuers, and a financial institution representative to unpack these requirements, offering insight into how companies manage reporting duties across jurisdictions while maintaining compliance and governance standards.
 

Panelists will share practical approaches for handling regulatory and market transparency obligations, addressing evolving requirements, and mitigating risks tied to non-compliance. Attendees will gain actionable guidance on establishing oversight, managing cross-border reporting, and ensuring alignment with both global and local obligations, including indirectly related regulations like the EU Pay Transparency Directive.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Understanding the full scope of reporting obligations tied to global equity programs.
• Best practices for managing compliance effectively across multiple jurisdictions.
• Strategies for maintaining oversight and mitigating risks of reporting failures.

GEO’s Global Share Plans Ranking Study is the first of its kind, offering a country-level snapshot of the appetite, support, and provision of employee share ownership - and now includes insights from even more countries!
With insights from senior equity compensation issuers and service providers across a growing number of countries, this expanded report paints the bigger picture of employee equity worldwide. This session will dive into key report highlights, uncovering the countries leading the charge in employee equity adoption as well as those with untapped potential.

KEY LEARNINGS:

• Explore key findings, including emerging trends and barriers to implementing share plans,
• Learn how to leverage the report to strategically extend plans into new countries or boost participation in your current regions
• Discover actionable insights to enhance your global equity strategies

Receiving an executive equity grant can be thrilling—a promise of future wealth with the potential to transform careers. But what happens between the initial grant and the final payout? This session explores the realities versus expectations for employees, executives, and directors, unpacking the complexities of communication, regulation, and strategic planning throughout the executive equity lifecycle.

Participants will gain a comprehensive view of how effective communication aligns expectations, while regulatory frameworks shape the journey from grant to vesting. The session will also examine broader considerations, including tax optimization, succession planning, estate management, and trust creation. 

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Understand the full journey from grant to vesting, including common challenges and regulatory considerations.
• Learn strategies to clearly communicate equity value and align expectations for executives, directors, and employees.
• Gain insights into tax optimization, succession planning, estate management, and trust strategies to enhance wealth outcomes.

As mobility and hybrid work redefine the modern workplace, equity plans must evolve to support a truly borderless workforce. This session explores how leading organizations are adapting plan design, tax and compliance frameworks, and communication strategies to engage remote and mobile employees while maintaining operational efficiency.
Attendees will gain practical insights on navigating cross-border employment, hybrid work models, and global expansion—building inclusive, future-ready equity programs that meet both business and employee needs.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Understand how hybrid work and global talent mobility impact equity program structure and delivery.
• Learn strategies for handling cross-border tax obligations, regulatory requirements, and operational challenges.
• Explore best practices for aligning equity plans with employee expectations and delivering clear, culturally relevant communications across geographies.

IPO day may look glamorous from the outside, but equity teams know it’s equal parts celebration and controlled chaos. Behind the confetti is months (or years) of preparation, cross-functional coordination, and high-stakes decision-making that can define the success of a company’s transition to public life.

In this session, the panel will break down what really goes into IPO readiness—from building scalable equity processes and governance frameworks to avoiding the common missteps that catch even experienced teams off guard. Attendees will gain practical insights, real-world lessons learned, and actionable guidance to help their organizations navigate the road to going public with confidence (and fewer surprises).

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Identify the critical equity processes, controls, and data structures that must be in place well before the S-1 is filed.
• Understand where equity teams most often stumble—from data integrity to cross-functional misalignment—and how to proactively mitigate those risks.
• Learn practical frameworks for managing timelines, stakeholders, and last-minute challenges while keeping the equity function calm, credible, and compliant.

Stock plans are more than just grants, vesting schedules, and compliance—they are a strategic lever for attracting, motivating, and retaining talent. But who actually owns your company’s stock, and how does this impact your equity programs? This session takes stock plan professionals beyond mechanics to explore how ownership patterns, trading practices, and market dynamics influence company valuation, employee confidence, and investor perception.
Through practical examples and real-world insights, panelists will help attendees understand how institutional vs. individual holdings, off-exchange trading, and market complexity affect equity programs. 

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• How institutional vs. individual holdings affect stock volatility, company valuation, and equity program perception.
• Insights into off-exchange trading, liquidity, spreads, and the real cost of equity transactions.
• How trading dynamics, including widening spreads and higher transaction costs, impact executives’ and employees’ day-to-day experience with equity compensation.

After a decade in the shadows, stock options are making a comeback. Once replaced by RSUs and other equity vehicles, companies are rediscovering the strategic value of options in attracting, retaining, and motivating talent.

This session explores the drivers behind this resurgence, the benefits and challenges of reintroducing stock options, and the practical considerations for integrating them into modern compensation strategies. Join us for a lively discussion and gain insights into how stock options can complement today’s equity landscape.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Explore why companies are returning to stock options and what market, financial, and talent trends are driving this shift.
• Learn how to incorporate stock options alongside RSUs and other equity vehicles to support your total rewards strategy.
• Discover key factors to evaluate when shaping stock option policies, including vesting, taxation, communication, and employee engagement.

Executive compensation decisions rarely follow a clean formula. Market data shifts, survey results conflict, performance outpaces benchmarks, and executives arrive with “data” of their own. This session brings together experienced executive compensation leaders to discuss how they navigate real-world challenges: defending benchmarking methodologies, advising senior leadership and compensation committees under pressure, and making equity decisions when the data doesn’t tell the full story. 

The discussion will also touch on how equity compensation professionals partner with executive compensation teams to ensure plans are administratively feasible, compliant, and aligned with shareholder expectations—particularly in high-growth, pre-IPO, or newly public organizations.
 

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Learn how peers defend benchmarking methodologies, address volatile or conflicting survey data, and respond when executives challenge pay decisions based on stock price movements or external anecdotes.
• Explore strategies for quickly pressure-testing executive and board-driven compensation ideas, using data and judgment to push back when needed, and earning long-term credibility as a trusted advisor.
• Understand how companies approach pay mix shifts, refresh and retention grants, global vs. local benchmarking for global roles, and comp committee materials.