Fidelity Study Shows Holders of Equity Grants and ESPP Participants Place High Value on Plans
Executive Director
A recent survey (PDF format) of 2116 worldwide recipients (1,475 of whom were in the U.S.) of individual equity plan awards and/or participants in employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) shows that stock plans are highly valued by employees and that their perception of them has strengthened since 2011.
The report, Participant Research Global Results 2014, looked at employees in Fidelity Stock Plan Service clients. Of the 1,475 U.S. respondents, 553 received restricted stock and, in some cases, options, while 405 got stock options only. Both categories could be eligible for ESPPs as well. There were 517 participants in ESPPs only.
Almost two-thirds of those in some kind of plan said they were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their plans, up from 56% in 2011. Fifty-nine percent said they were more loyal to their company because of the plan, about the same as in 2011. Eighty-two percent said getting stock would be an important consideration in changing jobs, and 39% said it was a "must have." The percentage who say they have "a good idea of how much my stock options/grants are worth in today's dollars" increased from 79% in 2011 to 87% in 2014, corresponding with an increase in the number of participants making active use of plan-relevant information (from 38% in 2011 to 46% in 2014).