NCEO Releases Revised Key ESOP Data

The NCEO now estimates that there were 8,926 companies with ESOPs and similar plans in the United States at the end of 2011, including 6,941 companies with ESOPs and 1,985 with plans that, while not ESOPs, share a number of similar features. The numbers are based on a more rigorous method than the NCEO's prior estimates and rely on the Department of Labor's research files.

The new analysis shows the number of literal ESOPs declining from 8,874 in 2002 to 6,941 in 2011. The number of participants in literal ESOPs over that time, however, increased from 10.0 million in 2002 to 13.5 million in 2011.

Over the same time period, the number of ESOP-like plans increased from 1,614 to 1,985. While those figures in isolation imply an annual rate of increase in plan numbers, the actual trend was a decrease between 2002 and 2009, followed by a sharp increase in 2010. We define "ESOP-like" plans as profit sharing, stock bonus, and other defined contribution plans that are substantially (at least 20%) invested in employer stock and have at least five participants; most are profit sharing plans.

Plans that have at least 100 participants and have plan assets under $3.1 billion represent 32% of all ESOP and ESOP-like plans, 46% of all participants, and 38% of all plan assets. Small ESOPs and ESOP-like plans together account for approximately two-thirds of all plans, but only about 6% of plan assets and 9% of plan participants. On the other side of the spectrum, public companies with over $3.1 billion in total plan assets are just 0.8% of plans, but account for 55% of plan assets and 45% of plan participants.

Our forthcoming issue brief The Changing World of Employee Ownership includes a detailed report on the new estimates, including trends, company characteristics, and methodology. We also will be summarizing the report online in the near future. The NCEO will continue to release new data and results as they appear.