It’s restricted stock and unit week here at the NASPP. For today’s blog, I have five trends in the usage of restricted stock and units, from the 2016 Domestic Stock Plan Design Survey, co-sponsored by the NASPP and Deloitte Consulting.
Trend #1: Use of time-based stock grants and awards is still on the rise.
The percentage of companies issuing stock grants and awards increased by 10 percent since our last survey (up from 81 percent in our 2013 survey to 89 percent in 2016). In addition, among those companies that use restricted stock and unit awards, close to 40 percent of respondents report that their usage of these vehicles has increased at some level of their organization over the past three years, while only 18 percent report decreased usage over the same time period. Overall, that nets out to greater usage of restricted stock and units by more companies than in past surveys.
Trend #2: Time-based stock grants and awards are the equity vehicle most frequently granted to lower-ranking employees.
Stock grants and awards are the equity vehicles most commonly granted to lower-ranking employees, with 77 percent of respondents granting awards to middle management (approximately three times the percentage of respondents that grant either stock options or performance awards at this employee rank). Fifty-two percent of respondents grant restricted stock/units to other exempt employees (compared to 13 percent for stock options and 11 percent for performance awards) and 19 percent grant these awards to nonexempt employees (compared to 7 percent for stock options and 3 percent for performance awards).
Trend #3: Time-based stock grants and awards are also common at the top of the house.
Stock grants and awards are even more common for senior-level employees with 79 percent of respondents granting awards to the CEO, CFO, and named executives, and 84 percent granting awards to other senior management. The five-point drop in usage of restricted stock/units at the CEO, CFO, and NEO level as compared to other senior management is likely due to the increased usage of performance awards in the C-suite.
Trend #4: Restricted stock units are the vehicle of choice among various types of time-based full-value awards.
The 2016 survey saw a continuation in the shift away from restricted stock awards toward restricted stock units. Respondents reporting that they currently grant restricted stock awards* dropped from 44 percent in 2013 to 31 percent in 2016, while respondents currently granting restricted stock units* increased from 77 percent in 2013 to 83 percent in 2016.
* Awards not in lieu of cash.
Trend #5: Awards are most commonly granted on an annual frequency.
The overwhelming majority of companies that make grants of stock and units do so on an annual basis (ranging from 95 percent of respondents for CEOs, CFOs, and named executives to 75 percent of respondents for nonexempt employees). In addition to annual grants, stock/units are most frequently awarded upon hire, promotion, and for retention purposes.
The full results from the 2016 Domestic Stock Plan Design Survey, which the NASPP co-sponsors with Deloitte Consulting LLP, are now available. Companies that participated in the survey (and service providers who weren’t eligible to participate) have access to the full results. And all NASPP members can hear highlights from the survey results by listening to the archive of the webcast “Top Trends in Equity Plan Design,” which we presented in early November.
For today’s blog entry, I highlight ten data points from the survey results that I think are worth noting:
Full Value Awards Still Rising. This survey saw yet another increase in the usage of full value awards at all employee levels. Overall, companies granting time-based restricted stock or units increased to 89% of respondents in 2016 (up from 81% in 2013). Most full value awards are now in the form of units; use of restricted stock has been declining over the past several survey cycles.
Performance Awards Are for Execs. We are continuing to see a lot of growth in the usage of performance awards for high-ranking employees. Companies granting performance awards to CEOs and NEOs increased to 80% in 2016 (up from 70% in 2013) and companies granting to other senior management increased to 69% (from 58% in 2013). But for middle management and below, use of performance award largely stagnated.
Stock Options Are Still in Decline. Usage of stock options dropped slightly at all employee levels and overall to 51% of respondents (down from 54% in 2013).
TSR Is Hot. As a performance metric, TSR has been on an upwards trajectory for the last several survey cycles. In 2016, 52% of respondents report using this metric (up from 43% in 2013). This is first time in the history of the NASPP’s survey that a single performance metric has been used by more than half of the respondents.
The Typical TSR Award. Most companies that grant TSR awards, use relative performance (92% of respondents that grant TSR awards), pay out the awards even when TSR is negative if the company outperformed its peers (81%), and cap the payout (69%).
Clawbacks on the Rise. Not surprisingly, implementation of clawback provisions is also increasing, with 68% of respondents indicating that their grants are subject to one (up from 60% in 2013). Enforcement of clawbacks remains spotty, however: 5% of respondents haven’t enforced their clawback for any violations, 8% have enforced it for only some violations, and only 3% of respondents have enforced their clawback for all violations (84% of respondents haven’t had a violation occur).
Dividend Trends. Payment of dividend equivalents in RSUs is increasing: 78% of respondents in 2016, up from 71% in 2013, 64% in 2010, and 61% in 2007. Payment of dividends on restricted stock increased slightly (75% of respondents, up from 73% in 2013) but the overall trend over the past four surveys (going back to 2007) appears to be a slight decline. For both restricted stock and RSUs, companies are moving away from paying dividends/equivalents on a current basis and are instead paying them out with the underlying award.
Payouts to Retirees Are Common. Around two-thirds of companies provide some type of automated accelerated or continued vesting upon retirement (60% of respondents for stock grants/awards; 68% for performance awards, and 60% for stock options). This is up slightly in all cases from 2013.
Post-Vesting Holding Periods are Still Catching On. This was the first year that we asked about post-vesting holding periods: usage is relatively low, with only 18% of companies implementing them for stock grants/awards and only 13% for performance awards.
ISOs, Your Days May be Numbered. Of the respondents that grant stock options, only 18% grant ISOs. This works out to about 10% of the total survey respondents, down from 62% back in 2000. In fact, to further demonstrate the amount by which option usage has declined, let me point out that the percentage of respondents granting stock options in 2016 (51%) is less than the percentage of respondents granting ISOs in 2000 (and 100% of respondents granted options in 2000—an achievement no other award has accomplished).
Next year, we will conduct the Domestic Stock Plan Administration Survey, which covers administration and communication of stock plans, ESPPs, insider trading compliance, stock ownership guidelines, and outside director plans. Look for the survey announcement in March and make sure you participate to have access to the full results!
In my blog entry this week titled “Other ISS Policy Amendments,” I said that ISS no longer permits the 5% carve-out with respect to minimum vesting requirements. This statement was not correct. ISS will still permit up to 5% of shares granted under a stock plan to vest quicker than required under the plan’s minimum vesting requirements. I apologize for my error and any confusion it created; I have corrected my original entry.
On November 29, I discussed ISS’s amendments related to dividends paid on awards (ISS Targets Dividends on Unvested Awards), but that’s not the only amendment to their 2017 Proxy Voting Guidelines that impacts stock compensation programs. For today’s blog entry, I discuss the other amendments.
Minimum Vesting Requirements
The plan must specify a minimum vesting period of one year for all awards to receive full points for this test under the Equity Plan Scorecard. In addition, no points will be earned if the plan allows individual award agreements to reduce or eliminate this vesting requirement (note, however, that ISS still permits an exception for up to 5% of shares awarded).
Anyone who listened to my podcast “Five Things Barbara Baksa Learned About the ISS Equity Plan Scorecard” knows that I’m not a fan of this test in the EPSC because I’m convinced it is just a compliance disaster waiting to happen. And now that the plan can’t allow any exceptions to it all, I like it even less.
Plan Amendments
Although ISS didn’t deem this change significant enough to include it in the Executive Summary, the policy with respect to how plan amendments are evaluated has also been updated. For most types of substantive amendments (i.e., amendments that aren’t purely administrative or that aren’t solely for purposes of Section 162(m)), the plan will be reevaluated under the EPSC and ISS will assess the amendments on a qualitative basis.
It isn’t clear to me why the EPSC isn’t enough by itself (since it would be enough for a new plan). Apparently ISS just doesn’t like some stuff that companies do with their equity plans and they want to be able to recommend that shareholders vote against amendments that would add those features to your plan, even if they would be allowed under the EPSC.
Where private companies are submitting a plan to shareholders for the first time, the plan will have to pass the EPSC even if no new shares are being requested (e.g., if the plan is submitted solely for Section 162(m) purposes) and ISS will make a qualitative assessment of any amendments.
There’s been a theme emerging in some of my recent blogs, covering a wave of companies finding creative ways to expand their equity compensation pool. Last week I talked about the move of Twitter’s CEO to give his own stock back to the company for use in the equity plans. Shortly before that, Apple announced it was giving RSUs to all employees. It seems more and more companies are trying to find ways to expand the equity offering to employees. It seems the Wall Street Journal has also taken notice of some of these efforts. In a recent article (Do Workers Want Shares or Cash?, October 27, 2015), the WSJ explored what do workers really want – stock or cash? The conclusion of the article seemed to be that stock is a tough sell. I’m not sure I fully agree. So in today’s blog, we’ll explore what’s on top? Shares or cash?
Value is in the Eye of the Beholder
Before I answer the question, we need to revisit the concept of perceived value. This, in my opinion, remains a widely underestimated component of truly comparing the merits of receiving cash over stock or vice versa. From the WSJ article, I gleaned some phrases that tell me that there is work to be done in elevating the perceived value of the equity plan. I read things like: [Employee X] “says his shares didn’t make him more likely to stay in his $60,000-a-year job, in part because he was unsure what his stake was worth.” Or, “‘Is this money real and am I really going to get it?’”
On the flip side, and I don’t have data to support it (someone should look into this!), there seem to be companies that have established, on a broad basis, that equity compensation has value – to the point where employees at all levels are requesting more of it. Interestingly, many of these companies offered broad based grants from the point of new hire. Do companies that offer broad based equity from hire do better at upping the perceived value of stock compensation? It’s hard to tell. Perhaps those companies are also more engaged in education and communication, two critical factors in raising the perceived value of equity awards.
From the WSJ article:
At MediaMath, a marketing software company, all employees—including customer-service reps and receptionists—are given stock options designed to equal the amount of their starting salary at the time the shares fully vest. Employees at all levels have requested more equity, and the company recently rolled out new performance incentives that include options.
“We would rather not have the haves and the have-nots,” chief people officer Peter Phelan says. The company is considering an IPO at some point in the future, a move that could bring windfalls for workers.
Online lender Avant Inc. is in the process of implementing policies giving hourly employees the chance to receive equity when they join the company as well as additional grants as part of an annual incentive program. Before, hourly employees were excluded from equity compensation. CEO Al Goldstein says he thinks it will take time before employees trust the perk is meaningful.
“I don’t think it’s a magical thing that happens right away,” he says. Of Avant employees who currently get equity, just 1% have left the company, according to Mr. Goldstein.
Which Wins? Cash or Stock?
Not all companies are valued the same, not all companies have the same stock growth potential, and stock compensation is not necessarily easy to understand if left to the employee to figure it out. For employees who are muddling through those considerations, stock can be a tough sell. Most people don’t want to give up cash to take on something they don’t understand. I think that’s where the key to answering the cash vs. stock question lies – it’s not necessarily that employees want only cash; I think in many cases they want both: cash and incentive compensation that they can understand and value.
Certainly cash may not be the top choice for every scenario. The same goes for stock. I think stock can absolutely be an easy sell to employees…if they are given the tools to appreciate what it means. Ultimately, companies need to pursue what works best for their employee demographics. For companies that are considering more broadly expanding equity programs in lieu of cash incentives, a key focus in mapping a strategic plan should include how to educate employees and raise the perception of the value of the award. And, to the point of one CEO mentioned above, if a company is expanding equity to a broader base of employees, it may take time for the employees to build up that perception of value. It may not magically happen overnight, but with a focus on supporting employees in their understanding and lots of persistence, companies can get there. So in my biased opinion, stock wins. After all, didn’t the turtle win the race?
Free lunches (not too mention breakfasts, dinners, and snacks), open offices, games and nap rooms, shuttle services for commuting employees—we all know Silicon Valley operates a little differently than the rest of corporate America. But just how different is the Valley when it comes to stock compensation?
Last week, I attended a presentation hosted by the Silicon Valley NASPP chapter on how Silicon Valley differs from the rest of the United States when it comes to stock compensation. Tara Tays of Deloitte Consulting ran special northern California cuts of the results of the NASPP’s 2013 and 2014 Domestic Stock Plan Design and Administration Surveys and compared them to the national results. She was joined by Sue Berry of Infoblox and Patti Hoffman-Friedes of Seagate Technology, who provided color commentary.
As it turns out, not as different as you might think. In many areas, the northern CA data aligned fairly closely with the national data. These areas included the use of full value and performance awards, overhang levels, timing of grants, termination and forfeiture provisions, and performance metrics. But here are five areas where Silicon Valley does its own thing:
Burn Rates
This probably isn’t a big surprise to anyone, but burn rates are higher in Silicon Valley. Nationally, 77% of respondents report a burn rate of less than 2.5%. In northern California, only 56% of respondents report burn rates below this level. Interestingly, however, the higher burn rates did not translate to higher overhang; in this area the northern California numbers align closely with the national data.
Clawbacks
In the national data, 60% of respondents report that equity awards are subject to a clawback provisions, representing an almost 90% increase in the use of these provisions since our 2010 survey. But this trend doesn’t appear to have taken hold yet in Silicon Valley; only 34% of companies in northern California report that their awards are subject to clawbacks.
RSUs
While usage of full value awards (vs. stock options) in northern California aligns with the national data, practices vary with respect to the type of award granted. Just over 90% of northern California respondents grant RSUs but, nationally, RSUs are granted by only 77% of respondents. Restricted stock is granted by only 26% of northern California respondents but 44% of national respondents.
Vesting Schedules
For full value awards, graded vesting is more common in northern California (88% of respondents) than it is nationally (65% of respondents). But vesting schedules for full value awards appear to be slightly longer in Silicon Valley. 57% of northern California respondents report a four-year schedule and 37% report a three-year schedule, whereas this trend is flipped at the national level. There, 60% of respondent report a three-year schedule and 30% report a four-year schedule.
For stock options, monthly vesting is far more common in Silicon Valley than nationally. 53% of northern California companies report that options vesting with a one-year cliff and monthly thereafter; only 11% of respondents report this in the national data (27% for high-tech companies).
ESPP Participation
When it comes to ESPP participation, Silicon Valley comes out on top. Close to 60% of northern California companies report that their participation rate is between 61% to 90% of employees; nationally only 20% of companies were able to achieve this. ESPPs are also more generous in northern California, with more companies reporting that their plans offer a look-back and 24-month offering than nationally. This may account for some of the increase in participation but I’m not sure it accounts for all of it (note to self: must do quick survey on this).
Last week, I discussed ISS’s new Equity Plan Scorecard. If you were hoping that the scorecard gave you a free pass on your burn rate, I have some disappointing news. The scorecard doesn’t eliminate the burn rate caps—the caps are a component of a plan’s overall scorecard rating.
The Word “Cap” Is So Limiting
One interesting change I noticed is that ISS is no longer calling them “caps”; now they are “benchmarks.” I’m not sure if this is to make them seem less restrictive or to make companies feel worse about exceeding them because the caps aren’t an arbitrary limit but a benchmark established by their peers.
According to ISS’s FAQ on the Scorecard, a plan gets max points when the company’s burn rate is 50% or less of the benchmark for its industry. The FAQs say that the burn rate score is “scaled,” so I assume this means that partial credit is available if the company’s burn rate is more than 50% of the benchmark but still below it. (If burn rates follow the pattern established in other areas, companies will get half credit if they are in this range. But don’t quote me on that; I didn’t find anything in the FAQs about this–I’m totally guessing). I’m also guessing that if you are over the benchmark, no points for you.
Good News for (Most) Russell 3000 Companies; Not So Good News for S&P 500 Companies
The most significant change is that ISS has broken out S&P 500 companies from other Russell 3000 companies for purposes of determining the burn rate benchmarks. For S&P 500 companies, this results in significantly lower burn rate benchmarks. In a number of industries (energy, commercial & professional services, health care equipment & services, pharmaceuticals & biotechnology, diversified financials, software & services, and telecommunication services), the benchmark dropped more than two points below the cap that S&P 500 companies in these industries were subject to last year.
For most of the Russell 3000 companies that aren’t in the S&P 500, ISS increased the burn rate benchmark slightly. For non-Russell 3000 companies, burn rate benchmarks dropped for the most part (only seven out of 22 industries didn’t see a drop), so I’m guessing that the benchmarks for the Russell 3000 would be lower if the S&P 500 companies hadn’t been removed.
How Does This Play Into the Scorecard?
Burn rate is just one part of one pillar in the scorecard, the grant practices pillar, which is worth 35 points for S&P 500/Russell 3000 companies (25 points for non-Russell 3000 companies). All three types of companies can also earn points in this pillar for the duration of their plan (shorter duration=more points). S&P 500/Russell 3000 companies also earn points in this pillar for specified grant practices. Thus, even if a company completely blows their burn rate benchmark, the plan can still earn partial credit in the grant practices pillar.
In a worst-case scenario, where a plan receives no points at all for grant practices, there’s still hope in the form of the plan cost and plan features pillars. For S&P 500/Russell 3000 companies, plan cost is worth 45 points and the plan features pillar is worth 20 points. That’s a potential 65 points, well over the 53 required to receive a favorable recommendation.
As I noted on October 21 (“ISS Changes Stock Plan Methodology“), ISS is changing how they evaluate stock plan proposals. Just before Christmas, ISS released additional information about their new Equity Plan Scorecard, including an FAQ. For today’s blog entry, I take a look at how the scorecard works.
What the Heck?
Historically, ISS has used a series of tests (Shareholder Value Transfer, burn rates, various plan features) to evaluate stock plan proposals. Many of these tests were deal-breakers. For example, fail the SVT test and ISS would recommend against the plan, regardless of how low your burn rate had been in the past or that fact that all the awards granted to your CEO vest based on performance.
Under the new Equity Plan Scorecard (known as “EPSC,” because what you need in your life right now is another acronym to remember), stock plans earn points in three areas (which ISS refers to as “pillars”): plan cost, grant practices, and plan features. Each pillar is worth a different amount of points, which vary based on how ISS categorizes your company. For example, S&P 500 and Russell 3000 companies can earn 45 points for the plan cost, 35 points for grant practices and 20 points for plan features. Plans need to score 53 points to receive a favorable recommendation. [I’m not sure how ISS came up with 53. Why not 42—the answer to life, the universe, and everything?] So an S&P 500 company could completely fail in the plan cost area and still squeak by with a passing score if the plan got close to 100% in both the grant practices and plan features area.
Plan Cost
Plan cost is our old friend, the SVT analysis but with a new twist. The SVT analysis is performed once with the shares requested, shares currently available under all plans, and awards outstanding, then performed a second time excluding the awards outstanding. Previously, ISS would carve out options that had been outstanding for longer than six years in certain circumstances. With the new SVT calculation that excludes outstanding options, this carve out is no longer necessary (at least, in ISS’s opinion–you might feel differently). The points awarded for the SVT analysis are scaled based on how the company scores against ISS’s benchmarks. Points are awarded for both analyses (with and without options outstanding), but the FAQ doesn’t say how many points you can get for each.
Grant Practices
The grant practices pillar includes our old friend, the burn rate analysis. But gone are the halcyon days when burn rates didn’t really matter because companies that failed the test could just make a burn rate commitment for the future. Now if companies fail the burn rate test, they have to hope they make the points up somewhere else. Burn rate scores are scaled, so partial credit is possible depending on how companies compare to the ISS’s benchmarks. This pillar also gives points for plan duration, which is how long the new share reserve is expected to last (full points for five years or less, no points for more than six years). S&P 500 and Russell 3000 companies can earn further points in this pillar for certain practices, such as clawback provisions, requiring shares to be held after exercise/vest, and making at least one-third of grants to the CEO subject to performance-based vesting).
Plan Features
This seems like the easiest pillar to accrue points in. Either a company/plan has the features specified, in which case the plan receives the full points, or it doesn’t, in which case, no points for you. There are also only four tests:
Not having single-trigger vesting upon a CIC
Not having liberal share counting
Not granting the administrator broad discretionary authority to accelerate vesting
Specifying a minimum vesting period of at least one year
That’s pretty simple. If willing to do all four of those things, S&P 500/Russell 3000 companies have an easy 20 points, non-Russell 3000 companies have an easy 30 points (more than halfway to the requisite 53 points), and IPO/bankruptcy companies have an easy 40 points (75% of the 53 points needed).
Alas, this does mean that companies no longer get a free pass on returning shares withheld for taxes on awards back to the plan. Previously, this practice simply caused the arrangement to be treated as a full value award in the SVT analysis. Since awards were already treated as full value awards in the SVT analysis, it didn’t matter what you did with the shares withheld for taxes. Now you need to be willing to forego full points in the plan features pillar if you want to return those shares to the plan.
Dealbreakers
Lastly, there are a few practices that result in a negative recommendation regardless of how many points the plan accrues under the various pillars. These include a liberal CIC definition, allowing repricing without shareholder approval, and a couple of catch-alls that boil down to essentially anything else that ISS doesn’t like.
I’ve told you to complete the ISS policy surveys in the past and I’m sure a lot of you have scoffed. But this year is different; this year, you might want to think twice about blowing off the survey. ISS has announced that they are considering a significant shift in how they evaluate stock compensation plans. The ISS Policy Survey is your opportunity to give ISS some feedback about how you think they should be analyzing your stock plans.
New ISS Policy on Equity Plans?
According to a recent posting in Tower Watson’s Executive Pay Matters blog (“ISS 2015 Policy Survey — Expanded Focus on Executive Compensation,” July 21), ISS has stated that it is considering using a more “holistic, ‘balanced scorecard’ approach” to evaluate equity plans. The good news is that this might allow for a more flexible analysis, rather than the very rule-based, SVT and burn rate analysis ISS uses today. But, as the Towers Watson blogs points out, it also might result in a less transparent process. Less transparency equates to less confidence in how ISS will come out on your plan when you put it to a vote (and perhaps also more business for ISS’s consulting group).
The 2015 Policy Survey
ISS uses policy surveys to collect opinions from various interested parties as to its governance policies. Corporate issuers are one of the many entities that are encouraged to participate in the survey. This year’s survey includes several questions on equity plans, including what factors should carry the most weight in ISS’s analysis: plan cost and dilution, plan features, or historical grant practices.
There’s a good chance your institutional investors are participating in the survey; don’t you want ISS to also hear your views on how your equity plans should be evaluated?
What Do You Think?
Say-on-Pay and CEO Pay
The survey also includes several questions on CEO pay (that ultimately relate to ISS analysis of Say-on-Pay proposals), including questions on the relationship between goal setting and award values and when CEO pay should warrant concern.
Completing the Survey
You have until August 29 to complete the survey. There may be questions in the survey that you don’t have an opinion on or that aren’t really applicable to you as an issuer–you can skip those questions. But don’t wait to complete the survey, because I’m pretty sure the deadline won’t be extended. On the positive side, however, the survey is a heck of a lot shorter than the NASPP’s Stock Plan Design and Administration Surveys.
Retirement provisions constituted the most anticipated area of results in the 2013 Domestic Stock Plan Design Survey. I received several requests for a peek at the preliminary results in advance of our release of the final results. Now that the final results are available, I thought a summary of the data might be of interest to my readers.
The 2013 Domestic Stock Plan Design Survey Results
Automatic Payouts to Retirees: Just over 50% of respondents provide some sort of automatic payout to retirees–either full or pro-rata accelerated or continued vesting. Depending on the type of grant, another 5% to 17% provide a discretionary payout or some other type of payout.
Accelerated vs. Continued Vesting: For time-based restricted stock/units, acceleration of vesting (28%) edges out continuing to vest awards after retirement (23%). But, for stock options, the opposite is true–continued vesting upon retirement (27%) just edges out accelerated vesting (24%). And, for performance awards, continuing to vest (in other words, paying the awards out to retirees only at the end of the performance period rather than at retirement) wins by a landslide (44% vs. 8% or respondents). This makes sense–performance awards that pay out at retirement are problematic for a host of reasons: for starters, they provide the wrong incentive to potential retirees and don’t qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m).
Full vs. Pro-Rata Vesting: For time-based awards, full vesting (vs. pro-rata vesting) is most common: 30% vs. 21% of respondents for RS/RSUs and 41% vs. 10% of respondents for stock options. But for performance awards, pro-rata vesting is more common (34% of respondents vs. only 18% that provide full vesting).
To be continued…tune in next week for the exciting conclusion to our foray into the world of retirement.