New NCEO Data Looks at Frequency of Broad-Based Option and Stock Purchase Plans

There is no easy way to find out how many companies have broad-based option plans (plans offered to most or all employees) or ESPPs. There is no required government registration for these plans, so the only practical way to find out is to look in the benefits section of their careers page on the Web or, in some cases, in their 10-K filings (many companies do not provide all of this information there, however). So the NCEO has been painstakingly going through a list of over 2,000 large public companies to compile who has plans and who does not. We will also soon have data on other kinds of broad-based equity plans (restricted stock, stock appreciation rights, and phantom stock). So far, we have found that about 12% of the companies have broad-based options and about 30% have ESPPs. The list will be completed in the next two weeks and will be available for purchase. My next column will provide more details on that.