Results of the 2021 ESOP Corporate Governance Survey are now available.

The NCEO has conducted surveys on ESOP companies' corporate governance since 2005. Our 2021 survey received responses from 302 ESOP companies in May-June 2021. The survey report includes detailed compensation data for independent, affiliated, and inside directors, data on ESOP trustee types and compensation, the composition of the board, and other governance topics. Data is presented across multiple demographic categories including revenue, selected industries, employee count, and ESOP ownership percentage. 

Download sample tables from the report at this link (PDF).

Our thanks to our 302 respondents! All respondents have been emailed a discount code to purchase the report at a 75% discount from the NCEO member price.

After purchasing the report, the file for download will appear in your nceo.org account screen under "Files." Please contact [email protected] for any questions or assistance. 

Survey Details

The report includes the following information:

  • Descriptive demographic information about the respondents
  • Makeup of the board and committees (inside, affiliated, and independent directors)
  • Tables of dollar compensation at the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles for directors, broken out by retainer, per-meeting fees, equity compensation, and total compensation
  • Additional fees for board and committee chairs, in percentiles
  • ESOP trustee type (inside/outside, institutional/individual/committee, directed/discretionary/mixture)
  • Outside trustee compensation, in percentiles

This information is presented for both the overall survey sample and as breakouts for each of the following company characteristics:

  • Revenue
  • Number of employees
  • Percent ESOP ownership
  • Age of ESOP
  • S corporations and C corporations
  • Industry:
    • Construction
    • Manufacturing
    • Professional, scientific, and technical services

We are happy to provide additional demographic breakouts tailored to your company at no additional cost, where sample size permits. Please contact [email protected] to request this.

Terms of Use

By purchasing the NCEO's ESOP Corporate Governance Survey report, you are agreeing to following terms of use:

  • Companies may share the report with anyone at the company, including outside board members and consultants, but may not circulate it outside the company.
  • Companies sharing the report with outside board members and consultants must specify that its use is limited to the company, and must acknowledge the NCEO as the source. 
  • ESOP service providers and other service providers or consultants may use this report to advise clients, as long as they acknowledge the NCEO as the source and make clear that it should not be circulated outside the client's company.