Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) survey

Taking stock: The employee stock ownership plan landscape

Currently there are almost 7,000 employee stock ownership plans in existence, representing more than 14 million employees and $1.4 trillion in assets.¹ The ESOP corporate structure represents an viable strategic alternative for owners looking to diversify their equity in a tax-advantaged way while giving employees greater empowerment through ownership in their respective companies.

In fact, a recent study from the nonprofit National Center for Employee Ownership shows that:

• Productivity improves by four to five percent in just the first year after adoption of an ESOP²
• ESOP companies register 25 percent greater job growth over a 10-year period than similar companies with conventional ownership²
  

Overall, our ESOP survey indicates that sentiment continues to remain high in 2019, with participants responding quite resoundingly that they would undergo the transaction again today.

Tracking trends in employee stock ownership plans

As a steward of a company’s and its employee-shareholder’s wealth, there are several important considerations that corporate leadership and the board should undertake in reviewing their capital structure and understanding key capital markets trends. DCF is working closely with our clients and other active industry participants to provide benchmarks on existing and emerging trends through a series of thought pieces and surveys.