May 24, 2011
Equity Trends: Stock Options Declining
– Broc Romanek, CompensationStandards.com
Last month, Equilar released a research report on equity trends in the S&P 1500 (you can request a copy). Some of the findings include:
– Stock options are declining: From 2006 to 2010, the median number of total stock options granted fell at an annual rate of 3.6 percent.
– Restricted stock is on the rise: In the same period, the prevalence of companies awarding restricted-stock grants rose from 74.9 percent to 90.2 percent.
– An early look at 2010 proxies: In proxies filed so far, 48.8 percent of CEOs received a grant of performance-based equity. 60 percent of CEOs received shares with performance periods spanning multiple years.