Updated March, 2026 via Claude According to the NASPP, Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) are now rarely granted to employees of publicly traded companies, yet they are still popular with pre-IPO private companies. Consequently, advisors may encounter clients or prospects with ISOs that want to take advantage of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) treatment on these […]
IMAGE: cooldesign / 123rf.com By Aaron Skloff, AIF, CFA, MBA / August 4, 2015. UPDATED March 2026 Via Claude AI Q: My employer has awarded me numerous stock options over the years. When can I exercise these employee stock options and what are the tax ramifications? A: The Problem. Many employers award stock options to […]
For over 25 years, StockOpter has been helping advisors attract and retain high-net-worth clients by providing them with timely, insightful and comprehensive guidance regarding their company stock and option holdings. Today, I am excited to announce the next chapter for StockOpter and the equity compensation planning niche. StockOpter.com has been acquired by a new company, […]
The stock market has been on a roller coaster the last few weeks, but in general the S&P 500 index is not far from its all-time high. Consequently, most employee stock options granted in the last ten years are likely to still be significantly “In-the-Money” (current stock price above the grant price) as illustrated by […]
A StockOpter White Paper This white paper explains the concept of volatility and why it is used in StockOpter.com (SO.com). Selecting a reasonable and appropriate volatility input is paramount to properly estimating the Black-Scholes Value (BSV) and Time Value (TV) of an employee stock option. It is also used in the estimation of an option holder’s Value-at-Risk […]
IMAGE: Crazy Nana / Unsplash In his article in Financial Planning, Craig Faulkner describes 5 reliable marketing strategies advisors should consider using to reach new clients next year. Here’s a short summary of these strategies that can help financial advisors to target clients that receive employer stock and option grants. Share your unique narrative of […]
This video provides an overview of StockOpter’s 10b5-1 Trading Plan capabilities. It explains the purpose of 10b5-1 plans and demonstrates this functionality for: Recording 10b5-1 Trading Plans Monitoring Trade Instructions and Stock Prices Alerting Financial Institutions to Place the Trades Check out these other StockOpter tutorial videos: StockOpter Walk-Thru Valuation and Risk Analysis Dashboards Equity […]
This video for financial advisors provides an overview of StockOpter’s equity compensation strategy modeling and tax planning capabilities. This tutorial covers activation and access, the modeling process and navigation and “help” resources. The StockOpter strategy modeling functionality enables users to: Create detailed diversification strategies Develop multi-year, goal based and tax efficient plans Generate output to […]
Rule 10b5-1 trading plans are prearranged plans for selling and/or buying company stock under SEC rules. This provides an affirmative defense against charges of insider trading if the employee trades stock while they possess Material Nonpublic Information (MNPI). Many companies now either require or strongly encourage their executives and key employees to set up 10b5-1 […]
Two Dashboard Tutorials Video #1 provides a brief overview of the StockOpter valuation and risk analysis Dashboards. It includes information on access, navigation, structure and features. *Click the full screen icon in the lower right corner of each player for a larger view. Video #2 dives into each individual Dashboard to help users to […]
