Bend, OR, February 12, 2020 - StockOpter.com, the industry leading application for equity compensation valuation and risk analysis has been enhanced to track client 10b5-1 trading plans. These trading plans established under SEC Rule 10b5-1 provide an affirmative defense against charges of insider trading because they are setup before the employee knows information that may affect the company's stock price. This allows trades to be executed when stock price targets are met even during black-out periods. Since 2008, StockOpter.com from...
MoreHow to Choose From the Six Ways to Price Your Services
by Patrick Brewer, CPA, CFA How your firm prices its services is about more than just boosting profit margins. The right fee structure is vital to client satisfaction and your long-term success. Fees have always been a hot topic in this industry. However, with trading commissions getting slashed to zero, the rise of passive managers and price pressures across the board, many advisors are rethinking the way they price their services. Even if your firm’s current fee structure seems ideal,...
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Marketing More Effectively to Corporate Executives
By Jill Addison You’ve chosen to focus on corporate executive clients as a niche in your financial advisory practice. Great! But here’s the biggest mistake so many advisors make: they don’t put this niche focus and specialty front and center in their marketing. Having a niche is one of the biggest keys to growing a successful practice. But if no one knows about your niche, the power of it is lost. That’s where marketing comes in. You must platform your...
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The Do's and Don'ts for Engaging Executives with Equity Compensation
Financial advisors contact me regularly to ask for ideas on how to grow their practices by acquiring corporate executive clients. Having been in the equity compensation guidance space for 20 years I've seen what works and what doesn't. Here are some do's and don'ts for pursuing this market: Do have a few questions and an elevator pitch memorized for whenever you meet an executive that receives equity compensation (i.e. employee stock options and restricted stock/units). Read this article on the Four Questions to Ask...
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4 Questions to Ask Clients with Equity Compensation
Employees with equity compensation represent a great opportunity for advisors to generate new and ongoing business. This is because the market is largely under served and highly lucrative. Of the approximately 8+ million employees who receive equity compensation awards, only a small percentage utilize professional assistance. So when financial advisors cross paths with these prospects it's important to be prepared to seize the opportunity. Here are 4 questions to ask after meeting someone who works for a company that provides equity compensation: "What type(s) of...
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Incentive Stock Option (ISO) Planning Guidelines
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 lower Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) tax rates on these grants and optimizing for tax efficiency. Financial advisors often turn to us for an easy way to deal with Incentive Stock Options. Unfortunately, there is no simple way...
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Age, Gender, and Stock Plan Participant Attitudes
As one of the first surveys to report statistics by gender as well as age, the recently released biennial Fidelity Stock Plan Services Participant Survey highlights a unique opportunity for advisors to provide equity compensation guidance and education to not one, but two niche groups. Women While 66% of men reported understanding their stock plans “very well,” only 48% of women reported the same. When asked if they were aware of the tax implications of selling the stock in their...
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Black-Scholes v. Baroni-Adesi for Valuing Employee Stock Options
There are a variety of ways to calculate the Full Option Value (FOV) of employee stock options. The two most popular and relevant methodologies are Black-Scholes Merton and Baroni-Adesi Whaley. Detailed white papers on these methodologies can be found at the previous links, but the objective of this article is to simplify these complex formulas and explain the differences. .StockOpter.com can use either of these methodologies to calculate Full Option Value and Time Value. To change the methodology used by...
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Black Scholes and Employee Stock Option Education
IMAGE: iqoncept, 123rf.com Net Worth Strategies has been providing financial advisors with employee stock option risk analysis and tax planning tools since 1999 so it has witnessed firsthand a great deal of the development in employee stock option education. Here's a brief synopsis.... The internet bubble (1995 - 2000) instigated many companies to begin offering broad-based stock option programs. These companies had to provide participants with basic information about their stock option grants because options were new and mysterious. This...
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NQSO No No
IMAGE: Gemma Evans/UnSplash.com Too often I hear from financial advisors that their clients are considering exercising their non-qualified employee stock options (NQSOs) early (i.e. several years prior to expiration) and holding the shares for at least 1 year to get long term capital gains tax rates when they sell the shares. This may seem like a reasonable tax strategy, but it really isn't and here's what clients need to know. Unlike Incentive Stock Options (ISOs), NQSOs are NOT tax advantageous....
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