[June 24, 2024]

Morgan Stanley at Work Insights Spotlight Increasing Focus on Workplace Financial Benefits, With Equity Compensation Key

Morgan Stanley at Work today announced takeaways from its annual Thrive conference and Voice of the Participant survey, which together demonstrate increasing demand for and adoption of workplace financial benefits among both companies and their employees. Findings show equity plans in particular continue to gain popularity as a strategic method to attract, retain and motivate top talent.

Underscoring this trend, the largest-ever 2024 Thrive conference in Phoenix, Arizona, saw record attendance from 1,000+ benefits professionals across public, private, U.S., and Canadian markets. Attendees came from a variety of sectors including Information, Health, Energy, Finance and more. Thought leaders presented topics ranging from financial reporting and automation to non-qualified deferred compensation and donor advised funds, while attendees enjoyed the option to earn continuing education credits at 85% of sessions, witness platform demonstrations, participate in hands-on labs, and access 11 invited industry partner exhibitors.

The conference also introduced a new charitable giving activity, Thrive Gives Back, where attendees hand-crafted over 200 backpacks and reading supplies for donation to local charity HandsOn Greater Phoenix's Reading Rocks program, which alongside other initiatives provides assistance to regional children in transitional and foster care.

For Thrive highlights, watch here.

Within this widening ecosystem of benefits solutions, research from Morgan Stanley at Work found more companies are offering some form of equity compensation benefits (76%, up 12% since 2021)¹ as employee attitudes continue to evolve. Insights from the 2024 Voice of the Participant study, which expanded to a base of 2.3 million global stock plan participants at both private and public companies, reveal:

• Equity benefits and education drive employee satisfaction and retention: Stock plan benefits are highly sought-after, with 43% of participants saying equity was a reason they joined their company, and once participating, most (76%) stock plan participants are highly satisfied. What's more, over half (56%) of stock plan participants cite equity benefits as a reason they continue to work for their company, and seven in 10 say equity benefits are important for recognizing their accomplishments at work-underlining how stock plans can contribute to retention as well as a culture of ownership.
• Yet U.S. participants seek plan education: 61% of U.S. stock plan participants say they do not understand how to try to maximize the financial benefit from their stock plan, showcasing the need for more comprehensive financial education support. Most U.S. participants say they would be likely to attend sessions on the topics of equity fundamentals (69%), retirement (67%), and advanced investing (64%).²
• Taxes remain a bottleneck: While employees highly value their equity compensation, many still do not understand more nuanced aspects such as taxes. In fact, 62% of stock plan participants say they do not understand the impact of taxes on their stock plan benefit-which can erode the net value of their holdings.
• Companiescan close gaps and add value through guidance: Fewer than half of stock plan participants (45%) say they know how to reach someone if they have questions, and less than a third (31%) said they have a personal financial plan in place. This indicates an opportunity to invest in greater employee awareness and expand access to education, support, and guidance to help employees connect their equity to personal financial goals.

Morgan Stanley at Work serves over 24,000 corporate clients and ~12M workplace participants, encompassing over 40% of the S&P 500 and roughly 60% of the Nasdaq 100.³ As announced at Thrive, the Firm delivered over 1,300 education sessions to more than 125,000 benefits participants around the world in 2023, and is continuing to roll out tech enhancements and updates-such as expanding application programming interface (API) integration with leading real-time compensation benchmarking and planning solutions provider Pave to Equity Edge Online^®. The business remains focused on delivering a more unified client experience while also bolstering service levels and staffing for deeper client and participant support.

"As economic headwinds and tailwinds shift, organizations and their employees continue to tell us that workplace financial benefits are both a strategic priority and an effective tool for pursuing goals, driving results, and remaining competitive," said Brian McDonald, Head of Institutional and Direct Businesses, Morgan Stanley. "Putting clients first is one of Morgan Stanley's core values, and for us that means an ongoing commitment to invest in and deliver our full ecosystem of solutions for comprehensive support at every stage of our clients' corporate and individual financial journeys."

To learn more about Thrive go here.

Additional findings from the Third Annual Morgan Stanley at Work Stock Plan Participant study are available here.

1. State of the Workplace Study 2024 | Morgan Stanley at Work
2. Non-U.S. participants excluded from participant education plan numbers.
3. Statistics refer to equity compensation administration services for Shareworks and Equity Edge Online®. S&P 500® Companies Represented includes companies for which Morgan Stanley at Work provides equity compensation solutions as of March 2023.

Methodology: The data from the Morgan Stanley at Work 2023 Annual Stock Plan Participant Survey comes from an in-house survey of 2.3 million active global Morgan Stanley stock plan participants (1.3M U.S. and 980K non-U.S. participants received the survey email). The survey was conducted on behalf of Morgan at Stanley at Work using an online survey on September 14, 2023, plus one reminder email.

About Morgan Stanley at Work

Morgan Stanley at Work provides workplace financial benefits that build financial confidence and foster loyalty-helping companies attract and retain top talent. Our end-to-end solutions support your organization at any stage of growth through a powerful combination of modern technology, insightful guidance, and dedicated service; they include Equity, Retirement, Deferred Compensation, Executive Services, and Saving and Giving solutions. And while we're fulfilling your company's benefits needs, we're also enhancing your employees' financial well-being. Each benefit solution also includes our engaging Financial Wellness program, which provides employees with knowledge, tools, and support to help them make the most of their benefits and achieve their life goals.

About Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is a leading financial services firm that provides access to a wide range of products and services to individuals, businesses, and institutions, including brokerage and investment advisory services, financial and wealth planning, cash management and lending products and services, annuities and insurance, retirement, and trust services.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in 42 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

Content and services available to non-US participants may be different than those available to US participants. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is the trade name of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, a registered broker-dealer in the United States.

© 2024 Morgan Stanley at Work and Shareworks services are provided by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, member SIPC, and its affiliates, all wholly owned subsidiaries of Morgan Stanley.

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