Agenda day 2

Afternoon of  30th September 2021

13.00

Networking, check your technology and visit sponsor booths

13.30

Welcome from ProShare 

Speaker: Murray Tompsett, Head of ProShare

13.40

Equiniti Plenary: Employee Shareholder Voice 2021

Employee share plan participation naturally leads onto share ownership. In the ‘year of the individual investor’ what are employee shareholder opinions about share ownership and how can that help companies? Companies looking to enjoy the best shareholder relations will need to understand their retail investors, use their preferred means of communication, tune into their social media and begin to align company objectives to their agenda. EQ have commissioned a significant piece of research that investigates the needs, behaviours, and drivers of this investor base. Using research data, this session provides some great insight into what employees think about owning shares and provides valuable information for companies looking to understand their shareholder base.

Speakers:

Ian Cox – Managing Director, Share Plan Services, EQ Boardroom
Jennifer Rudman – Industry Director, Employee Share Plans, EQ Boardroom

14.10

Stretch break

14.15

Breakout sessions:

Share plans have been flying around, while our feet have been on the ground: global tax and legal compliance

Join us on our global tour which will highlight key global legal and tax changes and any that are on the horizon. We will include countries such as Australia, Canada, China, Ireland and the US. Unilever, will provide commentary on how they have reacted to these changes – keeping the theory practical and sharing top tips on compliance – not easy when you operate in 115 countries! 

Speakers:

Carla Walsham, Associate Director, Deloitte
Paula Lancaster, Associate Director, Deloitte
Ben Alhassan, Reward Analyst, Unilever

Or

SIP in the spotlight

SIPs are at the heart of our current broad-based share plans, with this panel discussion providing a fantastic opportunity to revisit what successful plans look like, their benefits and how they are administered and communicated effectively. This is a timely opportunity to explore the impacts of the suggested proposals for change, which if implemented will position SIP as the bedrock for the Next Chapter.

Speakers:

Jennifer Rudman, Industry Director, Employee Share Plans, Equiniti
Graham Bull, Head of EQ, All-Employee Share Plans, Equiniti
Wendy Butcher, Head of Share Plan Trustee Services, Equiniti Share Plan Trustees Limited
Alison Miller, Share Plans Manager, BAE Systems
Marianne Phillips, Assistant Company Secretary, Wickes Group

14.45

Global Share Roundtable: Engaging you in Employee Ownership. Get interactive with a Global Shares quiz.

As an employee owned company, you can be sure that we understand the importance of getting equity compensation right. We’re not only passionate about what we do, but also in communicating how share plans are often the best way to recruit, reward and retain employees. Come, join us at our Roundtable Session with a difference, where we’ll keep you on your toes with an fun and interactive quiz. We work with some of the most exciting startups, tech unicorns and enterprise brands across the globe and will take you through some engaging ways of finding equity management solutions to suit your needs, in a unique and educational way.

Speaker:

Darren Smith, Business Development Director, Global Shares

Following on from earlier conference sessions discussing SIPs, this is an opportunity to discuss and share SIP experiences, with an opportunity to ask those burning questions.

Speaker:

Jennifer Rudman, Industry Director, Employee Share Plans, EQ

15.15

Breakout sessions:

SAYE sharesave – dead or just in need of a revamp?

Sharesave is now under serious threat. Questions over its worth and its attractiveness to an audience is substantially different from that when it was first introduced.  From the cost to employers and a design that often seems out of date, Global Shares will gauge enthusiasm for continuing with Sharesave. And if so what can be done to counter the threats faced.

Speakers:

Jean Piercey, Head of Share Plans, Legal & General
Martin Osborne-Shaw, Head of Business Development, EMEA, Global Shares
Darren Smith, Business Development DIrector, UK, Global Shares
Julie Shepherd, Director - Share Plans, Reward & Recognition, The Sage Group Plc

 Or

Employee shareholder engagement – proxy voting review

How engaged are your employees with the shared decisions of your shareholders?  Link Group unpick the proxy returns across SIP participants versus those of the shareholders.  Is there a correlation between voting patterns and what are the engagement levels?  Let us explore what we can all do to encourage further and sustained engagement to support good governance and inclusion.

Speaker:

Jai Baker, Industry Director, Link Group

15.45

stretch break

16.00

Breakout Sessions:

Transforming the share plan function

While there is, in many ways, no such thing as a typical share plan function, many of us will recognise the them of ever-increasing demands being weighed against highly contrained resources, particularly in a “hybrid” working world.  In this session, we will explore the changing role of the in-house share plans function, and the demands placed on the team.  With input from EY and our clients, we will explore practical examples of how the share plans function is transforming, in scale, scope, and delivery approach, and consider areas of emerging “best practice” to address these demands.

Speaker:

Giles Capon, Partner, EY

Or

Communications evolution – the growing importance of digital assets

In this session we will explore the growing importance of creating a solid core of digital communications for company share plans. Multi-channel approaches are now commonplace – but resource and budget are not always focussed on the right areas and channels. We will look at some impressive case studies and discuss practical steps that could be taken to improve share plan communication strategies.

Speakers:

Jack Price, Managing Director, Computershare Communication Services
Tom Gwinnell, Key Account Director, Computershare Communication Services

16.30

Stretch break

16.35

Breakout sessions:

Tackling inequality in pay ratios: what you need to know

Founding members of 'Change the Race Ratio', Deloitte, and communications specialists Stitch will be joined by BT’s Compensation Director, Bob Costa, to talk about why tackling the ethnicity pay gap matters. They'll provide plenty of practical guidance, from taking those first steps, to explaining how communications can be part of the solution. Join our subject matter experts for an insightful and lively session.

Speakers:

Mitul Shah, Partner, Deloitte
Bob Costa, Compensation Director, BT
Vicki Wright, Strategist, Stitch - a Deloitte business

Or

The next Chapter for global share plans; what challenges are we seeing?”
Presented by The ProShare Global Issues Focus Group

Issuer panel discussing challenges the presenters have come across over the last 12 months and seeking input from attendees willing to share.   Planning to look at acceptance of awards, tax management, use of plan discretion, taking a global approach, and wrap up with Brexit and any on-going challenges or is that so 2020!  We want to share our story and engage with you to look at how plans have changed or are likely to evolve, and what has been driving change.

Speakers:

Alexy Armitage, Head of Global Equity, AVEVA Group plc
Julie Shepherd, Director - Share Plans, Reward & Recognition,The Sage Group Plc
Pat Sims, Principal Adviser, Share Plans Rio Tinto
Keri Simm, Head of Shares, Diageo plc

17.05

17.10

*This is a draft programme and may be subject to change