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We hope you are just as excited as we are for our Virtual Conference. Below is a little introduction to our incredible speakers, from award winning companies. This should provide you with a taster of what to expect from this exciting event.

ProShare Conference 2020

09:15	Networking
09.45	CONFERENCE OPENS:
	Plenary Session - Welcome & SAYE & SIP Report Key Findings
	Speakers
	Peter Swabey, Executive Director, ProShare
	David Mortimer, Head of Public Affairs, The Chartered Governance Institute
10.15	Breakout Sessions (please choose one)
	2020 International Review - Around the World in 40 Minutes
	This session will update you on the key developments affecting the implementation of share plans globally. It will highlight:
	•      approaches to the implementation of global share plans during the COVID-19  crisis;
	•     notable developments in securities laws and taxation implications;
	•     a timely reminder on Brexit implications; and
	•     a focus on launching share plans in France and USA.
	Speakers
	Jeremy Edwards Partner, Baker McKenzie LLP Victoria Kirsch, Associate, Baker McKenzie LLP
	Expensive Expensing? Strategies to Manage Your Share Plan Financials
	Managing the “financials” is one of the unenviable takes that comes with operating an employee share plan. It is often complex, confusing, sometimes counter-intuitive but undoubtedly important.
	There are many different pieces of the puzzle to get your head around - accounting, funding/hedging arrangements, corporate tax deductibility and keeping a check on those dilution limits to name a few! In order to know the best approach to financing your plans and maximising the return on your investment, you first need to know where you stand.
	This session explores the fundamentals of IFRS through to hedging strategies which ensure successful navigation of the technical and practical challenges that many companies are facing.
	Speakers
	Arran Simpson, Partner, Deloitte LLP
	Katie Stephens, Associate Director, Deloitte LLP Ross Crick, Manager, VG
	How can Share Plans reduce inequality and increase financial literacy in a post COVID world?
	UN Sustainable Development Goal #10 calls for reducing inequalities in income as well as those based on age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, economic or other status within a country. The goal also addresses inequalities among countries, including those related to representation, migration and development assistance. Join this discussion and hear more on the economic credentials of share plans to support the reduction of inequality in nation states. This session is open to all but would be of benefit to anybody who is trying to build a suitable narrative around launching a new share plan.
	Speakers
	David Isaacs, Associate Director, Link Market Services (Trustees) Limited Jai Baker, Head of Industry, Link Market Services (Trustees) Limited Lindsey Doud, Account Director, Link Market Services (Trustees) Limited
	Ocado Group plc - driving global employee engagement through equity plans in a time of rapid corporate change
	In this session, EY and Ocado will discuss the new global all-employee plans implemented by Ocado. The session will focus on how Ocado balanced the demands of a strong and distinctive company culture with the need to effectively incentivise a growing international workforce at a time of rapid growth and expansion for the business. It will include practical insight on both the design and implementation process from both a company and advisor perspective.
	Speakers:
	Melanie Keegan, Global Share Plans Manager, Ocado Group plc Alex Murdoch, Associate Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
10.55	Networking Break
11.25	Breakout Sessions (please choose one)
	2020: A COVID Odyssey for Equity Compensation
	Over the course of the current crisis, we have seen a lot of conversations taking place around what this means for share plans; from quick changes to longer term thinking around how share plans could be used differently as a reward tool in these challenging times. This has varied depending on the company's own position in the crisis.
	This session will provide an overview of current market volatility and what it means for different sectors of industry, as well as what the mid and longer term future may hold. The speakers will share insights and trends seen across their global client base in terms of changes, challenges, considerations for equity plans, and the impacts on plan participants.
	Speakers:
	Sophie Altaf, Associate Director, Stock Plan Services, Fidelity International Tom Stevenson, Head of Equity Trading, EMEA, Fidelity International
	The Magnificent Seven (share plan clauses)
	During this practical discussion of the Magnificent Seven (share plan clauses) the speakers will highlight why are they there, how they work… and more importantly whether they work at all? The session will cover:
	·         Adjusting in-flight performance conditions: How can you do it?
	·         Running out of shares? The 5% and 10% dilution limits – in practice.
	·         Ever wondered what grows in a “micklefield”?
	·         Discretions: why there’s much more than meets the eye
	·         What’s magic about 42 days?
	·         Choice of law and jurisdiction: what about international plans?
	·         Amending share plans: “boilerplate” – or is it?
	Speakers
	Bradley Richardson, Counsel, Linklaters Kaleigh Jones, Associate, Linklaters
	The world is your oyster - employee share plan and investment strategies for all generations
	Once upon a time it was easy to save money and receive a sizeable interest rate. These days, with base rates at an historic low this is nigh on impossible. EQ’s employee share plan and investment teams look at how share plans set in a broader investment context can help.
	Employees’ decisions to join share plans and subsequently to continue with investments at maturity, are influenced by financial and life goals, with employees of varying ages taking different approaches.
	The speakers will look at employees in different age categories, their participation in share plans and their key investment considerations.
	Speakers:
	Graham Bull, Head of EQ All-Employee Share Plans, Equiniti Sarah Smith, Head of Product – EQInvest, Equiniti
	The future of work and reward
	A number of companies were already looking at new ways of working and new ways of rewarding employees, COVID has accelerated this. This session will look at:
	·         How the way we work will change
	·         How this is likely to impact on reward for both executives and employees
	·         Is the fairness agenda relevant, will it:
	o   Change reward policies?
	o   make shares an important part in changing how key workers are seen in the company
	·         What impact COVID is having on companies approach to ESG and whether this will be captured in performance targets going forward.
	Speakers:
	Janet Cooper OBE, Tapestry Compliance,
	Roger Fairhead, Group Reward Director, Legal & General Group plc Peter Newhouse, Global Head of Reward, Unilever plc
12.05	Stretch Break
12.20	Breakout Sessions (please choose one) Launching a global plan under COVID-19
	When COVID-19 struck, plans were well under way to launch our annual Global Save  and Share Plan. In this session, hear how a dedicated team, working hand in hand with their providers, took this challenging situation and made it their most successful take up yet. Sage had to rethink their messaging, work out how to replicate the buzz of being in the office online, engage their regional teams and find a way for the CEO and regional MDs to show their support all while trying to work remotely for the first time and against a ticking clock.
	Speakers:
	Julie Shepherd, Director, Share Plans, The Sage Group
	Vikki Short, Internal Communications Business Partner, The Sage Group Betty Dartois-Vanneck, Account Manager, Stitch - a Deloitte business
	ESG and share plans – it’s not all about money
	This session will explore how companies embed ESG into company culture and purpose. In this session, our speakers will discuss how the achievement of ESG targets has become an important measure of success affecting reward and remuneration  outcomes. What actions have remuneration committees and boards taken in identifying both short and long term ESG metrics and how do these interact with the operation of share plans?
	Our speakers will consider how share plans can be a helpful tool in driving and enhancing a company’s ESG strategy, and touch on the impact that COVID-19 has had on the ESG landscape in the context of remuneration.
	Speakers:
	Rob Collard, Partner, Macfarlanes LLP
	Rasmus Berglund, Senior Counsel, Macfarlanes LLP Lucy Urwin, Solicitor, Macfarlanes LLP
	Embracing Diversity
	This session looks at diversity from two angles; analysing diversity within the organisation itself and narrowing down our focus at a share plan level. Building a culture that embraces and encompasses diversity in all aspects of decision making makes for a happier, more engaged and productive workforce.
	The speakers touch on inequality, demographic/generational changes, unconscious bias etc, and explore how to tackle these challenges in the workplace, to ultimately foster inclusivity and encourage participation in an organisation’s share plans.
	Speakers:
	Keri Simm, Head of Shares, Diageo plc
	Imagining the role of share plans in the workplace of the future
	With digital and social matters driving change in the way we work, what could the future of share plans look like? Computershare’s Innovation Team take us through their thinking on how the evolution of key trends could impact on this form of compensation in the future.
	Speakers:
	Bjoern Hofer, Global Head of Innovation (Plans) Computershare Ceri Mitchell, Senior Product Manager, Computershare
14:00	Breakout Sessions (please choose one)
	Global Compliance – Getting it right first time, every time
	Hear from our panel of experts, from a diverse range of industries, on the challenge of share plan compliance; why it’s important and how they work towards getting it right first time, every time. Each of our panellists will share their experience of delivering share awards in multiple countries and what this involves. From keeping abreast of updates in legislation to coordinating multiple stakeholders, incorporating technology and automation to create efficiencies and balancing an expanding list of compliance requirements within existing budgets. We’ll also explore how their approaches compare across the different environments in which they operate.
	Speakers:
	June Davenport, Head, EMEA Trust & Nominee Services, Shareworks by Morgan Stanley Vikki Scott, Share Plans Manager, Diageo
	Sara Thorne, Assistant Manager, Global Share Plans, WPP Emma Carter, Share Plans Manager, Aggreko
	Maria Sole Giordano, Share Plan Manager, Maersk
	Reward communications: a Vodafone case study
	Vodafone’s approach to employee communications in share plans has always been the gold standard but maintaining that momentum and developing it across other areas of reward has required a considered approach and communication strategy.
	In this session, Matt, Charlotte and Emma will discuss the benefits of devising a creative campaign that "lives the brand" and treats employees as consumers, while bringing clarity and value to more complex topics in the reward space. We'll be discussing how technology and innovative solutions have addressed communication challenges across reward and sharing brand new aspects to the gold standard approach at Vodafone.
	Speakers
	Matt Appleton, Executive Reward & Share Plan Manager, Vodafone Charlotte Cooper, Account Director, Stitch – a Deloitte business Emma Ewer, Account Manager, Stitch – a Deloitte business
	Financial Wellbeing. Education's what you need if you want to be a record breaker!
	Strap in and hold on as we hear from a host of professional speakers on how you as employers can engage your employees to make the right decisions, helping them build up their financial resilience to support them through these uncertain times.
	Darren will host a talk-show style event looking at the differences between generations, genders and more to see how YOU can increase engagement and become record breakers.
	This is an interactive session, so get your questions ready and challenge these quality speakers, it's a must see, don't give them an easy ride.
	Speakers
	Darren Smith, Corporate Relationships Manager, YBS Share Plans Louise Drake, National Sales Manager, YBS Share Plans Darren Laverty, Secondsight and Foster Denovo Jason Butler, Head of Financial Education, Salary Finance
	Iona Bain, Writer, Speaker, Broadcaster and Blogger specialising in young finances, Young Money
	Accessibility in a Digital World
	As we increasingly interact with our employees through digital channels, how do we make sure that we are doing so inclusively? This session takes a look at the challenges faced by the 1 in 7 people globally who could be hindered by some kind of disability and what can be done to make your share plan as accessible for them as possible.
	Speaker:
	Ceri Mitchell, Senior Product Manager, Computershare
14.40	STRETCH BREAK
14.55	Breakout Sessions (please choose one)
	Global Challenges of Offering All-Employee Share Plans
	This session will be a round table conversation on the practical issues encountered when working in-house on global employee share plans. Panellists will bring to the conversation their experiences of day to day requirements as well as the work involved in the lead up to the cyclical offer of a global share plan.
	The issuer and provider experiences are different, and our speakers will try to bridge the gap to show where issuers need support and where these relationships can work in a collegiate and joined up manner. They welcome and encourage participants to share and add to the conversation.
	Speakers
	Alexy Armitage, Global Equity Manager, AVEVA Group plc  Julie Shepherd, FGE, Director, Share Plans, The Sage Group plc
	John Ball, Compensation & Benefits Analyst, GAM Investments Kevin O’Hare, Manager, Manager Share Plans Royal Dutch Shell Pat Sims, Global Share Plan Consultant, PJS Consultancy
	Extreme Makeover - Sharesave Communication Edition
	Come prepared! One lucky audience member (voted on by the audience) will receive a live Sharesave communications makeover during the session that walks through the makeover process of an FAQ document. Even if you’re not selected, attendees will get a template where they can use and create their own one-page infographic FAQ. Our panel previously worked on a full communications makeover for an RSU program that went from drab to fab overnight. See the transformation in paper and video and watch the transformation live.
	Speakers
	Zoe Denny-Thomas, UK EMEA Communications Practice Leader, AON Caitlin Conkin, Communication Consultant, AON
	Day-to-day in-house share plans practice: getting it all done with the use of technology
	Managing incentive schemes, whether equity or cash settled, is comprised of a number detailed and often complex processes including: the design and testing of proposed awards; issuing new-awards; managing the performance vesting conditions; and making sure that the end-to-end settlement process runs smoothly without any hitches.
	These activities often require input and a streamlined workflow between various internal departments and stakeholders such as the Incentive Management Team, the Finance Team and the Cosec. ShareForce will break down some of these processes and illustrate how many of these can be digitized and efficiently executed using the support of technology.
	Speakers
	Michael Ketz, Managing Director, Shareforce
	Fatima Essop Mohamed, Head Equities Platforms and Share Incentive Management, The Standard Bank Group
	Key role of share plans in enabling the success of private companies
	What type of private companies can benefit from the use of share plans? How can the interests of investor shareholders and managers be aligned through the use of share plans? How do participants monetise their participation in a share plan?
	Speakers
	Elaine Graham, Director - Employer Solutions, ZEDRA
	Mahesh Varia, Partner: Tax - Incentives and Remuneration, Travers Smith
15.35	Closing remarks
	Peter Swabey, Executive Director, ProShare
15.45	Networking Drinks BYO :-)