Jim Bonham, president and CEO of The ESOP Association, provided his perspective on ESOPs, employee ownership, and public policy developments affecting them at the Mid-Year Fellows Workshop in Honor of Louis O. Kelso. Rutgers University’s Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing hosts this annual event, bringing together academics, researchers, and supporters to review, discuss, and share independent research on employee ownership. The Employee Ownership Foundation sponsors this annual conference and has supported Kelso Fellows (researchers) for many years.
Jim’s address covered some recent policy updates and wins for the ESOP community, and he also spent significant time discussing the effects and concerns about the entry of several private equity groups into the public policy arena with proposals labelled as “ESOPs.” However, he emphasized that proposals backed by private equity funded groups differ significantly from true ESOPs. Jim warned that they could have serious consequences for the ESOP community should they pass into law, prompting extensive discussion during the Q&A portion following his remarks, and throughout the rest of the event.
In November, The ESOP Association produced a special edition of its monthly newsletter, the ESOP Report, that addresses private equity’s entrance into the ESOP space. The collective thoughts and concerns of academics, guest columnists, and TEA’s leadership can be found here.
