“On the sharing of value, the first stage of the rocket is salary, the second, profit-sharing and participation, and the third consists of investing in the securities of your company”, describes Jean-Philippe Debas, president of the management company Equalis Capital. This third level is employee shareholding, which potentially concerns all joint stock companies, whether listed or not. Already widespread in France, it has recently been the subject of several government incentives.
In September 2023, the French Federation of Associations of Employee and Former Employee Shareholders (FAS) estimated the number of employee and former employee (retired) shareholders at around 3.5 million through the various existing systems. According to Equalis Capital, there are between 2 million and 2.2 million active French employee shareholders. But the vast majority of them are in CAC 40 and SBF 120 companies, and have been for a long time: according to statistics from the Ministry of Labour17.2% of companies with 1,000 or more employees launched an employee shareholding operation in 2020 alone, and 10.5% of their employees benefited from it, compared to only 0.8% of companies with 10 to 49 employees ( and 0.4% of their employees).
Equalis Capital publishes its eighth barometer on employee shareholding on Monday October 16, which analyzes the practices of 65 mid-sized companies (ETI, between 250 and 5,000 employees) not listed on the stock exchange. The firm points out that only 3.7% of unlisted mid-sized companies have a company mutual fund (FCPE), the most classic form of employee shareholding.
An attractive system for employees
The results of the study highlight the performance of this device, which is not without risk. The Equalis index, which measures the average performance of investment by employee shareholders in the companies concerned, increased by 17.1% over one year, and by 153% over the last five years. But in 2023, 20% of companies experienced a decline in the value of their stock.
To reduce this risk of loss, the main obstacle for employees, companies can encourage them to invest thanks to different aid mechanisms (contribution or reduction). Seventy-nine percent of unlisted mid-sized companies say they offer assistance. On average, almost a third of “ticket” of the employee purchasing shares is financed by his company. This aid rises to 64% of the amount for employees whose investment is less than 1,000 euros, and can extend to free shares: for three years, companies have been able to offer a unilateral contribution, and one mid-sized company in five has offered it.
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