ifs ProShare 23rd annual Conference

Equatex talks mobility, tax and financial reporting for global plans at this year’s ifs ProShare Conference
London skyline illustration

ifs ProShare 23rd annual Conference

Equatex to sponsor the ifs ProShare conference and feature in the programme with several speakers

Equatex is looking forward to attending the ifs ProShare Conference this year again, having now separated from UBS and featuring under the new Equatex name. The 23rd annual conference will take place in London on Thursday, bringing together companies, providers and advisors to share best practice, discuss new developments and network.

On the day, Equatex will participate in the conference’s programme of distinguished speakers as well as host a booth showcasing our expertise.

Equatex will present on three topics alongside two of our clients. The first topic will be share plan reporting, which is a major preoccupation for this year’s conference. Ita Shaughnessy and Marco Forster will be joined by the National Grid’s Robin Kerner and Deloitte’s Rob Jennings to discuss the recent changes to the reporting of share plans to HMRC. The second topic, international tax, will see Pascal Dutler and AstraZeneca’s Helen Bradshaw discuss the challenges of managing share plans across multiple jurisdictions and tax regimes, with a particular focus on global mobility. Lastly, Stuart Bailey will be showing the value of accurately reporting the expense of share plans. The presentation will provide practical tips drawing on real life case studies and discuss the importance of also understanding the real value to a company of the plans that it operates.

“These topics are all extremely pertinent. There were issues with the implementation of the new HMRC online system, which has ultimately led to the deadline for reporting being extended by a month, so alongside Deloitte we will try to understand what those issues were and what we have done, ahead of those deadlines, to make it easy for our clients to report on time,” explains Kevin Mann, Head of Marketing. “As for the other two topics, many of our clients have global populations, so we understand the challenges that this presents. One of the many reasons that companies implement share schemes is to retain employees and encourage loyalty, but it is often difficult to identify the value behind the share schemes – our platform can help in understanding this correlation.

“Overall, we are striving to connect with as many people as possible, and make sure they fully understand what our offering is.”

The conference precedes the ifs ProShare awards dinner on 2 December at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Equatex is hoping for success, with clients UBS and AstraZeneca both nominated for the ‘Best employee share plan outcome following a major corporate change’ award. The annual awards strive to recognise and reward innovation and achievement in the field of share plans.

“We are proud of our 20 year heritage in providing share plan administration services to international clients, and will continue to build on the strong platform developed under UBS, so we are looking forward to seeing the reception the brand receives at the conference and then hopefully we will have further success at the awards in December,” says Kevin.