How Meridian Energy scaled its long-term incentive (LTI) scheme
By replatforming its long-term incentive (LTI) scheme to Sharesies, Meridian Energy was able to reward and incentivise a greater pool of executives.
At a glance
Meridian Energy is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest energy generators and retailers, with listings on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX).
Meridian needed a partner to help extend its long-term incentive (LTI) scheme—a way to reward employees for achieving long-term performance goals—to more members of its executive team.
The challenge: Deliver a future-proof LTI scheme that benefits and rewards executives of Meridian Energy, one of NZ’s largest energy companies.
The solution: A purpose-built area within the Sharesies app that provides real-time access to share rights and full visibility of vesting schedules.
The result: An executive-first experience that puts incentives front-and-centre, and allows for easier management of tax obligations.
“While previously our scheme was simple enough to operate, it was difficult to manage and account for, and wasn’t broad-ranging enough. As a leadership team, we looked at best practice in the market and followed suit—with Sharesies.”
Owen Hackston
Investor Relations Manager, Meridian Energy
The challenge
Deliver a more transparent LTI scheme
Meridian had an existing LTI scheme, however it posed a number of challenges:
executives couldn't easily access, see, or manage their LTI options, which meant the incentive wasn’t effectively driving performance for the business
meeting and managing tax obligations was difficult, which disincentived executives from interacting with their share rights
the value and benefits of engaging with the LTI scheme wasn't clear to the company or its employees.
The solution
Put the employee experience first
To address these challenges, Meridian needed a solution that focused on the needs of its executive team.
Real-time access and visibility
A dedicated employee area within the Sharesies app now provides executives with:
real-time access to share rights, making them more tangible and easier to interact with
full visibility of vesting schedules, giving insight into when the value of share rights might be realisable.
Easier tax, sign-up, and scheme establishment
Leveraging Sharesies’ intuitive share selling experience, it’s now easier for executives to sell shares and manage their personal tax obligations.
The sign-up process has also been streamlined so that eligible executives could enrol in the scheme effortlessly.
The establishment of the scheme was supported by Sharesies’ in-house dealing team through on-market share purchases.
The result
A more transparent and engaging LTI experience
Meridian received an employee-first experience that enables executives to engage more easily with their share rights, and access more ways to develop their wealth.
$7.6mValue of Meridian shares purchased by Sharesies’ in-house dealing team to assist with funding the scheme.
>45%Percentage of Meridian executives that went on to access Sharesies investing, saving, and insurance products.
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