Benefits February 27, 2002
Participants Quiet on Company Stock
February 27, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Most 401(k)
participants with company stock in their plans haven't
expressed concern about the investment to their employer, a
new survey finds.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
The survey, by consultant Spectrem Group, found that 27% of respondents got questions or comments from participants about the company stock – even with the Enron scandal in the news virtually every day.
Specifically:
- 50% of participants who voiced company stock questions sought reassurance that putting retirement money into that kind of an investment was safe,
- generally participants wanted to know the total amount of company stock in the plan and a current picture of their employer’s financial health,
- participants also sought reassurance that their employer wouldn’t mimic the Enron situation – the company suffered a financial meltdown at a time when many of its workers held large blocks of its stock in their retirement plan, and
- employees wanted to clarify plan rules about selling company stock shares to transfer the money into other plan investment options
The survey, Company Stock in 401(k) Plans: Current Practices and Plans for the Future, covered 100 large companies.