Chinese investors back idea of executive stock incentives
At least 100 listed Chinese companies are planning to award stock incentives to executives with the encouragement of a new generation of mainland institutional investors who believe awards will help improve corporate governance.
Some private sector companies have awarded shares or options to executives and several state-owned companies, which dominate China's stock markets, are waiting for the government to finalise regulations, expected shortly, so that they can too.
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The government gave initial approval to stock incentive plans by companies listed on mainland exchanges at the start of the year. Institutional investors in China have embraced the concept just as US fund managers have cooled on the benefits of stock options.
"When companies come to visit, we suggest that they award shares to senior managers so that they are more motivated," said Shao Jiejun, vice-general manager at Hua An Fund Management in Shanghai, one of the biggest institutional investors in the country.
"It could help change the mentality of management of Chinese companies," said Shifeng Ke, a director at Martin Currie Investment Management, one of the largest foreign investors in mainland Chinese shares.
Martin Currie looked to invest in companies where senior managers were shareholders, so the incentive plans would increase the number of available investments, he said.
The latest large company to introduce an incentive plan was ZTE, the telecoms equipment group, which two weeks ago said it would issue Rmb1.5bn ($190m) of new shares, which cannot be traded for five years, to senior executives and staff members.
State-owned companies listed in the mainland are still awaiting final approval from the government body that controls them to begin issuing shares or options to executives, although local media reported last week that the government was in the final stage of preparing regulations.
Baosteel, the largest Chinese steelmaker, is expected to be one of the first state-owned enterprises to launch a stock incentive plan. Other groups that have outlined plans include the real estate group Vanke, Citic Securities and China Merchants Bank, the largest private lender.
However, one Shanghai-based fund manager, who asked not to be named, said several of the schemes he had seen awarded shares upfront to managers without asking them to meet performance targets. "There is a real danger that these stocks and options will be given away too easily," he said.
Citic Securities and Yili, a dairy group, have both been criticised for the low price at which executives will be able to buy shares under their plans.
中国100多家上市公司拟向高管配股
在中国内地新一代机构投资者的鼓励下，至少有100家内地上市公司计划向公司高管提供股票激励措施。这些投资者认为，向高管提供股票激励，有助于提高公司治理水平。
目前，已有多家民营企业向公司高管授予了股票或股票期权。而作为中国股市的主导力量，一些国有企业也正在等待政府最终确定监管条例，并预期相关规定近期出台后，他们也可以很快实行股票激励计划。
今年年初，中国政府初步批准了多家在内地上市的公司实施股票激励计划。当美国的基金经理们对股票期权的好处已有所看淡时，中国的机构投资者却开始推崇这一做法。
上海华安基金管理有限公司(Hua An Fund Management)副总经理邵杰军表示：“当上市公司来访时，我们会建议它们向高级管理人员授予股票，这样一来，他们就能获得更多激励。”华安基金是中国内地最大的机构投资者之一。
马丁可利投资管理公司(Martin Currie Investment Management)董事柯世丰表示：“它可能有助于改变中国公司管理层的思维模式。”该公司是中国股票的最大外国投资者之一。
电信设备集团中兴通讯(ZTE)是最近一家推出股票激励计划的公司。该公司两周前表示，将向高管人员和员工发行价值15亿人民币(合1.9亿美元)的新股，这些股票5年内不可交易。
作为中国最大的钢铁制造商，预计宝钢(Baosteel)将成为首批推出股票激励计划的国有企业之一。其它计划实施股票激励措施的企业还有中信证券(Citic Securities)、房地产集团万科(Vanke)、中国最大的民营银行招商银行(China Merchants Bank)等。
但是，驻上海的一位不愿透露姓名的基金经理表示，在他看到的一些股票激励计划中，有些计划早早就向管理人员发放股票，并未要求他们达到业绩目标。他表示：“这些股票和期权极有可能过于简单地就给出去了。”
