Shareworks by Morgan Stanley: High Expectations, Disappointing Reality
In my opinion, my experience with Shareworks by Morgan Stanley has been disappointing, primarily due to issues with international wire …
Overview
What is Shareworks, by Morgan Stanley?
Shareworks by Morgan Stanley (formerly Solium Shareworks, and with the capabilities of the former Capshare) is a cloud-based equity compensation administration platform. It allows users to collaborate, share, comply, trade, model, support decisions, create reports and control plans more simply…
Recent Reviews
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Product Details
- About
- Tech Details
What is Shareworks, by Morgan Stanley?
Shareworks by Morgan Stanley (formerly Solium Shareworks, and with the capabilities of the former Capshare) is a cloud-based equity compensation administration platform. It allows users to collaborate, share, comply, trade, model, support decisions, create reports and control plans more simply and securely.
Shareworks, by Morgan Stanley Technical Details
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
|---|---|
| Mobile Application | No |
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Reviews and Ratings
(24)
Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
Comprehensive Overview: Many users have praised the platform for providing a comprehensive overview of the current dollar value of options, allowing them to stay informed about their equity portfolio. This feature has been particularly helpful in tracking and managing their investments effectively.
Future Options Display: Several reviewers appreciated the platform's ability to display future options, as it assists in planning and decision-making regarding stock compensation. This feature provides valuable insights into potential outcomes and helps users make informed choices.
Value and Quantity Summaries: Users find great value in the platform's summaries of value and quantity, as it simplifies tracking and managing their equity holdings. These summaries provide a clear picture of their investment portfolio, aiding in better decision-making.
Outdated and Old-looking Layout: Several users have expressed their dissatisfaction with the software's interface design, stating that it appears outdated and lacks a modern look and feel.
Difficult to Navigate for Non-Financial Users: Some reviewers have mentioned that navigating the software can pose challenges, particularly for individuals without a financial background. They find it challenging to understand certain terms and concepts used in the software.
Inconvenient Activation Process: Users have pointed out that the activation process for new users is manual and requires them to input personal information such as their ID, Zip Code, or SSN. This manual process can be inconvenient and time-consuming for users who would prefer a more streamlined activation method.
Users have provided the following recommendations for the software:
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The software is highly recommended for its ease of use, making it straightforward and user-friendly when performing capitalization computing. However, users have mentioned that there are excessive clicks and hidden items, which can make navigation difficult.
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The software is considered a solid product for private companies as it meets all their needs. It delivers on what it is built to do and provides a high-quality and simple-to-use Cap Table cloud-based system.
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Some users suggest using Excel in conjunction with the software to enhance the overall value, particularly for tasks related to 409A and stock comp expense calculations. Additionally, while the reports generated by the software are praised for their quality, users mentioned challenges in reaching customer support when needed.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
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Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
In my opinion, my experience with Shareworks by Morgan Stanley has been disappointing, primarily due to issues with international wire transfers. Despite ensuring that all banking information on my end is correct, and after being charged 50 GBP in fees, my funds have not been received. The bank has confirmed no attempts at transfer have been made to my account. I think customer support has been time-consuming and unhelpful, with over an hour spent on calls only to receive vague explanations about banking errors. I think this has not only been frustrating but has also shaken my confidence in their system's ability to handle sensitive financial transactions efficiently.
- Nothing
- International Wire Transfer Process
- Fee Transparency and Policy
- Customer Support and Response Time
January 27, 2020
Solid equity-comp solution
Solium Shareworks has been implemented approx 1 year ago to provide a more robust solution for our equity compensation administration. It is administered from our Berlin HQ office and has view-users in all our local offices. All employees with equity have their own account to keep track of their equity portfolio.
- Provide overview for employees regarding their equity portfolio.
- Keep equity plans organized from an administrator point-of-view.
- Limited functionality to run expense simulations based on different inputs.
- Limited visuals/graphs possible
July 02, 2019
Capshare - Improving Cap Table Mgmt
Our business utilizes Capshare as a solution to our cap table needs. We currently have over 5 different share classes and 400 shareholders so this tool helps us keep everything organized. It is strictly used by the finance department
- Cap Table Management - automates the cap table process from Excel and gives detail by shareholders or by share class
- Option Expense - runs monthly option expense and associated journal entries for stock based comp
- Warrant valuation - can run reports to determine a black scholes based warrant value with different assumptions
- The system is slow. Since we have a large cap table it takes over 20-30 seconds to load it once you log on. Additionally it is slow to move between pages
- It does not support IPO companies. We would have to transition to Shareworks
January 26, 2019
Valuable dashboard & tools related to equity based compensation for employees and administrators
Shareworks is used to manage the company RSU and ESPP programs across the entire organization globally. It allows employee visibility into their value, vesting schedules, release option elections, etc. Key features includes that it allows for lockdown during blackout periods to protect employees from trading during the blackout period unintentionally and automatic release options to sell shares, sell shares & hold shares to cover taxes or hold shares.
- Calendar of vesting schedule
- Visibility into value of various equity based compensation
- Ability to setup default release elections at vesting dates
- If banking information is incorrect for proceeds it can take weeks before notification of rejection and communication can be missed once sent
- Different activity views can show different data when a transaction is 'in process'
- Wish there was an option to test banking information entered for deposits, mine was rejected due to an unexpected issue with the name on my account
October 30, 2017
Great Cap Table Management Tool
We used Capshare to manage our company's cap table. It addressed a lot of issues we had with version control of previous cap tables managed in spreadsheets. It also allowed us to have one centralized location to review and maintain records and was very easy to access, use, and update.
- Easy to use interface, very intuitive
- Great customer service
- Waterfall analysis
- No need to worry about formulas not calculating properly
- At the time, couldn't calculate a formula based on milestone vesting
- Had some small hiccups with calculating stock option compensation expense, but Capshare was able to solve over time.
October 10, 2017
Solium Review
We use it to manage our company stock options. It's extremely easy and to use and keeps you up to date on stock allocation. Additionally, the platform has all kinds of analytics built into show how everything is progressing. We use this application across our all departments that receive stock options.
- Shows current dollar value of options
- Shows future options to be displayed
- Provides value and quantity summaries
- Old looking layout
- Can be difficult if you don't have any financial background
- Somewhat difficult to navigate
March 27, 2017
Shareworks Review
Shareworks is used as our equity management tool across our entire company, including two wholly owned subsidiaries. Every employee has access to the system as a management tool for employee stock options. From an administrative view, Shareworks is great for tracking stock options, cap table administration, calculation stock compensation expense (ASC 718).
- Provide access for employees to company equity plan.
- Administer cap table.
- Calculate stock compensation expense (ASC 718).
- Improve usability, difficult to navigate.
- Improve user activation process. Currently users need to know their ID, Zip Code, or SSN and we don't add that information to system so very manual to give access.
- Email notification templates, visibility into what has been sent.
- Stock compensation calculation.