There is an ESOP program, where a large portion of your salary is invested (10-15%). However, the investments they make on your behalf are not done with your knowledge. For example, one year the stock price will go up 25%, but your ESOP account will not go up 25%, because your ESOP account has cash savings. Being that investing 15% of your salary goes against diversification recommendations for that much of your salary, I am not upset that some is reserved in cash as a hedge against falling stock prices. But the whole system is very vague, and Ulteig does not tell you what the payout schedule of your ESOP account will be upon your termination of employment. For me, they are paying me $10k/year each fall until my vested account balance is paid out. But, what is happening to the remaining balance as I am being paid out? Is it growing as the stock price grows? Is it being held in cash? In addition, there is very limited transparency on financial performance. Ulteig is growing, purchasing smaller companies to gain capabilities, which is great. But, how is that growth being financed? How much leverage is being employed? is the ESOP being used as Collateral? Because the company is not publicly traded, they don't have to report any of these metrics. This is alarming if you are investing so much of your money in one company, and are concerned with how growth is being financed to assess long term strategy.
