Mariner Wealth Advisors: an equity compensation advisor for vested RSUs and options

What does equity compensation advice cover, and who needs it?

Equity compensation advice is a lot-by-lot plan for the RSUs, PSUs, options and ESPP shares you hold: what each lot is worth, what it would cost in tax to sell, and the order to sell in. It suits executives whose yearly vesting is at or above base salary, or whose vested shares exceed one year of vesting.

Take Kwame's two numbers: about $600,000 of RSUs vesting each year and $900,000 already vested and never sold. Work starts with a grant-by-grant inventory covering RSUs, PSUs, NSOs, ISOs and ESPP shares, with vest dates, per-lot cost basis and the company's open trading windows.

Mariner Wealth Advisors then projects the tax on this year's vests together with salary and any deferred compensation, so you see total income before it lands. The withholding shortfall that often follows a big vest has its own page.

Sale plans rest on diversification research and the cost of each lot. They don't rest on a view of next quarter or on pipeline news. We'd rather work from what decades of data say about single-stock risk, because nobody at the firm can see your company's next trial result any better than you can.

Kwame meets both tests: vesting is above his salary, and $900,000 vested is more than the $600,000 he receives in a year.

Signs your company stock has outgrown a do-it-yourself approach

Your vested holdings are larger than one year of vesting. Kwame has $900,000 against $600,000. Piles like this form because each single vest feels too small to act on, and eight vests later it isn't small.

You've never sold a vested share. That means nobody has checked whether the brokerage's lot record and the basis it reports match the RSU income already counted in your W-2 wages.

You're an insider with pre-clearance and only a few open weeks each quarter. A sale has to be planned before the window opens, not during it. A 10b5-1 plan can help here, and it has its own page.

And you can't say which lots sit at a loss and which carry a large gain. Without that list, the first sale is a guess.

What should you ask an equity compensation advisor before hiring one?

Ask for the answer you want to hear, then listen for whether the advisor gives it. Six questions separate someone who works from your vest records from someone who reads the brokerage summary.

• Can you show me a sample lot-level report built from vest records, not just the brokerage summary? You want to see per-lot basis and holding period.
• How do you handle blackout periods and company pre-clearance? Good answer: the plan is drafted before the window opens.
• Do you choose lots by specific identification, and who tells the brokerage before the trade settles? Good answer: a named person, in writing, before settlement.
• Will you work with my CPA on Form 8949 basis adjustments when the 1099-B understates basis? You want a yes and a description of how.
• Is your sale advice based on diversification research or on a price target for my company? You want research, not a forecast.
• How are you paid, and will I see every fee written out before I commit? Mariner Wealth Advisors explains its fees in writing at the outset.

Common mistakes with vested RSUs and what each one costs

Accepting a 1099-B that shows $0 basis on RSU shares costs the most. On a $300,000 sale with a true $15,000 gain, it reports $300,000 of gain and overpays about $67,830 at an assumed 23.8% rate, unless Form 8949 corrects the basis.

Letting the brokerage's first-in, first-out default pick the shares is next. In Kwame's example it sells the lowest-basis lots and adds $24,990 of tax this year.

Selling a lot a few weeks before its one-year mark turns the gain into ordinary income. At an assumed 40.8% versus 23.8%, a $10,000 gain costs $1,700 more.

Holding everything until the stock 'gets back to' a price you remember is a forecast. It also leaves the concentration risk exactly where it was. ESPP shares add holding-period rules of their own, covered on a separate page.

Hypothetical: Kwame sells $300,000 of vested shares

Kwame, 44, wants to sell $300,000 of his $900,000 in vested biotech shares to start a diversified portfolio. Start with cost basis in the table that follows, because basis, not market value, decides the tax.

If the brokerage's first-in, first-out default sells the oldest lots, the long-term gain is $300,000 minus $180,000, or $120,000. Using 23.8% as an assumed combined federal rate, purely for illustration, that's $28,560. If he names the middle lots instead, the gain is $300,000 minus $285,000, or $15,000, which costs $3,570 in tax. He pays $24,990 less this year.

The $120,000 gain in the oldest lots doesn't disappear. It waits for a lower-income year, a charitable gift or a later sale.

As general counsel, Kwame sells only in an open window after pre-clearance. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal, and diversifying does not guarantee against loss.

This service doesn't replace the CPA who files his return or the company's legal pre-clearance. If your equity is one small grant a year, a full engagement may not be worth the cost.

How to begin equity compensation advice with Mariner Wealth Advisors

Start with the request form on the website; the firm doesn't list a phone line for this service. Reviews take place over video or by phone, so where you live doesn't matter.

Bring your grant agreements, the vest history you can download from your equity plan portal, the last two years of 1099-Bs and tax returns, and the company's insider trading policy.

The first review produces a lot list with basis, holding period and gain for every vested share, plus a projection of next year's vest income.

Before you sell any vested RSU shares, the rule is to list every lot, then name lots by specific identification. Lots at a loss usually go first, then lots held over a year with the highest basis. Lots under a year old wait for their one-year mark when the price gap allows.

Mariner Wealth Advisors requires $500K in investable assets to open an engagement and sets out its fees on paper at the first meeting. Mariner Wealth Advisors reports 590,000 clients and $9.8 billion under management, figures dated 10/5/2026.