Board diversity and, by extension, board composition, is one of the top corporate governance topics to be discussed each proxy season. While the most recent Spencer Stuart Board Index indicates that the rate of change of gender composition has sped up in recent years, the latest findings from IR Magazine’s Board Diversity research report suggest diversity is a topic still on the fringes of some investors’ minds.
Washington, DC, November 19, 2019
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5084, the Improving Corporate Governance Through Diversity Act of 2019, a bill that requires public companies to annually disclose the voluntarily, self-identified gender, race, ethnicity, and veteran status of their board of directors, nominees, and senior executive officers.
As boards seek to improve their effectiveness and consider how best to carry out their oversight role amid rapid change and shifting expectations, diversity—of skills, background, and experience—must be top of mind. Institutional investors and other stakeholders, including employees and customers, continue to focus
“In 2003, 50 of the largest 100 public companies in Massachusetts had no women on their boards of directors, and women held only 74 of the 822 total board seats. 56 of the 100 companies had no women executive officers. In this 2019 Census, women comprise a record high 24.0% of the total board seats, and 98 companies have at least one woman director. Only one company among the 100 has no women directors or executive officers, down from 8 ‘zero-zeroes’ just last year.
HARTFORD, CT ― Today, Connecticut State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden
, along with institutional investors from states across the region, announced the Northeast Investors’ Diversity
...we find that banks with more gender diversity on their board perform better once the composition of these boards reaches a critical level of gender diversity, corresponding to a board female share of around 13-17 percent.
