"After three years, if they still haven't added a woman to their board, we will be voting against the full nominating committee, or the equivalent for companies which don't have a nominating committee,'' Mr Colton said, adding that SSGA will not be nominating its own directors.
"From a business perspective and a fiduciary duty perspective of us as an asset manager, we thought it is essential to take action with the companies we invest in to increase the level of gender diversity on their boards,'' Mr Colton explained. Singapore and Hong Kong have been included because both are developed markets SSGA is investing in, offer healthy engagement with companies, as well as have explicit guidance on gender diversity.
Globally, more stewards of investor assets are using their voices and votes to advocate for greater gender diversity on boards. Columbia Threadneedle and RBC Global Asset Management, too, are ramping up efforts to improve gender diversity at listed companies. They have pledged to vote against board directors of businesses that fail to promote women to top jobs.
Also, the number of companies with no women in senior leadership is decreasing. In 2020, only 10 per cent of businesses in Singapore had no women in senior management, compared to 36 per cent in 2017, 22 per cent in 2018 and 13 per cent in 2019."It matters because of the sheer value you get from diversity of thinking.
"Once implemented, these policies must be enforced and regularly reassessed to judge their effectiveness.