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· Posted on
February 21, 2024

Super funds are bringing the heat to male-dominated boardrooms on the ASX300

The ACSI has launched a formal voting policy that encourages ASX300 companies to achieve at least 30% female representation.

What's the key learning?

  • Currently, 97/300 of ASX300 companies are falling short of the 30% female representation target, including Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi.
  • The ACSI is considering a vote against male directors who are up for re-election in these 97 companies.
  • Diversity in the corporate world isn't just a buzzword; it has become a business imperative because diverse boards are often more effective at decision-making and can lead to better financial performance.

👉 Background: The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, or ACSI, is a group created to represent super funds on specific environmental, social, and governance matters. After a few years of pushing, the ACSI has had enough of companies dragging their feet on gender diversity.

👉 What happened: Now, the ACSI has launched a formal voting policy which encourages ASX300 companies to achieve at least 30% female representation. But, currently 97/300 are falling short of that 30% target, including Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi.

👉 What else: The ACSI is considering a vote against male directors who are up for re-election in these 97 companies. And with ACSI managing over $1 trillion of retirement savings, they carry a LOT of sway..

What's the key learning?

💡Diversity in the corporate world isn't just a buzzword; it has become a business imperative. A report by McKinsey in 2020 found that leadership teams with high levels of gender diversity were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability.

💡Diverse boards are often more effective at decision-making and can lead to better financial performance. On top of that, they can reflect a company's customer base and respond to customer needs and trends.

💡With ACSI's push, the pursuit of gender diversity isn't just about fairness and representation... It's also about improving business outcomes.

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