ISS skriver i et nyt whitepaper, at lande med kvindelig ledelse ser ud til at have navigeret COVID-19-krisen mere vellykket end dem med en mindre forskellig ledelsesstruktur. Ikke alene bekæmpede de pandemien mere effektivt, men de opretholdt også mere stabile samfund end nogle andre lande uden kvindelig ledelse. I artiklen diskuterer ISS, hvorvidt der kan drages paralleller i erhvervslivet, og om virksomheder med en højere kønsdiversitet præsterer bedre, end virksomheder med homogene strukturer.
Hovedpointer i artiklen:
- Virksomheder med større kønsdiversitet udviser bedre markedsresultater og højere økonomisk kvalitet end de virksomheder, der ikke prioriterer kønsdiversitet.
- Kun 4% af virksomhederne har truffet passende foranstaltninger til at fremme kønsdiversitet på trods af de observerede positive effekter.
- Med en stærk sammenhæng mellem afkast og kønsdiversitet er der få hindringer, der står i vejen for investorer, der ønsker at være mere proaktive i dette emne.
Nedenfor ses et udsnit af deres whitepaper:
Better diversity connected to stronger performance
Similar to female leadership in politics, there are also few women globally holding top management positions in companies. While society’s evolving fight for equality has seen improvements in access to education and greater freedoms overall, the misogynist concept of the glass ceiling continues to impede half of the population from reaching the top in their chosen fields. Nevertheless, some have succeeded, and there are companies that have specifically focused on improving this issue with active measures.
While the promotion of corporate gender diversity is ethically non-negotiable and an essential step towards an equal world, the question about a link between gender diversity and financial performance remains.
To assess the cumulative returns of companies with different gender-related performances, four portfolios were created based on the ISS ESG Corporate Rating score for gender diversity, which ranges from very good diversity to lacking or inefficient diversity. This factor provides a rated entity with a numeric grade from 1 (D-) to 4 (A+), based on the level of female representation in management and in the executive management team. The focus was on this factor as it offers the widest coverage over the longest time frame. However, the assessment of gender diversity only focuses on the actual distribution – other factors such as policies or transparency are not considered.
The A stocks represent less than 4% of the stocks, so they were grouped with the B stocks (which represent less than 18%). The portfolios are equal-weighted and re-balanced quarterly, while the returns are calculated monthly. The universe return is the equally weighted return of all constituents of the index.
https://insights.issgovernance.com/posts/gender-diversity-linked-to-success/
https://www.issgovernance.com/file/publications/ISS-ESG-Gender-Diversity-Linked-to-Success.pdf
