Beyond symbolism, a practical call to action: investors to vote against company boards without enough women

It was a symbolic move, and one which drew global attention to the lack of diversity on boards.

On the eve of International Women's Day, the world's third largest asset manager installed a bronze statue of a young girl staring down one of Lower Manhattan's great icons – Wall Street's charging bull.

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Beyond symbolism was a practical call to action.

$US2.5 trillion ($3.3 trillion) investor State Street Global Advisors, which has big stakes in many of the 3500 largest publicly listed companies in the US, UK and Australia in which it invests, vowed that if directors don't move pronto to appoint more women to their boards, they'll vote their shares against them.

SSGA say they invest in every one of the top 300 companies in Australia.

It will use its proxy voting power to influence change, by voting against the chair of the board's nominating and/or governance committee, if investors feel enough action hasn't been taken.

Ron O'Hanley, chief executive officer of SSGA, says the bronze statute is "a reminder to corporations across the globe that having more women in leadership positions contributes to overall performance and strengthens our economy".

A quarter of Russell 3000 companies – an equity index maintained by the Russell Investment Group that benchmarks the 3000 largest US-traded stocks – still don't have a single woman on their boards – and for nearly six in 10 that do, less than 15 per cent of their board members are women, he says.

SSGA has issued guidelines calling on boards to expand the search for candidates beyond existing director networks and to address sources of unconscious bias that might inhibit the recruitment of women.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors also released a video on International Women's Day drawing attention to the lack of women on Australian boards and in leadership positions.

It shows leading female company directors citing the common, and often laughable, excuses that people give as to why they don't hire women.

Jacqueline Hey, non-executive director of Qantas, AGL Energy, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and Cricket Australia, says having female applicants shortlisted for every single managerial role, is crucial.

"And the interview panel needs to be evenly male female," she says.

"If it's equal all the way through, it's equal in the outcome."

The AICD has set a target for 30 per cent women on ASX 200 boards by the end of 2018.

In its latest report tracking gender diversity on boards released this week, it found that women account for 25 per cent of ASX 200 board positions, up from 8.3 per cent in 2009.

The ASX 20 is leading the way, with 31.1 per cent women, and the ASX 50 is close to reaching the target at 29.2 per cent women.

But there are still 14 boards with no women on them.

And there are only nine female CEOs in the ASX 200.

"The focus now moves to the next 150 companies, many of which need to move quickly to reach the 2018 target," said AICD chief executive John Brogden.

He says female appointment rates needed to stay at 40 per cent or above to meet the 30 per cent target by the end of 2018.

The World Economic Forum has predicted the gender gap won't close entirely until 2186.

"I think we can all agree 169 years is too long to wait," Brogden says.

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