On the Eve of International Women’s Day, SSGA Issues
Guidelines and Places Statue in New York City’s Financial District
as a Symbol of Need for Action
On the eve of International Women’s Day and the one-year
anniversary of its SPDR®SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF (ticker:
SHE), State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the asset management
business of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is calling on the
more than 3,500 companies that SSGA invests on behalf of clients,
representing more than $30 trillion in market capitalization1 to
take intentional steps to increase the number of women on their
corporate boards.
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State Street Global Advisors Calls on
3,500 Companies Representing More Than $30 Trillion in Market
Capitalization to Increase Number of Women on Corporate Boards
(Photo: Business Wire)
To mark this effort and the power of women in leadership, SSGA
has placed a statue of a young girl, representing the future, in
the center of the world’s financial capital – right near Wall
Street in New York City.
“We believe good corporate governance is a function of strong,
effective and independent board leadership," said Ron O’Hanley,
president and chief executive officer of SSGA. “A key contributor
to effective independent board leadership is diversity of thought,
which requires directors with different skills, backgrounds and
expertise. Today, we are calling on companies to take concrete
steps to increase gender diversity on their boards and have issued
clear guidance to help them begin to take action.”
This morning O’Hanley will detail the guidance in his keynote
speech at the Corporate Governance Symposium hosted by the
University of Delaware’s Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance.
The focus of this year’s symposium is “Governance Issues of
Critical Importance to Boards and Investors in 2017.”
According to an MSCI study, companies with strong female
leadership generated a return on equity of 10.1 percent per year
versus 7.4 percent for those without a critical mass of women at
the top, which is a 36.4 percent increase of average return on
equity. 2,3 And, according to a 2015 McKinsey Global Institute
report, moving to a scenario where women participate in the economy
identically to men would add up to $28 trillion, or an additional
26 percent, to annual global GDP by 2025 compared to a business as
usual scenario.4
Despite this, although there has been some progress made on the
inclusion of women on corporate boards, one out of every four
Russell 3000 companies do not have even one woman on their board,
and nearly 60 percent have fewer than 15 percent of their boards
comprising women directors.
SSGA today issues guidelines to drive greater board gender
diversity through active dialogue and engagement with company and
board leadership. In the event that a company fails to take
action to increase the number of women on its board, SSGA will use
proxy voting power to influence change - voting against the chair
of the board’s nominating and/or governance committee if
necessary.
“As part of our review of boards’ gender diversity, we analyzed
and compared the level of diversity in three markets: Australia,
the UK and the US,” said Rakhi Kumar, head of corporate governance
at SSGA. “Most large cap company boards in these markets have at
least one female director but have yet to fully embrace gender
equality in their ranks. We believe boards have an important role
to play in increasing gender diversity and believe our guidance can
help directors take action now.”
"I wholeheartedly support State Street's efforts," said Chris
Ailman, Chief Investment Officer, CalSTRS. "Companies need to step
up and better utilize the talents and leadership of women in their
Corporate Boards, C-suite and throughout their ranks. This statue
boldly signals to financial markets that the future depends on
investing in the power of women. We all need to lean in and be bold
for change now."
To help address the gender gap head-on, SHE incorporates an
innovative charitable component that focuses on strengthening the
next generation of women leaders - particularly in industries where
women have low representation today such as STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math). SSGA is directing a portion of
their revenues and a match from SSGA to a Donor Advised Fund, which
has awarded a $50,000 grant to Girls Who Invest, a nonprofit
organization founded in April 2015 dedicated to increasing the
number of women in portfolio management and executive leadership in
the asset management industry.
About State Street Global Advisors
For nearly four decades, State Street Global Advisors has been
committed to helping financial professionals and those who rely on
them achieve their investment objectives. We partner with
institutions and financial professionals to help them reach their
goals through a rigorous, research-driven process spanning both
active and index disciplines. We take pride in working closely with
our clients to develop precise investment strategies, including our
pioneering family of SPDR ETFs. With trillions* in assets under
management, our scale and global footprint provide access to
markets and asset classes, and allow us to deliver expert insights
and investment solutions.
State Street Global Advisors is the investment management arm of
State Street Corporation.
*Assets under management were $2.47 trillion as of December 31,
2016. AUM reflects approx. $30.62 billion (as of December 31, 2016)
with respect to which State Street Global Markets, LLC (SSGM)
serves as marketing agent; SSGM and State Street Global Advisors
are affiliated.
1 As of 2/28/17
2 The methodology used in MSCI’s study is different than that of
the index, and as such, the results of the study should not be
viewed as indicative of future performance of the index or SHE.
Return on equity is not representative of the performance of any
investment or the potential return of any ETF.
3 Source: Lee, Linda Eling, et al. Women on Boards: Global
Trends in Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards, MSCI, November
2015. Accessed on February 17, 2016. MSCI defined strong female
leadership as having a board of directors with at least three
women, which research suggests comprises a critical mass for
decision making influence, or a percentage of women that’s higher
than average in the company’s country. MSCI defined companies
without a critical mass of women at the top as companies with less
than three women on their board of directors or a lower percentage
of women than the average in the company’s country.
4 Woetzel, Johnathan. “The Power of Parity: How Advancing
Women’s Equality can Add $12 Trillion to Global Growth.” McKinsey
Global Institute, September 2015
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State Street CorporationAnne McNally, +1
617-664-8576AEMcNally@StateStreet.com
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