The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) has used International Women’s Day to call on listed Australian companies to improve their board gender diversity.
The organisation said that while there had been progress toward increasing gender diversity recently, the rate of change had been too slow.
ACSI promoted a target of 30 per cent female representation on boards, and said that only 76 ASX200 met this standard. Fifty-eight ASX200 boards have just one woman amongst their ranks.
“One women director does not equate to gender diversity. We expect all boards to put in place clear targets for gender diversity, including a timeframe for achieving those targets,” ACSI chief executive, Louise Davidson, said.
ACSI said that board diversity was a business issue, with companies who fail in this regard having unsustainable futures and being less attractive investments for the Council’s members.
The Council would this year publish a revised version of its 30 per cent representation policy that would include new incentives for companies to meet the target.
Michael Lovett, who left the investment firm just three months after launching its Vanguard Super offering, has taken up a chief executive role at an Australian asset manager.
The Central Bank of Ireland has granted the approval of Equity Trustees’ exit from its Irish operations, with the transaction expected to be complete on 30 April.
Super returns continued to climb in March, raising hopes of delivering double-digit returns by June depending on the performance of this next quarter.
The dedicated super fund for emergency services and Victorian government employees is under fire for unpaid entitlements to transport employees, which could exceed $40 million.
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