This presentation was the second plenary at NCVO's Trustee Conference on Monday 11 June 2013. The presentation was by Helena Morrissey, Chief Executive, Newton Investment Management and Founder of 30% Club and explains their commitment to bringing more women onto boards and its overall effectiveness of the boardroom. Find our more about NCVO's Trustee conference: http://www.ncvo.org.uk/training-and-events/trustee-conference Find out more about NCVO's work on governance: http://www.ncvo.org.uk/practical-support/governance

1. The 30% Club Journey and Implications for Charity Boards

2. What is the 30% Club?
• The 30% Club is a group of Chairmen and organisations committed to bringing more women onto
boards because it‟s good for the overall effectiveness of the boardroom
• The aim is to achieve the 30% goal of women on boards by end 2015
• This is business-led, voluntary action and anti-quotas, which are discriminatory and don‟t create
sustainable change – only 2% of CEOs of listed companies in Norway are women
• The UK 30% Club launched in November 2010 with 7 founding Chairmen supporters. 12.5% of FTSE100 board directors were women. 21 all-male FTSE-100 boards
• The Club now has 71 Chairmen supporters and 19.1% of FTSE-100 board directors are women. 6 allmale FTSE-100 boards
• A confluence of factors: the Davies Report‟s ten clear recommendations; leadership shown by company
chairmen; the collaborative, intensive nature of the 30% Club‟s efforts; investor focus on corporate
governance; cross-party political support and sustained media attention
• The representation of women on boards has opened up the issue of broader diversity – age,
educational background, international experience etc. – the value of diversity of perspective
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3. The 30% Club helps to bring the multiple efforts together
and creates new initiatives where there are gaps
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4. Women on UK Boards – a breakthrough
FTSE-100: % women directors
1999-2013
20.0
19.0
17.4
15.0
15.0
11.7
12.2
12.6
2009
2010
9.4
10.0
6.9
5.0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2011
2012
Source: Professional Boards Forum BoardWatch. Data kindly provided by BoardEx and The Female FTSE Board Report
•
•
13 FTSE-100 companies have already reached 30%
•
23.8% women non-executive directors (up from 15.6% at end 2010)
•
FTSE-250 seeing strong improvements; now 51 (20.4%) all-male boards
•
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31 FTSE-100 companies now have at least 25% women on their boards
Focus is on the executive pipeline to ensure sustainable, meaningful change in business
culture
Oct-13

5. Factors behind the UK’s recent accelerated progress
•
Zeitgeist. Financial crisis raised questions over status quo
•
Davies Report. Analysed the loss of talent and need for action beyond words. Set out clear
recommendations for voluntary change
•
30% Club helped to move the issue firmly from „special interest‟ to mainstream. Open source
approach helped to build momentum.
•
UK‟s strong „Comply or Explain‟ culture and established Corporate Governance Code have
reinforced preference for voluntary approach not mandated action. The Code now includes a
specific boardroom gender diversity policy
•
Strong leadership by chairmen, who led recruitment of other chairmen
•
Executive search firms have (started to) adapt their board recruitment practices
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6. Why does diversity matter?
• Powerful intuitive argument for having a varied board or management team, with less danger of „groupthink‟
• 30% is the „critical mass‟ point
• Investors and regulators are increasingly considering overall board effectiveness including diversity (beyond
gender) as an important aspect of good governance
• It is impossible to prove causality. However, 5 studies based on experiences in different countries have
corroborated the intuitive argument that more diverse boards can improve corporate performance.
1. McKinsey „Women Matter‟ 2011
2. Catalyst „The Bottom Line and Women‟s Representation on Boards‟
3. Citigroup ASX100 Women on Board Analysis August 2011
4. SocGen Getting the Right Women on Board October 2011
5. Credit Suisse Gender Diversity and Corporate Performance August 2012
• Academic research into the Norwegian experience suggests achieving balanced boards through quotas may
have the opposite effect (University of Michigan The Changing of the Boards: The Impact of Mandated
Female Board Representation May 2011).
• The “Balancing the Pyramid” 30% Club project is exploring behavioural differences between men and women,
and how these complement each other to create more effective teams – restating the business case.
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7. The Charities Sector
• „Women
Count‟ 2012 report suggests Charities have better gender balance at leadership levels
than private sector
• Charity 100 (by funds): 27% directors, 9% chairs, 17% senior executives are women;
Charity 100 (by income): 32%, 17% and 25% respectively
• However, men lead the vast majority of large charities and large charities with majority of female
trustees are rare
• Balanced boards (charities with 40 – 60% gender balance) have formal recruitment processes
• The „cross-over‟ opportunities between charities, private and public sectors are under-utilised
• Setting aspirational goals (not quotas!) and having robust, transparent recruitment processes are
key
• Age diversity of trustees as much as an issue as gender balance
• Part of effective governance and the modernisation of culture – ultimately good for attracting
funds, too!
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8. So in conclusion….
This is about organisational effectiveness and management of talent – not political
correctness
Charities are ahead of corporates with respect to gender balance – and can continue
to lead the way
There remains more to do – voluntarily – especially around age and ethnic diversity
This provides a good opportunity for cross-sector solutions
This issue is about creating vibrant organisations of the future
The time is now!
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