HESTA said that the number of companies that have signed up to its 40:40 Vision initiative, which aims to drive gender diversity in executive leadership in ASX 300 companies, has doubled since the start of the year.
The super fund added that more than 10 per cent of the ASX 300 have now pledged to reach this goal by 2030.
Notably, half of the signatories are from industries that have traditionally skewed male, such as mining, brewing and technology. HESTA said this shows that having a gender-diverse leadership group is “no longer just a laudable goal but an essential component for business success”.
HESTA’s chief executive and 40:40 Vision chair, Debby Blakey, said setting clear targets and transparently reporting progress through the initiative were helping drive company participation.
“Signing up to a target-based model like 40:40 Vision is a critical first step. It’s a demonstration that a company is striving to be a leader in gender diversity and is ready to drive change. We know targets work and that’s why leading companies are setting targets and managing to [achieve] them, as they would any other business challenge,” Ms Blakey said.
She added that joining 40:40 Vision could help companies maintain their improvements, rather than hitting them and regressing.
“Recent data from Chief Executive Women’s 2022 Census shows more than a third of companies with 40 per cent-plus gender targets have achieved gender balance. The same research shows that most companies that achieved gender balance in 2021, but have not maintained it in 2022, either set low or had no targets,” Ms Blakey said.
“We want to grow participation of 40:40 Vision right across the ASX 300, as in the last year alone, many companies have gone backwards in terms of female representation within leadership.
The initiative is supported by 35 ASX 300 listed companies, including ANZ, Bendigo Bank, Challenger, Iress, Pendal, QBE and Westpac.
“As investors, we are looking for companies to show how they are taking action to meet the commitments they make and demonstrate strong governance oversight from boards to ensure this gap between what a company says it will do and how it acts is being closed,” Ms Blakey said.
“That’s why we believe diversity and inclusion are great indicators of the strength of a company’s decision-making and culture, which really underpins the capability to manage a range of issues that can impact long-term value and, therefore, the performance of our members’ investments.”
