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30% Club UK Investor Group launches Statement on addressing racial inequality

Posted on March 1, 2022March 2, 2022 by Admin

London, UK, 1 March 2022: The 30% Club UK Investor Group has today issued its statement on addressing the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in UK business.

The Group, which is part of a global gender diversity in business campaign, has more than £11 trillion assets under management and has also sent letters to the FTSE 100 companies that have still not met the Parker Review.

The letter warned the laggards that investors may consider voting against companies at their annual general meetings if they fail to take action.

The Investor Group is committed to actively engage with UK company board chairs, nomination committees and executive teams on the issue of racial inequality in their leadership ranks and workforce.

Today’s announcement builds on the UK chapter of the 30% Club introducing race and ethnicity targets in July 2020. Those targets include members of the Club across the FTSE 350 having at least one person of colour at board and executive committee level by the end of 2023. And as the 30% Club campaign is focused on gender, we expect at least half of those appointments to go to women of colour.

While the 30% Club works directly with CEOs and Chairs to encourage change, the Investor Group’s been working on improving the availability of data on race equity within the FTSE100 by engaging with ESG data providers and supporting the creation of new data platforms, such as through its partnership with Diversio.

The Group is also running a race equity training programme for its members to ensure that all investors, big and small, are equipped to take action with the companies they invest in.

Diandra Soobiah, co-chair of the 30% Club UK Investor Group, said: “Diversity and inclusion in companies are integral to sound corporate governance and corporate culture. As long-term investors, we see the failure to take diversity seriously as a stark warning about the long-term sustainability of the company.

“Time is up for organisations that seek to simply tick boxes. The 30% Club Investor Group is putting FTSE companies on notice – the laggards need to do much better, and we’re willing to help.

“We all have an important role to play to ensure persistent race inequities in business and our society are addressed. As investors, we can have stronger dialogue with the companies we invest in, with a view to improving diversity and inclusion within companies in the UK.

Ann Cairns, global chair of the 30% Club, said: “The 30% Club’s UK Investor Group issuing this statement is a significant moment for the UK investor community. With ESG rightfully gaining prominence in the board rooms and executive offices of the world’s biggest companies, addressing racial inequality is imperative for all asset managers.

“It could make a major contribution to delivering the change businesses, economies and societies so desperately need to see. I am tremendously grateful for the hard work done by the co-chairs and members of the 30% Club UK Investor Group to take a stand on racial inequality.”

ENDS

Contact: 30% Club campaign manager Laura Whitcombe, laura@30percentclub.org, or media@30percentclub.org

Notes to Editors

The 30% Club’s UK steering committee is made up of 18 individuals, seven are from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds (39%).

There are three co-chairs of the 30% Club’s UK Investor Group and one is from a racially and ethnically diverse background (33.3%). Members of the Group are institutions rather than individuals.

30% Club’s UK Investor Group signatories to the Statement are: AMP Capital (UK), Astarte Capital Partners, Aviva Investors, AXA Investment Managers, Baring Foundation, Barrow Cadbury Trust, BlackRock, BMO Global Asset Management, Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, Brunel Pension Partnership, Castlefield Investment Partners LLP, Church Investors Group, Eco Advisers Ltd, EdenTree Investment Management, Environment Agency Pension Fund, Fidelity International, Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), Federated Hermes, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Jupiter Asset Management, Legal & General Investment Management, LGPS Central Ltd, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP, Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, Local Pensions Partnership, M&G Investments, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, NEST, Newton Investment Management, Northern Local Government Pension Scheme, Quilter, Resona Asset Management Co., Ltd., Robeco, Royal London Asset Management (CIS) Limited, RPMI Railpen Investments, Sarasin & Partners LLP, Standard Life Aberdeen, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, T. Rowe Price International Ltd, The Health Foundation and West Midlands Pension Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund.

About Us

The 30% Club is a global campaign led by Chairs and CEOs taking action to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels of the world’s biggest companies. We set targets of a minimum of 30% female representation at the board and executive committee levels. This is the critical mass at which research shows minority voices are heard. However, the ultimate goal is parity.

Under the leadership of Global Chair, Ann Cairns, the campaign continues to expand its international footprint with presence in more than 20 countries around the world. We support diversity in its very broadest sense and while gender has been our starting point, we fully realise that considerations of ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background and beyond are all part of the journey – and that gender identities are themselves evolving rapidly. We believe that only those organisations that foster truly inclusive cultures – cultures that embrace women who look, act and, importantly, THINK differently – can reach their full potential to positively impact their people, their markets and their communities.

30% Club UK Chapter’s 2023 Targets

1. Beyond 30% representation of women on all FTSE 350 boards, to include one person of colour. We support the Parker Review goals for at least one person of colour on every
FTSE 350 board – in addition, we advocate for gender balance with half these seats going to women, creating 175 board seats for women of colour.
2. Beyond 30% representation of women on all FTSE 350 Executive Committees, to include one person of colour. We advocate for gender balance with half these seats going to women, creating 175 executive committee roles for women of colour.

3. Beyond 30% of all new FTSE 350 Chair appointments to go to women between now and 2023.

30% Club Ireland announces new sponsorship partnership with EY

Posted on February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 by 30club-Ireland

DUBLIN: The 30% Club Ireland has announced a new sponsorship partnership with EY for 2022. The partnership will include EY sponsorship of the Club’s Country Executive Role for 2022 and also sponsorship of a new modular programme for senior women in the technology industry (‘Navigating the path to C-Suite and beyond’) which the 30% Club will be launching to members this Spring.

This modular programme will offer a unique combination of events and workshops focused on enabling greater progression of women in technology to the c-suite, while also establishing an invaluable network of supportive, like-minded peers and contacts with whom participants can explore ideas and share knowledge. The programme will ultimately support the 30% Club vision of at least 30% representation of women on boards and at C-Suite, in all industries.

Rachel Hussey, Chair of the 30% Club Ireland, commented: “We are delighted to welcome this new sponsorship arrangement with EY. EY has been a strong supporter of the 30% Club since we established in Ireland in 2015, and this is a fantastic step forward and a great way to work together. The 30% Club operates without membership fees therefore everything we do is only possible because of the generous support of our members through volunteering time and support for key activities. This new partnership will help us continue to develop initiatives to enable our members achieve their diversity ambitions.”

As part of the sponsorship, EY Managing Partner, Frank O’Keeffe will join the Club’s Advisory Board for the next 12 months while Niamh O’Beirne, EY’s People Partner will join its Steering Group. EY will also speak at the Club’s flagship Chair and Council Event in March 2022 to look at best practice for organisations in adopting diversity, building progress and engaging wider stakeholders with market influence on the issue.

Commenting today on the new partnership, Frank O’Keeffe, EY Managing Partner, said: “I am delighted that EY Ireland is partnering with the Irish chapter of the 30% Club at this important time of change and opportunity for all. Following a tumultuous few years, the world is changing at pace and with it how we all live and work. Diversity in all aspects of life is crucial to ensure our collective success as a society and as a business community. Ensuring that we have a diverse and inclusive workforce in EY matters enormously to us and to our clients and it is a strategic priority for our leadership team. I am really looking forward to EY playing an active part over the coming year in the great work of the 30% Club and in us working together to deliver great outcomes for Club members.”

While the 30% Club is focused primarily on the actions of Board Chairs and CEOs, the group also delivers ground-up initiatives to improve talent pipelines, as well as a cross company mentoring programme and an executive education scholarship programme in association with Irish Universities. It also operates a Board Connections directory comprising the profiles of more than 150 senior women in business across Ireland, who are interested in taking on a board role. The directory is made available on request to Board Chairs, CEOs and search firms involved in the selection process for board roles.

Niamh O’Beirne, EY Ireland Partner, added: “As People Partner at EY I regularly see first-hand the huge contribution that diversity, in all its forms, brings to both the culture and performance of our organisation. It is essential that the business community leads by example in this space and that we remain committed to making progress towards greater diversity and inclusion, both in the boardroom and beyond. Clear plans coupled with decisive action are required to reach and exceed current targets for representation of women in boardrooms and I am proud that EY Ireland will continue its laser focus in this area in partnership with the 30% Club.”

For more information please visit 30percentclub.org

Notes to Editors:

About the 30% Club

The 30% Club is a global campaign supported by Board Chairs and CEOs of medium and large organisations, committed to achieving better gender balance at leadership levels and throughout their organisation, for better business outcomes. Established in 2015, the Irish chapter is supported by the leaders of more than 280 leading Irish businesses and organisations across all business sectors, representing more than 650,000 employees.

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

30% Club Malaysia Widens Eco-System with New Partners

Posted on December 10, 2020July 18, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

Three New Partners To Join Forces For Sustainable Change in Malaysian Corporates

Kuala Lumpur, 10 December 2020 – Recently, 30% Club Malaysia has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG), CnetG Asia Sdn Bhd (CnetG), and Asia School of Business
(ASB) respectively.

This is a positive step in building an ecosystem of partners, moving together towards a common goal – the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), with a focus on gender balance on Boards and C-Suites, encouraging businesses to work together for change and sustainable progress.

These partnerships will enable 30% Club Malaysia to establish avenues for corporations to gain access to knowledge, insights and best practices in advancing the diversity and inclusion agenda in their organisations.

These would include amongst others the promotion of diverse and inclusive leadership as part of corporate governance advocacy with MICG; access to research and leadership development that support the goal of developing more board-ready women with ASB through its MBA and select Executive Education programmes; and a collaboration with CnetG, to develop framework that advances diversity on boards and C-suites with PLCs, multinational companies, universities and professional bodies.

Professor Charles Fine, President, CEO and Dean of Asia School of Business said, “The partnership between Asia School of Business, in collaboration with MIT Sloan and the Malaysia chapter of the 30% Club is another step in building a holistic and collaborative talent ecosystem in Asia. This relationship allows us to learn and cocreate on key talent development initiatives with the Malaysian and broader regional business community.”

“CnetG Asia is committed to guiding boards and senior management to make effective and inclusive leadership hiring decisions. Our objective is to encourage boards and executive search firms in Malaysia to support principles and best practices in building a diverse and inclusive board and management teams. Executive search firms play a key role in identifying and engaging with a wider pool of talents through their various networks, trust and credibility with executive talents,” said Raj Kumar Paramanathan, Managing Partner, CnetG Asia Sdn Bhd.

He added, “Partnering with 30% Club Malaysia will enhance our efforts to influence and impact by advancing conversations around diversity and inclusion with boards and senior leadership teams.”

Dato’ Yusli bin Mohamed Yusoff, MICG President said, “I am delighted that MICG will be in partnership with the 30% Club Malaysia. MICG looks forward to supporting and empowering more women on their journey towards senior leadership and Board positions. The Institute will support in kind with participation as speakers, contribution of articles and research and opportunities to mentor women as they take on increasing responsibility in their organisations.”

“Since our establishment in 2015, we have been on a journey with key stakeholders to increase the representation of women on the boards of Malaysian public listed companies. Today, we are pleased to welcome Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG), CnetG Asia Sdn Bhd and the Asia School of Business into our ecosystem of partners for sustainable change,” said Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar.

She continued, “As the world increasingly works in a collaborative manner, we seek to strategically partner with those who will amplify our goal to increase women representation on boards and senior leadership positions. In 2020, five years on, our focus has been on building a more robust ecosystem aimed at this case for change.”

The 30% Club Malaysia is part of a global campaign led by Chairs and CEOs taking action to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels. Statistics at the end of 2019 showed women representation on the top 100 public listed companies (PLC) boards rose to 26.9%. There was also no all-male board in the Top 100 PLCs. The percentage today has dipped slightly to 25.4%, believed to be largely attributed to the change in the composition of the Top 100 companies, with several PLCs now in the Top 100 having no women on board.

The 30% Club hopes this is a temporary setback and will continue its efforts to address the gap. Malaysia remains in the lead position amongst its peers in ASEAN as well as some other Asian markets, such as Japan and Hong Kong.

[END]

For media enquiries, please contact:
Norlida Azmi
Media/PR & Communications
Email: comms.30percentclubmalaysia@gmail.com

Inching closer to 30% women on board

Posted on November 14, 2020July 13, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, 18 Nov 2020 – The 30% Club Malaysia observes that more organisations in Malaysia have embraced gender diversity on boards, an integral component of good corporate governance.

According to Co-Founding Chair Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, statistics at the end of 2019 showed women representation on the top 100 public listed companies (PLC) boards rose to 26.9%, almost double what it was in 2015 when the Malaysian chapter of the 30% Club was established. There was also no all-male board in the Top 100 PLCs.

The percentage today has dipped slightly to 25.4%, believed to be largely attributed to the change in the composition of the Top 100 companies, with several PLCs now in the Top 100 having no women on board. The 30% Club hopes this is a temporary setback and will work towards helping to address the gap.

Nevertheless, according to Tan Sri Zarinah, Malaysia remains in lead position amongst our peers in ASEAN; in fact Malaysia ranks second only to Australia in the Asia Pacific region.

Women representation on the boards of all the 900+ PLCs has also steadily increased to 17.2%, an increase of 6.5% from 2015. Tan Sri Zarinah was speaking at a virtual event to celebrate the successful completion of the fifth cohort of the Club’s Board Mentoring Scheme and the on boarding of the sixth yesterday.

The Board Mentoring Scheme, established in collaboration with PwC Malaysia in 2017, aims to accelerate the appointment of more women to company boards by fast tracking their acquisition of competencies and appreciation of the role and expectations of board members from advice and guidance by senior and highly experienced mentors.

Since the launch of the scheme in 2017, 48 women have gone through the 9-month mentoring program and 27% have been appointed to boards of companies.

“The road to achieving 30% women on board has not been easy. The 30% Club Malaysia through its Board Mentoring Scheme has helped to develop a broader pipeline of board-ready women candidates to be considered for board positions,” said PwC Malaysia Partner and 30% Club Malaysia Steering Committee Member Pauline Ho.

“The Board Mentoring Scheme is part of 30% Club Malaysia’s effort to address the gender imbalance at the top of the corporate structure,” she added.

According to Tian Pouw (TP) Pun, a Board Mentoring Scheme working member of the 30% Club Malaysia, the scheme brings together experienced board directors as mentors and aspiring board-ready women under an umbrella with a focus on professional and personal development.

He added that besides gaining clarity, building courage and confidence, participating in this scheme will lead to enhanced leadership capabilities to succeed in a diverse environment in their current workplace.
[END]

For media enquiries, please contact:
Norlida Azmi
Media/PR & Communications
Email: comms.30percentclubmalaysia@gmail.com

Heriot-Watt University in Partnership with The 30% Club Malaysia

Posted on March 13, 2019July 12, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, 13 MARCH 2019 – In celebration of International Women’s Day 2019, Heriot-Watt University in partnership with the 30% Club Malaysia Chapter are pleased to announce their annual scholarship offer of RM58,050 for a successful female applicant to attend a two-year, part-time MBA programme at its Edinburgh Business School Malaysia campus.

This will be their third year of collaboration platformed on a shared long-term vision to drive higher women representation in leadership and decision-making positions.

Applications for the 2019 scholarship will open from 1st April to 30th June.

Heriot-Watt University has long been a proponent of inclusivity in education. In 1869, it became the first Scottish university to open its doors to women.

“An MBA is a proven pathway to building successful careers and yet most of our applicants are men. Together with the 30% Club, we established the annual woman scholarship with the end game to increase women representation at senior levels of business,” says Professor Mushtak Al-Atabi, CEO Heriot-Watt University Malaysia.

Echoing this sentiment, Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Founding Chair of the 30% Club Malaysia Chapter said, “Our partnership with Heriot-Watt University is in line with the 30% Club’s objectives of strengthening the female boardroom pipeline to ensure that we get better gender balance in the boardrooms of Malaysian companies.”

Since its formation in May 2015, the 30% Club Malaysia Chapter has embarked on several initiatives, including its signature Mentoring Programme, which is a platform to provide boardready women and new women directors an opportunity to network and raise their visibility in the right board circles.

Latest statistics show Malaysia recording 15.7% women directors on the boards across all public-listed companies and 24.4% across the top 100 companies, putting it in lead position on gender diversity among the ASEAN countries.

Interested applicants can find details on the scholarship and how to apply by visiting https://30percentclub.org/initiatives/business-schools#mbas

30% Club Malaysia Announces Increase Of Women On Boards To 15.2% In Bursa Top 100 PLCS

Posted on July 4, 2016July 18, 2023 by 30club-Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, 4 July, 2016, – 30% Club Malaysia, a business group which campaigns for more female directors on company boards, has announced an increase to 15.2% of women on boards in Bursa Top 100 PLCs at the end of May 2016.

The second series of the Business Leaders Roundtable meeting, held recently at Menara Maybank Kuala Lumpur and hosted by Co-Founding Chair Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin, generated high senior level participation from distinguished corporate Chairpersons and Board Directors Tun Mohamed Haniff Omar, Tan Sri Dato’ Francis Yeoh, Tan Sri Saw Choo Boon, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman, Dato’ Abdullah Yusof , Dato’ Hajjah Zurainah Musa, Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsuddin, amongst others representing the professional services community at EY Malaysia and Korn Ferry.

Key stakeholders from Government PEMANDU and Department of Women’s Development (Jabatan Pembangunan Wanita) were present to give strong support behind this business advocacy group.

Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin, in espousing the mission to achieve 30% target by 2016 as a proven business case for improving leadership, governance and ultimately increasing shareholder value, commented:

“This series of roundtable meetings is meaningful in creating an effective discussion amongst business leaders, coupled with valuable input from key corporate captains of the various industries, to bring about sustainable change driven by merit.

Our 30% Club campaign acknowledges that to bring directional change we need top men and women to join us in leading the charge” Co-Founding Chair Tan Sri Zarinah emphasised that:

“Gender diversity is a business imperative. Thus gender must be a key consideration when it comes to hiring talented employees. We need to urge companies to place more women on boards where they are the best candidate and encourage other Chairmen to commit publicly to this effort.”

Tan Sri Megat closed the roundtable meeting by adding: “At Maybank, we are in the process of adding more women onto our Board in the next few months.”

Category: Press Release