Summary
- ICDM and Willis Towers Watson collaborated to launch the inaugural Malaysia Board Diversity Study and Index, which showcased that a more diverse boards on public listed companies (PLCs) tend to perform better, and Malaysia has a lot of room for improvement in many areas/dimensions.
Four companies rated over 30 marks - Amongst the 312 PLCs examined, the overall rating is over 21. From the results, four (4) PLCs i.e. Axiata, Heineken, PBA Holdings and Allianz were rated above 30.
- The Index looks at eight (8) diversity dimensions: gender, age, tenure, independence, cultural, international expertise, domain expertise, and industry expertise.
- According to ICDM President/CEO Michele Kythe Lim, Securities Commission Malaysia has set the 2020 target for 30% female representation on board (for top 100 Malaysian PLCs), however other dimensions of diversity need to be improved further.
- The Study shown that boards are of 60 years old average, with 39% directors between the age of 60-17; 25% has a tenure of more nine (9) years, and amongst this, 18% are family-owned businesses; and 63% boards have domestic experience only.
- Shai Ganu said, the independence of the board for PLCs is the independence of the board is the most inadequate area, with most boards only scoring 50% in this aspect.
- Michele added, the SC and the MCCG are looking at 30% and 50% independence on boards – Malaysia needs to look at growing awareness in this area.
This article was first published in Sin Chew Daily on 8 April 2021.