Positive development in gender diversity in Danish listed companies
For the second year in a row, Moneypenny & More, the private investment network for women is collaborating with Diversity Factor. Together we bring a spotlight to gender diversity within Danish-listed companies in the Penny Report. Since 2019, the number of women holding board positions has increased from 19.1% to 21.9%. It looks even better in C-level positions, where women hold 13.7% of the positions compared to 9.9% in 2019.
The Penny Report 2020 is a Danish report that maps gender diversity in top management within the Danish small, mid-, and large CAP companies registered on Nasdaq in Copenhagen.
The Penny Report 2020 shows that the large listed companies are at the forefront when it comes to gender diversity in the board and top management. The distribution looks best in the Large CAP, which has 30.6% women on the board and 17.3% women in C-level. An increase from 27.2% and 13.1% respectively in 2019.
“As private investors, we have for a long time wanted a Danish report on gender diversity in Danish listed companies. Therefore, it was also with great pride that we launched the Penny Report in 2019. With that foundation, we can now seriously start measuring the development of Danish listed companies and see how they move in relations to gender diversity - and luckily they are moving”, says Linnéa Schmidt from Moneypenny & More
Diversity and inclusion is good leadership and good business acumen
“Companies with at least 30% women in top management (critical mass) can expect increased revenue and productivity, better recruitment and employee satisfaction, increased employee retention, increased innovation and creativity, reduced financial volatility and an improved corporate image. The need to talk about a business case for diversity and inclusion should therefore also be a no-brainer. In fact, I would go so far as to say that a board chairman or CEO, who does not have diversity and inclusion as a point in his or hers strategy is a bad one. It is simply bad business acumen not to focus on diversity and inclusion”, says Helene Aagaard, CEO & Partner of Diversity Factor
The critical mass among the listed Danish companies has increased from 26.1% in 2019 to 30.5%. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of female CEOs, which this year is six compared to three in 2019. This is a large percentage increase of 100%, but it is still only 4.6% of the 131 companies that have a female CEO.
The Penny Report’s strong emphasis on data transparency gives companies concrete goals in their work with diversity and inclusion as well as the opportunity to incorporate the report as part of the company's branding. More importantly, it gives all private investors the opportunity to put their money into companies that take diversity and the inclusion agenda seriously.
Facts
The report's looks at:
131 Danish-listed companies, which have been divided into three lists based on Diversity Scores, which show how high the gender diversity is on the Board of Directors and the Executive Board.
The lists are divided according to the yellow list (≥30% Diversity Score), the turquoise list (1-29% in Diversity Score) and the red list (0% in Diversity Score)
The highest Diversity Score a company can achieve is 50% and is an expression of an equal gender balance. Here, neither men nor women are overrepresented
When a company hits 30% of women, especially on the board, the positive effects of gender diversity begin to show. It is also what we call critical mass.
The report shows that:
Large Cap companies are at the forefront when it comes to gender diversity on the board and top management
There are six female CEOs (3.8%) among the 131 Danish listed companies (an increase of 100% from 2019, when there were 3 female CEO)
30.5% of the 131 companies have a critical mass (i.e.,a board of directors / executive board consisting of ≥30% women), compared to 26.1% in 2019. An increase of 16.9%.
The proportion of women who hold board positions has increased from 19.1% to 21.9% since 2019, an increase of 14.7%
Women now hold 13.7% of executive positions compared to 9.9% in 2019, an increase of 38.4%.
You can find the full report (in Danish) HERE.