International Women’s Day: Hong Kong-listed firms see notable rise of gender diversity on boards but advocates say more can be done
- Among companies domiciled in Hong Kong, women accounted for 19 per cent of board seats as of October 2023, compared with 16 per cent in 2022
- Globally, some 25.8 per cent of the MSCI index constituents’ board seats were held by women, compared with 24.5 per cent a year earlier
Hong Kong-listed firms have seen a notable rise of female representation on boards, thanks to favourable regulation, but they still lag regional peers when it comes to women in key executive roles, according to US-based financial indices and analysis tools provider MSCI.
Among companies domiciled in Hong Kong, women accounted for 19 per cent of board seats as of October 2023, compared with 16 per cent in 2022, according to a report published by MSCI on Tuesday, ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.
The showing was the fourth-strongest increase from the year before in Asia-Pacific (APAC), pushing Hong Kong above the average level of the region, which rose 1.6 percentage points in 2023 to 18.2 per cent.
MSCI has tracked the gender diversity of corporate boards since 2009, by monitoring the disclosures of the 2,811 constituent companies of the MSCI All Country World Index.
The ratio for Hong Kong still trails some of its Asia-Pacific counterparts, such as Australia’s 40.8 per cent, Malaysia’s 33.1 per cent, Singapore’s 25.3 per cent and Thailand’s 20.3 per cent, but the city is ahead of Taiwan at 14.1 per cent and Japan with 18 per cent.
