Investors vow to raise diversity on all-male FTSE 250 boards

Jimmy Choo and JD Sports are among a number of large UK companies that will face pressure from investors over their failure to appoint a woman to their boards.

Aviva Investors, Old Mutual Global Investors, Legal & General Investment Management and Hermes Equity Ownership Services have said that they are likely to reject board proposals at the annual meetings of FTSE 250 companies with all-male boards.

According to the Cranfield University School of Management, there are 23 FTSE 250 companies with all-male boards, including Jimmy Choo, the designer shoemaker that listed on the UK stock exchange last October, and sportswear retailer JD Sports.

Several large investment trusts also feature on the list, including the Bluecrest AllBlue fund and the Perpetual Income and Growth trust.

Paul Emerton, head of UK stewardship and governance at Old Mutual, said: "It is disappointing that 10 per cent of the FTSE 250 does not have anywhere near the optimal level of diversity, given the lessons that came out of the financial crisis about the strength that diversity brings.

"If [board members] remain middle-aged, male and from a certain section of the population, we would have to think very hard about being able to support the board at the AGM. We are very keen to see more women on boards."

Aviva Investors stated that it is likely to reject company reports and accounts where boards "have not sufficiently addressed gender diversity and the reasons have not been adequately explained".

The investor push for greater board diversity has intensified in recent years as a growing body of research indicates that more-balanced boards perform better. Last month MSCI, the index provider, analysed 6,500 company boards and found that those with more women were less likely to be hit by scandals such as bribery, fraud or shareholder battles.

Leon Kamhi, executive director of Hermes EOS, said: "If we are faced with a company that does not have a woman on the board, then we will discuss that with them. If there is not a good response, that might impact how we vote."

The only female member of Jimmy Choo's nine-member board, Judith Sprieser, left in March. A spokesperson for the company said that it was searching for a replacement, regardless of gender.

Emma Howard-Boyd, chairman of the investor subcommittee of the 30 Per Cent Club, a pressure group campaigning to make UK boardrooms 30 per cent female, said she was "optimistic" that all FTSE 250 boards would hire a woman by 2016.

She also rejected the argument put forward by some investors that it is more difficult for companies in niche sectors to recruit female directors. "Personally I don't buy that," she said.

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