International Women’s Day: Hong Kong firms must do more on recruitment, training and mentoring to achieve board diversity, panel hears

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Policies requiring head-hunters to come up with a minimum female representation on a board’s nomination committee can help, says Andrew Weir of KPMG

Women occupy only 16 per cent of board seats in Hong Kong, well below the 25 to 46 per cent seen in western countries, and Singapore’s 21.6 per cent

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Women occupy only 16 per cent of all board seats in Hong Kong. Photo: Elson Li

Eric Ng

Published: 7:30am, 9 Mar 2023Updated: 1:40am, 21 Apr 2023

Hong Kong-listed firms must strive to get more women onto their boards of directors by implementing policies to encourage gender neutral hiring, offering training to nurture female talent and facilitating networking and mentoring, a panel discussion has heard.

Policies requiring external head-hunters to come up with a minimum amount of female representation on a board’s nomination committee can help accelerate the process, said Andrew Weir, regional senior partner of KPMG Hong Kong.

“The biggest frustration I have is that we want much more than stopping single gender boards, we want a minimum [female representation],” he told the panel hosted by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), operator of the city’s stock exchange, on Wednesday, which was International Women’s Day. “Ultimately, it is quota, or threat of a quota that moves the dial.”

Among the Hong Kong domiciled constituents of the MSCI All Country World Index the proportion with all-male boards has improved markedly to 17 per cent from 28.4 per cent in 2021, according to the latest report by the stock index compiler on board gender diversity.

Kim-See Lim (second from left), regional director, east Asia and the pacific, International Finance Corporation; and Bonnie Chan (third from left), co-chief operating officer, HKEX host a gong-striking ceremony at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing on 8 March, 2023, as part of the global ‘Ring the Bell for Gender Equality’ campaign. Photo: May Tse

The improvement comes after a new listing rule that came into effect on January 1 last year, mandating that companies with all-male boards introduce at least one woman within three years. Research shows greater board diversity can help firms make better decisions and improve governance, HKEX said.

About 800 listed companies had all-male boards before the new rule, meaning at least 800 women must be recruited to board-level positions by the end of 2024.