Federal Budget 2024-25
With inflation and currently high interest rates continuing to hit household budgets, this year’s Federal Budget contained some important changes for super.
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In October 2020, HESTA established 40:40 Vision, an initiative calling for a public commitment to gender diversity on ASX200 executive teams. The objective is to achieve at least 40 per cent women, 40 per cent men, and 20 per cent any gender in executive leadership positions across ASX200 companies by 2030.
We know gender balance means better financial performance, better governance and stronger long-term value, which can impact the performance of our members’ investments. That’s why we’re committed to advocating for this change.
Current ASX200 signatories are household names with a combined value of $511bn and include: ANZ, BHP, Bluescope, Domino’s, IDP Education, IGO, Mirvac, NextDC, Origin, Pendal, Ramsay Health, SkyCity, South32, Tabcorp, Viva Energy, Webjet and Westpac.
40:40 vision extended to ASX300
In May 2022, 40:40 Vision expanded to the ASX300, with Southern Cross Austereo, Adairs, Healius, QBE, Iress and Challenger among the latest signatories.
Eighteen months after the launch of 40:40 Vision, we’re pleased to report that 23 ASX300 companies, representing close to 25 per cent of the market capitalisation of all ASX300 companies, have signed up to the investor-led initiative.
We’re urging more ASX300 companies to become a part of 40:40 Vision and ensure their shareholders, employees and the broader community benefit from improving gender diversity.
Having women in leadership positions improves performance
WGEA and the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) released findings1 on 19 June 2020 that an increase in the share of female ‘top-tier’ managers by 10 percentage points or more led to a 6.6% increase in the market value of Australian ASX-listed companies, worth the equivalent of AUD$104.7 million.
There’s a lot more that needs to be done; at this rate it would take 65 years or until 2086 before women make up 40% of roles in executive leadership teams, HESTA CEO Debby Blakey recently observed.
1 https://www.wgea.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/more-women-at-the-top-proves-better-for-business
2 https://bcec.edu.au/publications/gender-equity-insights-2019-breaking-through-the-glass-ceiling
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