More than 200 C-suite women senior executives, including global chief executives and chief financial officers, are gathering in the epicentre of Hong Kong’s financial district for the city’s first ever Women Chief Executives summit today. The conference is symbolic as much as it is significant. Women in this city have progressed by leaps and bounds over the past decade.
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A recent report by one of the summit’s organisers, the Women Chief Executive Network, as well as KPMG and the Women’s Foundation, found that 45 per cent of senior leadership roles in the city’s banks, asset management firms, insurance companies and fintech firms are held by women, an 11 percentage-point surge from 34 per cent in 2018.
And the number of women on the board of directors in Hong Kong’s financial sector has leapt from 21 per cent in 2018 to 37 per cent over the same period. Both men and women in the sector should be very proud of such progress.
As an international finance centre, Hong Kong has been playing catch-up to what is a global trend – by July 2019, there were no longer any companies with all-male boards on the S&P 500 Index. In true Hong Kong-style efficiency, the glass ceiling in the city’s finance sector is finally being shattered thanks to the collective efforts of women and men.
New policies by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing to promote gender diversity on boards, including a rule banning single-gender boards that took effect on January 1, have helped close the gender gap. Now, fewer than 10 of Hong Kong’s 2,600 listed companies do not have women on their boards. Just three years ago, more than 800 listed firms did not have female directors.
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Women are finally taking their place at the table. Time will tell whether their representation amounts to window dressing or genuine empowerment. Regardless, the doors to these boardrooms have swung open. We are counting on these women to be catalysts for change and lead a culture of inclusivity within their companies and also beyond the boardroom.
