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Global News: Asia & Australasia
More women on SGX-listed boards
Women’s participation on boards of all Singapore-listed companies has exceeded 10 per cent for the first time, according to the Diversity Action Committee (DAC).
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The biggest improvement came at the top 100 largest SGX-listed companies, with the share of women on boards rising to 12.2 per cent from 10.9 per cent six months ago.
Of these top 100 primary-listed companies, 24 have at least 20 per cent women’s participation on boards, 40 are gender-diverse with less than 20 per cent women and 36 are all-male.
DAC’s chairman Loh Boon Chye said: “It is encouraging to see our larger companies taking the lead in increasing diversity by appointing women on their boards. We strongly encourage the remaining 76 companies who have not yet achieved 20 per cent women’s participation to act. Appointing one woman each would get the top 100 companies to 20 per cent.”
Responsible investment on the rise in Australia
Ethical investment funds are outperforming their average mainstream counterparts year on year in Australia, the latest Responsible Investment Benchmark Report 2017 has found.
Ethical, or responsible, investments have more than quadrupled over the past three years to AUS$622billion, with nearly half (44 per cent) of Australia’s assets under management now being invested through some form of responsible investment strategy.
This includes negative screening, impact investing, sustainability themed funds and the integration of environmental, social and governance considerations.
Simon O’Connor, CEO of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia, said: “Responsible investors are increasingly focussed on investing in the sectors that are rapidly becoming the sustainable backbone of our future global economy.”
Chinese firms enjoy ‘honourable’ accolades
Chinese companies are doing better in upholding corporate governance standards and engaging with investors, according to the 2017 All-Asia Executive Team Honored Companies Survey.
The survey by international financial publication Institutional Investor collated opinions from portfolio managers and analysts at 2,510 companies across Asia.
Three Chinese mainland companies — CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, China Medical System Holdings and 3SBio — secured the top three spots of ‘most honoured companies’. The top six companies in the internet sector all hailed from the Chinese mainland.
Will Rowlands-Rees, managing director of Institutional Investor Research, commented to China Daily: “The results are not surprising as China continues to open up its markets and Chinese companies’ efforts to be transparent and trustworthy for domestic and international investors alike are being recognised.”
Infosys co-founder rues departure
Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy has said he regrets quitting as chairman of the software company in 2014.
Murthy has recently been embroiled in an acrimonious battle with the Infosys board and current management, led by Vishal Sikka, over corporate governance issues.
Earlier this year, Murthy questioned if large severance payments to departing employees (particularly ex-CFO Rajiv Bansal) constituted ‘hush money’ and bemoaned what he described as a ‘concerning drop, in corporate governance’ at the company.
In an interview with CNBC TV18 in July, Murthy said: “A lot of my founder colleagues told me not to leave Infosys in 2014, to stay a few years… A lot of my decisions are based on idealism and probably, I should have listened to them.”
Less than a third of Japanese firms plan to boost shareholder returns this financial year although nearly half have seen cash on hand climb, according to a Reuters poll.
The Reuters Corporate Survey found 69 per cent of companies plan to keep shareholder returns flat this year and only 29 per cent plan to boost them. Two per cent plan to cut returns.
Almost half of Japanese firms said that cash on hand had risen in the past financial year, which they intend to use on capital spending.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has urged companies to either return more to shareholders or boost capital spending as part of a drive to improve corporate governance and make Japanese companies more attractive to foreign investors.
