2022 Update: Golden Skirts and Trousers on the ASX200

This is an update on the analysis I first did in August 2020 looking at non-executive directors holding multiple directorships on the ASX200. I was (and I am still) curious to understand whether there is a concentrated pool and if so to what extent.

Golden skirts and sacks (trousers) were terms famously coined in Professor Martin Huse’s paper analysing the effects on board composition from the gender quota laws in Norway — describing those who accumulate board seats in bulk.

Photo by Tamara Bellis on Unsplash

Between the August 2020 dataset and May 2022 dataset there is an overlap of 70% of the same companies on the respective ASX200 lists — some companies moved because of a change in their market capitalisation or for a small number they de-listed (via acquisition, going private, other regulatory reasons).

UPDATED ANALYSIS

Across the ASX200 as at 27 May 2022 there are ~1300 non-executive director (NED) positions. This figure is roughly the same as in August 2020. The split between women/men holding these positions is 38%/62%, a slight change in the mix from from August 2020 of 35%/65%.

Fig 1. Analysis of ASX200 non-executive director data (27 May 2022)