Business Maverick

Business Maverick

Higher-Rated Companies Have More Women at the Top, Says Moody’s

Higher-Rated Companies Have More Women at the Top, Says Moody’s
Women’s representation provides an opportunity to truly transform what happens in government, society and business, but only if women choose to show up in their authenticity and consciously set out to effect change. (Photo: wagner.edu / Wiipedia)

Companies that have more women at board level tend to have higher credit worthiness, according to new findings by Moody’s Investors Service.

Having more gender-balanced leadership typically leads to better corporate governance, which in turn supports credit quality, the ratings agency said in a global gender report published on Wednesday. The correlation however varies between different regions, Moody’s said.In North America, for example, where the link is strongest, women made up 44% of the the boards of the highest-rated companies, compared with 15% for those which are rated Caa. But the representation of women at the highest level of companies varies hugely across the world, ranging from an average of 33% in Europe to 18% in the Middle East and Africa.

Companies With More Women At Top Have Higher Credit Ratings | Average % of women on boards by rating category in North American companies

Government mandates, pressure from large institutional investors and disclosure requirements have been key in areas with most progress, the report said. The  European Union, for instance, pushed to improve gender equality at the top of businesses, with the European Parliament last year approving rules which mean at least 40% of non-executive director posts must be held by women at large, listed companies by 2026.

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

X

This article is free to read.

Sign up for free or sign in to continue reading.

Unlike our competitors, we don’t force you to pay to read the news but we do need your email address to make your experience better.


Nearly there! Create a password to finish signing up with us:

Please enter your password or get a sign in link if you’ve forgotten

Open Sesame! Thanks for signing up.

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.