Monday, August 20, 2012

Women on Boards

There is evidence that when boards are diversified, they do better. One of the hot topics today is having women on boards. There are a number of studies that show having women on the board helps companies do better. Here is the original Credit Suisse study paper.

See a Bloomberg article on this subject and another article from Insider Investors relations on this subject. The Conference Board of Canada talks about the same thing here.

What these articles have in common is talking about how having women on boards help companies to perform better. Also, the number of women on boards has been increasing. However, we in Canada are not doing as well as the US is.

There is an organization in Canada that helps companies get women on their boards. See Women on Boards. The G&M have an article of how our Government is promoting the idea of putting women on company's boards. See G&M article.

When you are buying stock, you just might want to look at the company's information on who is on their board to see if they have diversity. It, of course, should not be the deciding factor, but it should be considered.

You can also consider other diversities, such as minorities on the board and independent directors. Companies often have information on their directors in their proxy information and lots of companies now show all the proxy information on their sites.

If you use Reuter's site you can see lots of information on people who are running a company. For example, for the company of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. that I am reviewing today, go to here on Reuter's for information on the people running this company.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website for stocks followed and investment notes. Follow me on twitter.

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