There is a new push to ensure that companies looking to join the ASX have women on their boards before they list.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD)-led “30 per cent Club” is establishing a group with representation from investment bank and private equity companies, specifically those who advise on IPOs, that will look at a range of initiatives but ensure no companies going through an IPO list without female directors.

“The working group will comprise of investment bankers and private equity professionals that will be advocates for change within their industry,” said Rhian Richardson, who is an executive of the 30 per cent Club and board diversity manager at AICD.

“They will assist us in developing key messages for why diversity on boards is important that speak to investment bankers and founders/investors.

“We will connect them with executive search consultants and female directors so they have a pool of talented directors they can approach for board roles and we will work with them on promoting the companies that are listing to female directors.”

Stockhead took a look at the IPOs done in the past year to see how many companies listed with women on their board.

Nearly 62 per cent of the 63 companies that listed in the past year did not have a woman on the board.

Around 32 per cent had one woman on their boards, while just 6 per cent had two.

Only one company, gold explorer Yandal Resources (ASX:YRL), had female board representation of greater than 50 per cent.

Yandal listed on the ASX in December last year.

Here are the companies that have listed in the past year and how many women they have on their boards:

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort

Listing Date ASX Code Company Women Board Members Offer Size (M) Offer Price Last Price % Change Since Listing
10/02/2018 SGI Stealth Global Holdings 0 4 9.1225 0.2 0.125 -0.375
12/05/2018 CRS Caprice Resources 0 3 3.2949 0.2 0.2 0
07/06/2018 WOA Wide Open Agriculture 0 4 3.882 0.2 0.16 -0.2
11/07/2018 MOH Moho Resources 0 4 3.86903 0.2 0.1 -0.5
07/09/2018 PGX Primero Group 0 5 19.0425 0.4 0.375 -0.0625
04/11/2018 DXN Data Exchange Network /The 0 6 12.6752 0.2 0.062 -0.69
09/12/2018 14D 1414 Degrees 0 3 12.3067 0.35 0.305 -0.128571428571
12/12/2018 HMD HeraMED 0 5 4.2822 0.2 0.24 0.2
03/07/2019 CBY Canterbury Resources 0 5 4.42353 0.3 0.32 0.0666666666667
02/14/2019 A1G African Gold 0 4 3.2517 0.2 0.21 0.05
02/19/2019 CLB Candy Club Holdings 0 4 3.66601 0.2 0.14 -0.3
03/29/2019 EOF Ecofibre 0 3 14.126 1 2.2 1.2
04/16/2018 MKG Mako Gold 0 3 4.7988 0.2 0.115 -0.425
04/30/2018 MAM Microequities Asset Management 0 4 14.7752 0.8 0.425 -0.46875
05/25/2018 CPV Clearvue Technologies 0 5 3.9235 0.2 0.27 0.35
05/29/2018 GAL Galileo Mining 0 3 11.526 0.2 0.155 -0.225
05/29/2018 PYG PayGroup 0 4 6.6589 0.5 0.7 0.4
07/13/2018 VEA Viva Energy Group 0 4 1955.93 2.5 2.43 -0.028
07/18/2018 KTD Keytone Dairy Corp 0 5 11.3205 0.2 0.355 0.775
07/20/2018 CXL Calix 0 5 5.9192 0.53 0.71 0.339622641509
07/26/2018 RFR Rafaella Resources 0 3 3.876 0.2 0.07 -0.65
07/27/2018 NSB NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuti 0 4 4.4742 0.2 0.175 -0.125
07/30/2018 CR1 Constellation Resources 0 4 5.278 0.2 0.245 0.225
08/16/2018 SLZ Sultan Resources 0 5 3.6456 0.2 0.055 -0.725
08/24/2018 KWR Kingwest Resources 0 3 3.7865 0.2 0.16 -0.2
08/30/2018 CM1 Coolgardie Minerals 0 4 3.21631 0.2 -1
09/13/2018 ARN Aldoro Resources 0 3 3.7245 0.2 0.12 -0.4
09/17/2018 VEN Vintage Energy 0 4 22.311 0.2 0.145 -0.275
09/26/2018 NBI NB Global Corporate Income Trust 0 4 306.054 2 2.05 0.025
10/17/2018 ID8 Identitii 0 3 8.1631 0.75 0.48 -0.36
10/19/2018 QEM QEM 0 3 3.6965 0.2 0.12 -0.4
11/29/2018 NWM Norwest Minerals 0 6 4.75596 0.2 0.18 -0.1
11/30/2018 NVU Nanoveu 0 4 4.3596 0.2 0.075 -0.625
11/30/2018 RDC Redcape Hotel Group 0 5 36.1532 1.13 1.075 -0.0486725663717
12/13/2018 TYM Tymlez Group 0 0 3.7661 0.22 0.215 -0.0227272727273
12/13/2018 EMV EMvision Medical Devices 0 8 4.269 0.25 0.385 0.54
12/18/2018 EX1 Exopharm 0 3 5.0519 0.2 0.44 1.2
12/20/2018 FIJ Fiji Kava 0 7 3.69668 0.2 0.08 -0.6
12/28/2018 AMS Atomos 0 5 4.3782 0.41 1.01 1.46341463415
07/05/2018 RMY RMA Global 1 5 9.0876 0.25 0.195 -0.22
11/08/2018 GSM Golden State Mining 1 5 3.34978 0.2 0.088 -0.56
09/11/2018 HLA Healthia 1 3 19.9676 1 0.92 -0.08
01/29/2019 SPT Splitit Payments 1 7 8.6256 0.2 1.225 5.125
02/13/2019 UWL Uniti Wireless 1 4 9.50094 0.25 0.5 1
02/22/2019 MPH Mediland Pharm 1 5 9.07811 0.2 0.36 0.8
04/18/2018 JMS Jupiter Mines 1 6 185.139 0.4 0.31 -0.225
04/27/2018 SIL Smiles Inclusive 1 4 27.559 1 0.19 -0.81
05/16/2018 S66 Star Combo Pharma 1 5 4.59476 0.5 0.585 0.17
05/30/2018 KRX Koppar Resources 1 4 3.45375 0.2 0.17 -0.15
06/13/2018 VN8 Vonex 1 4 4.7244 0.2 0.12 -0.4
06/19/2018 B2Y Bounty Mining 1 5 13.4928 0.35 0.11 -0.685714285714
08/15/2018 TMR Tempus Resources 1 3 3.7975 0.2 0.23 0.15
08/20/2018 NIC Nickel Mines 1 8 147.74 0.35 0.42 0.2
09/21/2018 AR9 Archtis 1 5 5.8624 0.2 0.125 -0.375
09/21/2018 AGH Althea Group Holdings 1 5 14.4349 0.2 0.475 1.375
10/15/2018 SMX Security Matters 1 6 4.4484 0.2 0.51 1.55
10/23/2018 CRN Coronado Global Resources Inc 1 6 561.583 4 2.92 -0.27
10/31/2018 WWG Wiseway Group 1 6 18.4069 0.5 0.32 -0.36
11/14/2018 HM1 Hearts and Minds Investments L 1 8 361.75 2.5 2.83 0.132
05/14/2018 ED1 Evans Dixon 2 5 100.464 2.5 1.61 -0.356
06/21/2018 RZI Raiz Invest 2 5 11.275 1.8 0.535 -0.702777777778
06/22/2018 WGB WAM Global 2 6 253.176 2.2 1.915 -0.129545454545
12/14/2018 YRL Yandal Resources 2 3 3.563 0.2 0.21 0.05
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The 30 per cent Club was launched in May 2015 with a target of 30 per cent women on ASX 200 boards by the end of 2018.

As of the end of February, 29.7 per cent of ASX 200 boards were women. The AICD has set a new target of 30 per cent women directors on the boards of ASX 300 companies by the end of 2021.

Although the 30 per cent Club only looks at the top 300 companies by market cap on the ASX, this is a good indicator of what small caps will have to aspire to if they want to become a bigger player.

It is also likely that this push for more women will eventually flow down to smaller end of the market.

“We are still putting the group together,” Richardson told Stockhead.

“The Australian chapter chair, Nicola Wakefield Evans, thought we should establish this due to our new focus on the ASX 300.”

Wakefield Evans said the role played by investment bankers and underwriters in board selection would also be relevant as the focus shifted towards smaller companies and IPOs.

Flexible working the key to more women

A new study undertaken by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and AVID Property Group has shown just how valuable offering flexible work arrangements can be to attracting more women to management roles.

The study, “Effectiveness of gender equality initiatives in project-based organizations in Australia”, was recently published in the Australian Journal of Management.

“While gender equality in Australia is slowly improving, certain sectors – including mining and property – remain highly gender segregated,” said Marzena Baker, a QUT academic and AVID Property Group marketing manager.

“To date, there has been little research to confirm that work-life initiatives had any real impact on gender equality in these sectors, with this paper the first in Australia to do so.

“The availability of work-life initiatives is a major determinant of employees’ perceptions of organisational support for gender equality and may lead to greater organisational attractiveness for new employees.”

This includes things like amended start and finish times, access to part-time work, job sharing and working from home.

The property sector is the second largest employer in Australia, behind mining, directly employing 1.17 million full-time employees.

But just 4 per cent of CEOs and 20 per cent of key managers are women, with men making up almost all higher-status and higher-paying roles.

Other initiatives

The AICD is launching its 6th Chair’s Mentoring Program in August.

The program is AICD’s flagship board diversity initiative aimed at arming highly-experienced and qualified women with the right tools to become directors.

“This program has been really successful in connecting experienced and emerging female directors with ASX chairs and NEDS [non-executive directors] in a mentoring relationship,” Richardson explained.

“Our past mentees have enjoyed successful board directors across a variety of sectors, with a number of them being appointed to ASX 200 boards.”

The AICD monitors ASX 200 boards regularly and produces a quarterly report regularly highlighting the stats.

The organisation is also investigating other projects focused on cognitive diversity on boards and the importance of boards being comprised of individuals with different thinking styles and perspectives.

The 30 per cent Club, meanwhile, is working on a pathways to ASX 200 board roles report featuring insights from the 2018 male and female appointees.