Singapore financial institutions consistent with global trends for gender balance: report

OF the institutions tracked in this year’s global Gender Balance Index (GBI), 63 appointed either a new governor or a new chief executive – but only nine of these new appointees, or 14 per cent, were women.

The Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), an independent think tank that produced the report, said: “2023 was an opportunity to move the dial on female leadership; however, it was missed in many instances.”

The index tracks the presence of men and women in senior positions across 335 institutions: 185 central banks, 50 leading commercial banks, 50 public pension funds and 50 sovereign funds.

These include six Singaporean institutions: the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board under pension funds; OCBC and DBS under commercial banks; the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under central banks; and GIC and Temasek under sovereign funds.

Overall, Singapore’s institutions are in line with global gender balance trends, with the country’s scores improving over the past three years, said OMFIF senior research analyst Arunima Sharan.

Pension funds

Among the 50 pension funds tracked, CPF’s ranking improved to 12th place, from 34th the previous year – making it the highest-ranked pension fund in the Asia-Pacific.

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Its GBI score increased by 40 points to 75, out of a maximum possible score of 100. 

This was attributed to the appointment of two women to top positions: Melissa Khoo as chief executive and Goh Fang Min as chief financial officer.

OMFIF noted that among the different categories of institutions, pension funds have the highest share of women in the top rank: 28 per cent, up from 24 per cent in 2023.

Commercial banks

For commercial banks, OCBC fell to ninth place from second previously, as its GBI fell 12 points to 56 – but this was actually because women were over-represented in senior positions.

OCBC is the only commercial bank in the rankings with women serving both as chief executive officer and chief financial officer.

Women also outnumber men in OCBC’s C-suite positions. The gender balance being skewed towards women brings down its score, Sharan explained.

DBS’ ranking improved to 26th from 28th previously, though its score stayed the same. Women form 29 per cent of its executive members and 20 per cent of overall board members.

OMFIF stated that “commercial banks have regressed”, with the share of female chief executives falling to 12 per cent this year, from 16 per cent in 2023.

However, it also noted that “overall, six of the eight commercial banks that had female chief executive officers within the past four years saw an increase in GBI scores.”

Central banks

Among the 185 central banks surveyed, MAS’ ranking fell to 85th, from 81st previously, even though its score increased by a point to 44.

Sharan noted that MAS’ score has been improving, from 35 in 2021. She added that Singapore’s gender balance is on a par with other Asean countries. 

The central banks of Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand had GBI scores of 20, 28, 43, 52 and 53, respectively, this year.

“Central banks reached a notable milestone with regard to gender balance in 2024,” said OMFIF.

“For the first time, the share of women among all senior staff in central banks has crossed 30 per cent.”

MAS was in line with this, as 30 per cent of its senior staff are female.

Sovereign funds

Finally, sovereign funds were noted to be “historically the worst-performing group in the GBI”, with this year being “profoundly disappointing”.

“More funds backslid than improved on gender balance, with a net 9 per cent of funds seeing scores decrease from 2023,” said OMFIF.

Temasek’s ranking fell to 30th from 27th, as its score fell by five points. Women comprise 22 per cent of executive members and 9 per cent of overall board members.

GIC’s ranking stayed the same at 36th, though its score fell by four points. Women form 22 per cent of executive members and 7 per cent of all board members.