Listcos with diverse leadership are more profitable, NUS study finds

THERE was an uptick in the number of top 100 Singapore-listed companies by market capitalisation with all-male boards last year, from 18 companies in December 2020 to 21 by June 2021, and these companies might want to rethink their leadership policy.

An inaugural study covering all 577 publicly-listed companies in Singapore has found hard evidence that a company peaks in financial performance when it has an equal number of male and female leaders in senior management and board positions.

All else being equal, an increase in the proportion of female leaders by 10 percentage points contributes to an increase in the ratio of net profits to total income, or return on assets (ROA), by 0.44 percentage point, the findings released on Tuesday (Feb 22) also showed.