Novartis presented its accounts for 2021 at the start of February. Alongside the results for the last year, analysts and investors that day found their attention drawn mainly to the dividend proposal and the outlook for the current business period. By contrast, the ESG update presented at the same time may have been ignored by many stock market observers. In a separate presentation, the pharmaceuticals group revealed where it stood in relation to sustainability. Novartis also set out management targets for “diversity & inclusion”: the company is looking to close the so-called gender pay gap, the differential between the salaries of men and women, by as early as next year. Gender balance, i.e. parity between the genders, is likewise to be achieved at management level in Novartis by 2023. As for the board of directors, the Basel company has just taken a step towards this goal with the appointment of Ana de Pro Gonzalo to the supervisory board on 4 March. The experienced manager brings the number of women on the Novartis board up to four. That means women now account for a good 30%, well above the international average of less than one fifth.
The Novartis share had qualified for the Swissquote Gender Equality Index even before the latest board appointment. This benchmark expands Swissquote’s “Themes Trading” series and is available to investors through a tracker certificate from Leonteq. The guarantor of the new issue is PostFinance AG. It enables the strategists of the direct broker to take account of the global efforts towards greater gender diversity. The calculation behind the index’s methodology is clear: companies with a relatively healthy balance of men and women offer the potential of greater economic success and hence also a stronger stock market performance. To be considered for inclusion, a share must first meet certain criteria. These include a market capitalisation of at least CHFmn 500 and an average daily trading volume of around CHF 100,000. The qualitative part of the selection process comprises further criteria. The methodology generally targets companies which take a pioneering role in driving equality between the genders.
Management Fee: 1.10% p.a.
Index Sponsor: Swissquote Bank SA
Issuer: Leonteq Securities AG, Guernsey
Guarantor: PostFinance AG, Bern, Switzerland
The aim is to close the gender pay gap mentioned above. The index thus includes businesses which want to put an end to the salary differential between men and women. They also ensure a balanced gender ratio in all areas – from the boardroom to the workforce in general. In addition, the index managers pay meticulous attention to whether a company has defined policies with regard to gender diversity and equality of opportunity and also follows them. The Swissquote Gender Equality Index has a number of exclusion criteria as well. Companies with controversial practices in relation to their workers will not be considered for inclusion. These may be unfair wages or unequal access to promotion as well as discrimination and harassment. The Swissquote experts round off the multi-stage selection process with an analysis of balance sheet quality and share valuation.
The tracker certificates follows the new index with no term limit. While Leonteq acts as the issuer for the participation product, PostFinance AG is on board as guarantor. This duo enables investors to take a position in an underlying consisting of 25 stocks. Reflecting the economic predominance of the USA, Wall Street stocks set the tone. It is noticeable that several companies from the Pacific basin meet the criteria for inclusion in the index. Among them is Xero. Founded in 2006, the provider of accounting software is headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand. Gender diversity is obviously par for the course there: Xero’s eight-strong executive team includes five women. They include Kirsty Godfrey-Billy, the chief finance officer. The CFO position in another four members of the index is occupied by a woman, while three of the companies have a woman in the boss’s seat. One of these is Michele Buck, who has been chief executive officer of US confectionery manufacturer Hershey for the last five years. Citigroup broke new ground in February 2021 when a woman, Jane Fraser, took over the position of CEO for the first time in the history of the big bank. In short, the Swissquote Gender Equality Index offers enormous diversity – both in relation to gender and geographically and in terms of the sectors included.
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