The German-Swedish AllBright Foundation (AllBright-Stiftung) is a politically independent and non-profit foundation that campaigns for more women and diversity in management positions in trade and industry. In its latest report, it looks again closely at boardrooms and supervisory boards of the altogether 160 German listed companies.
The results of the latest survey are disillusioning for the German economy: on 1 September 2018, 641 men and 56 women had seats on the management boards of the listed companies in Germany. This accounts for a proportion of women of 8% which is slightly higher than in the previous year (2017: 7,3%). In the DAX-listed companies, the proportion of women on management boards stagnated at the previous year's level of 13.4%, i.e. companies continued to fall behind in international comparison.
The foundation keeps four lists: 110 companies are on the Black List because they do not have a female board member. 15 of these are also on the Double Black List because there is no woman on either the management board or the supervisory board. 48 companies are listed on the Grey List; they have at least one woman on the board, but do not yet have a proportion of women that reaches 40%. And only two of the 160 German stock exchange companies are included in the AllBright White List: Aareal Bank and the biotech company Medigene are the only companies to meet the criterion of a 40% proportion of women on the management board - by conviction: for Aareal Bank, cultural diversity is an enrichment of its corporate culture and an opportunity for the sustainable success of its business activities. The day-to-day work together is based on the principles of mutual esteem and respectful dealings with one another. These principles are anchored in the Code of Conduct and their importance is underscored by signing the Diversity Charta. Due to the appointment of Mr Hess as CFO as of 1 October 2018, the proportion of women has currently dropped to only 33%.
The AllBright Foundation also invited the top-ranked companies to comment in its report. In her statement, Marija Korsch, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, emphasises on the importance of equal opportunities at Aareal Bank:
"Women and men at Aareal Bank have the same opportunities. We make our personnel decisions strictly based on skills and performance. This is an act of fairness but also a prerequisite for a sustainably positive corporate development. Because only with the best talents and a personnel development geared towards the greatest possible diversity and variety will we be able to successfully shape our future."
You can download the AllBright report for September 2018 directly from the foundation's website, where a lot of additional material on the subject is also available.
