Women’s power for the depot

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  Serge Nussbaumer
  Chefredaktor

The “battle of the sexes” is as old as humanity itself. Starting with Adam and Eve, the eternal dispute has been going on for thousands of years. Of course, neither then nor now is it a war in the true sense of the word. Rather, it is a constant social discourse and an effort to overcome inequalities between the sexes and create equal opportunities for all. Even in our modern and enlightened age, not all barriers between men and women have been removed. Yet equality is a universal human right and could take society and the economy to a new level.

Diversity advantage

From an economic perspective, numerous analyses show that equal opportunities help to create a dynamic, innovative and fair working environment that benefits both individual employees and the company in the long term. Equal rights, equal duties, equal opportunities and equal power for women and men not only increase employee satisfaction, but also long-term success and competitiveness. The reason for this is obvious: different perspectives and experiences lead to more diverse approaches to solutions, which in turn drive innovation.

If you move up one level higher in the company hierarchy, there are also advantages. Women in management positions are of great importance for several reasons: firstly, they act as role models who motivate others to develop their potential. Secondly, diverse management teams often make more informed and balanced decisions and are therefore more successful and adaptable. This in turn has a positive effect on company performance. Speaking of diversity: studies show that companies that embrace diversity also react more quickly to change and thus position themselves better in global competition. At the same time, they increase their attractiveness as an employer. This attracts talent, retains them in the long term and also contributes to a positive corporate culture, which ultimately strengthens economic success.

Women catch up

Despite this bundle of advantages, companies are still struggling to create equal opportunities. Nevertheless, the curve is pointing upwards. According to an analysis by CRIF, the proportion of women on the executive boards and boards of directors of Swiss companies improved significantly between 2014 and 2023. Ten years ago, the proportion of women at board level was 24.1%, but by 2023 it had risen to 28.5%. The voice of women is also gaining weight on boards of directors. The majority of listed Swiss companies now meet the federal government’s target of 30% women on boards of directors by 2026. According to a study by HR consultants Russell Reynolds Associates, the proportion rose to 35.5% last year. This represents a new historic high for the representation of women in these positions. However, the proportion of newly elected women on boards of directors fell to 26%, having been over 50% in the three previous years.

Although Swiss boards have made progress in gender equality in recent years, a comparison with other major European share indices shows that Swiss companies are still lagging behind in terms of the proportion of women. In the German DAX share index, the ratio is already just under 40%, while the French CAC 40 even stands out with 46.1%.

Different levels of progress

At Management Board level, the number of female members is also steadily increasing, but the momentum towards gender parity came to a standstill last year. The proportion of female CEOs and deputy CEOs stagnated at 25%. According to experts, this indicates that women are not rising quickly enough to influential positions. The analysis by Russell Reynolds Associates arrives at significantly higher figures for the proportion of female managers in SMI companies. At Alcon, Novartis, Richemont, Roche Sonova and Zurich Insurance, the proportion is just under 50% of the total workforce. Holcim brings up the rear with less than a fifth.

The fact that the largest companies in the world, which receive the most money from investors, are hardly ever run by women is also evident in the USA. In the S&P 500, only 6.2% of companies are led by women, in the Swiss leading index SMI it is 5.0%, meaning that in this country there is only one woman at the head of one of the 20 largest companies. But back overseas: according to Research.com, a total of 31 women sit behind the desk of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the leading American index. Women are not just spread across one sector, such as the obvious cosmetics industry, but are also making inroads into male-dominated sectors such as the automotive industry. Mary Barra, for example, ascended the throne of General Motors on January 15, 2014 and never relinquished it. The share price performance underlines the success of the now 63-year-old manager. Since then, GM’s share price has risen by around a third, while the stock market value of its German competitor VW, for example, halved in the same period.

Female leadership qualities

But women also set the tone in the technology sector. Two of the best known are Lisa Su from AMD and Safra Catz from Oracle. Both started their careers around eleven years ago and can look back on a successful time. Oracle’s share price has increased fivefold during this time, AMD’s even fiftyfold. While the software company has enjoyed great success in the cloud business in particular, the semiconductor company AMD has become one of the closest pursuers of industry leader NVIDIA in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). But women are also showing their skills in the aforementioned beauty industry. Mary Dillon has been CEO of beauty retailer Ulta Beauty since July 2013 and under her leadership, not only has turnover increased almost fivefold and profits sixfold, but the share price is also showing its best side. Since she took office, the share price has risen by more than 260%. Sue Nabi has proven in recent years that success is not inherent to women. She was appointed head of the cosmetics group Coty in July 2020, but the resounding success has yet to materialize. Although the share price has risen significantly in the meantime, it is currently back at the level of mid-2020 due to the recent weakening demand for make-up and cosmetics for the mass market. Nevertheless, CEO Nabi cannot be given a bad report card. During her tenure, sales increased by almost 30% and the operating result turned around from minus USD 1.2 billion to plus USD 546 million.

Logitech’s Hanneke Faber, the only CEO of an SMI company, still has a relatively short track record, but in her first year in office she managed to get the ailing computer accessories manufacturer back on track. The CEO, who has been in office since December 1, 2023, has already raised the forecast for the 2024/25 financial year (March 31) several times. This was well received by the market, with the share price rising by 18% over the year. The share price thus reached a new four-year high.

Intelligent investments in the female sex

Investors who trust the business administration graduate can consider a direct investment or – depending on their risk appetite – a leveraged solution. A suitable product could be the Long Mini Future BWDSEU from UBS could be a suitable product. The leverage is 5.7, the knock-out is a good 15% away from the current level. At CHF 79.0887, the barrier is almost exactly at the 200-day moving average. The newly launched Barrier Reverse Convertible KZNUDU on Logitech. Even in a sideways trend, the product offers a return of 7.3% p.a., which is secured by a decent risk buffer of just under a third.

Even though there is still no woman at the top of Zurich Insurance, the Group has – as shown – an above-average proportion of women. Both the operating business and the share price are currently in top form. Just a few days ago, the SMI share reached a new 24-year high. Société Générale has listed an interesting Unlimited Turbo Warrant SGO0CZ on the insurance stock on Swiss DOTS. The product has a leverage of 5.4 and a stop threshold of CHF 486.83. There is also an alternative for conservative investors. The BRC issued by Julius Baer at the end of December 2024 SBOGJB issued at the end of December 2024 offers the prospect of a return of 4.5% p.a., with a risk buffer of 20.7%.

If you want to add a whole package of female power to your portfolio, you can purchase the tracker certificate MIGGEZ tracker certificate on the “Migros Bank elleXX Gender Equality Basket”. Diversity and equal opportunities have long been close to Migros Bank’s heart. That is why the experts at Migros Bank have launched a special basket of shares together with elleXX 2021. Only companies that have exemplary structures in the area of gender equality and also take gender equality seriously are included in this basket. Zurich Insurance is one of the companies in the 30-member basket, which is rebalanced on a quarterly basis.

However, the “Migros Bank elleXX Gender Equality Baske” has not yet made a name for itself as a major performance driver in the portfolio. Since its issue, the tracker is still in the red; over the year, the participation product has gained just under 6%. The “Solactive Equileap Global Gender” index compiled by Solactive performed significantly better. The barometer only includes stocks that meet the requirements in the areas of gender pay gap, women in management positions, promotion opportunities, parental leave and flexible working time models. The securities in the indices are equally weighted and selected in such a way that there are no geographical outliers. Investors can add the indices to their portfolios via ETFs. The “Amundi Lyxor Global Gender Equality” tracks the “Solactive Equileap Global Gender Equality Index” with 150 companies. With a volume of around EUR 680 million, the “UBS Global Gender Equality” is many times larger and is based on the “Solactive Equileap Global Gender 100 Leaders Index”, which has somewhat stricter rules than the benchmark chosen by Lyxor. With a gain of 18.2%, UBS’s ETF GENDER also outperformed Amundi’s ETF LYX0XS by around two percentage points.