Today, the Technical Advisory Committee approved the inclusion of 17 new companies in the IBEX® Gender Equality as of 20 June 2022, bringing the total number of listed companies that meet the gender diversity criteria to 45. The review was carried with data published by the Spanish stock market supervisor – CNMV - on the presence of women and men in decision-making bodies of Spanish listed companies.
Audax Renovables, Alantra, Acciona, Acciona Energía, Clínica Baviera, Cie Automotive, Enagás, Indra, Línea Directa, Libertas 7, Duro Felguera, Nicolás Correa, Deoleo, Prisa, Sabadell, Tubos Reunidos and Unicaja have joined the index, while Adolfo Domínguez, Almirall, Global Dominion, Amrest and Bodegas Riojanas have been excluded. Aena, Applus Services, BBVA, Bankinter, CaixaBank, Prosegur Cash, Inmobiliaria Colonial, Ebro Foods, Ence, Faes Farma, GAM, Grenergy, IAG, Iberdrola, Inditex, Logista, Lar España, Mapfre, Meliá, Oryzon, PharmaMar, Prim, Red Eléctrica, Repsol, Realia, Santander, Soltec and Telefónica will remain in the index.
The index universe that is used as a reference for this diversity indicator calculated by BME is the Índice General de la Bolsa de Madrid (IGBM). Eligible companies must have between 25% and 75% of female presence in their Board of Directors and between 15% and 85% in senior management positions.
These 45 constituents comprise 20 from the IBEX 35®, 12 from the IBEX Small Cap®, 7 from the IBEX Medium Cap® and another 6 from the IGBM. The stocks in the index are equal-weighted, therefore the weight of each of them will be 2.2%.
Carmen López, Head of Indices at BME, explains that "Since its launch, the IBEX® Gender Equality has fulfilled a dual function: on the one hand, it serves as a gauge of the state of gender equality in Spanish listed companies and, on the other hand, it also acts as a driver of change by encouraging companies that are not part of the index to make progress on this issue, which is essential for the proper development of the economy and compliance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5".
Until now, 33 companies were part of the index. In 2018, only 10 Spanish listed companies met the IBEX® Gender Equality’s inclusion criteria, compared to 45 following today's review. In other words, in four years the number of Spanish listed companies that are more advanced in terms of gender equality has more than quadrupled.
Since its launch on 30 November 2021, this index has risen by 9.2%, more than two percentage points above the IBEX 35®, and so far this year it has outperformed the selective index by four points: 6% vs 1.48%.
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