GS will vote against directors when boards lack women
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s fund-management unit wants a woman on every corporate board, and the Wall Street firm said it’s now willing to vote that way across the globe.
In a first-of-its-kind global policy, Goldman Sachs Asset Management said it will vote against nominating committees anywhere in the world that fail to include at least one woman on the board. In the US, more than 20% of corporate board members are women, so the policy may have a more significant impact in places like Japan where a much smaller percentage of companies have female directors.
Goldman casts more than 11,000 proxy votes a year. In 2019, the firm voted against board members leading the nominating committee at 214 US companies with all-male directors. Since then, 79 of those companies added a female board member.
Last year marked the first time that every company in the S&P 500 had a woman on their boards. Globally, the rise of women on boards has been uneven. Countries including Israel, Norway, France, Belgium, Italy, India and Australia have national quotas aimed at increasing representation.
‘S&P 500 BULL MARKET COULD END SOON’
In a separate development on Wednesday, the chief strategist for US equities at Goldman Sachs cut his year-end forecast for the S&P 500 while trimming his profit estimates for a second time in a month.
Earnings will drop at least 12% in each of the next two quarters as plunging oil prices and the spread of the coronavirus hurt businesses, he said.
With profits poised to collapse and sentiment to worsen, Kostin now expects the benchmark index to drop to 2,450 by the middle of 2020. That represents a 15% decline from the last close and a 28% slump from its February peak, a loss that if materialized would mean equities enter a bear market.
“We believe the S&P 500 bull-market will soon end,” Kostin wrote in a note to clients. “The deterioration in fundamentals is visible.”
IN THE US, MORE THAN
20% OF CORPORATE BOARD MEMBERS ARE WOMEN, SO THE POLICY MAY HAVE A MORE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT IN PLACES LIKE JAPAN