Miners score in governance awards

ASX-listed mining companies BHP and OZ Minerals have been given the tick of approval by retail shareholders for their high corporate governance standards, taking out the major prizes at the Australian Shareholders’ Association’s inaugural ASA Awards. BHP beat four other finalists, including the Commonwealth Bank and Flight Centre, to claim the best company governance title. “BHP engaged well with shareholders, including a Q&A session prior to the AGM. They also held special sessions on cultural heritage, climate change, decarbonising steel and tailings dams, all of which are of pressing interest to engaged shareholders,” says ASA chair Steven Mabb.

Meanwhile, OZ Minerals received the award for enhanced company governance, coming up trumps ahead of BHP, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Tabcorp.

“In 2017, OZ Minerals had a new chair and a new chair of remuneration. The board set about a complete overhaul of the corporate governance statement. In the years since, the governance of the company had been exemplary,” says Mabb.

A recent survey conducted by the ASA found that 69% of retail investors would avoid certain industries because of concerns around ethics or sustainability – a figure that highlights the growing importance shareholders place on how companies act, not just how they perform.

“Governance is definitely more important than it has ever been before,” says ASA CEO Rachel Waterhouse. “Our retail shareholders, who are typically mum and dad investors, are certainly thinking about their personal wealth goals, but they’re also asking more questions and they’re looking to the ASA to find out what we’re monitoring in terms of governance.”

“Often they’ll look at companies who are not performing well and ask, ‘What is going on there?’. They’ll ask whether the company has the right CEO, whether that CEO is being paid appropriately and what the culture of the organisation is like.”