In real estate, it pays to put women on the board, shows study
While the average representation of women on REIT boards rose to 15.5 percent from 8 per cent in the past decade, that still trails the 22 per cent average for the S&P 500, according to the study
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Real estate is still largely a man’s world, but companies with women on the board are the ones rewarding investors.
Wells Fargo & Co. analysts Jeffrey Donnelly and Dori Kesten examined the gender makeup of boards of 165 US real estate investment trusts from 2006 to 2017. They found that shares of REITs with a greater-than-average share of female directors outperformed REITs with all-male boards by 2.33 percentage points over five years.
While the average representation of women on REIT boards rose to 15.5 percent from 8 per cent in the past decade, that still trails the 22 per cent average for the S&P 500, according to the study.
“Our purpose here is to shine a spotlight on board diversity in real estate and highlight that the performance benefits of inclusion found in companies globally, applies to real estate companies domestically,” the analysts wrote.
Wells Fargo & Co. analysts Jeffrey Donnelly and Dori Kesten examined the gender makeup of boards of 165 US real estate investment trusts from 2006 to 2017. They found that shares of REITs with a greater-than-average share of female directors outperformed REITs with all-male boards by 2.33 percentage points over five years.
While the average representation of women on REIT boards rose to 15.5 percent from 8 per cent in the past decade, that still trails the 22 per cent average for the S&P 500, according to the study.
“Our purpose here is to shine a spotlight on board diversity in real estate and highlight that the performance benefits of inclusion found in companies globally, applies to real estate companies domestically,” the analysts wrote.