The presence of women at the top of Italian listed companies reaches a new all-time high, even if gender equality remains a mirage. According to the last Consob report on corporate governance of Borsa Italiana companies, 36% of administrative positions and 39% of control positions are currently held by women.
The growth is largely due to reads 120 of the 2011, according to which, from August 2012, at the first renewal of the corporate bodies of listed companies, one fifth of the seats must be reserved "for the less represented gender", a fraction which rises to one third for the second and third renewals.
On the other hand, women hold the post of CEO in only 15 companies, which represent just 2,5% of the market in terms of capitalization.
Things are better in the presidency box, occupied by women in 25 broadcasters, which in this case represent about a third of the value of Borsa Italiana.
Over 72% of women are independent directors, a percentage that has been growing continuously since 2013.
In 2019, the number of women appointed by minorities through the list voting system reached the maximum value of 68 female directors, present on the board of 56 large companies (almost three-quarters of the total market capitalization).
INCREASE ATTENTION TO SUSTAINABILITY
Again according to the Consob report, attention to sustainability is increasing among listed Italian companies. At the end of 2018, there were 33 companies that had linked the variable remuneration of CEOs to ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) parameters, while the companies that entrust the supervision of sustainability issues to a committee rose from 45 to 54 over the course of the year. 'year.
Of the companies that envisage compensation linked to ESG factors, 22 belong to the Ftse Mib (65% of the index). The integration of sustainability factors in remuneration is more widespread in state-owned companies (14), while it records the lowest value among family-owned companies (only 9, ie 6% of the segment considered).
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS IN 27% OF THE MARKET
As regards the composition of the shareholder structure, institutional investors are present in 62 listed Italian companies (60 in 2017), equal to approximately 27% of the market, and play the role of significant shareholders in 13 companies, especially small ones.
Foreign investors, on the other hand, hold significant stakes in 51 issuers, including medium-large capitalization companies.
Above all, two dynamics are significant: the contraction of the presence of banks and insurance companies (in particular the Italian ones, which recorded the minimum value of eight shareholdings in 2018) and the increase in the shares of capital attributable to active investors (especially foreign ones) such as private equity , venture capital and sovereign wealth funds (27 significant holdings, up from 19 at the end of 2017).
INSTITUTIONAL DISSENSE ON DIVIDENDS
In 2019, the highest rate of dissent from institutional investors on remuneration policies was recorded. The votes against and abstentions reached 44% of the shares held by institutions, 12 percentage points more than in 2012. Dissent has grown above all among the companies belonging to the Ftse Mib, marking an inversion of the trend compared to the reduction observed in period 2012-16. In particular, in the two-year period 2018-19, dissent reached 37% of the institutional votes and 12% of the assembly (27% and 9%, respectively, in 2016).
Although it is confirmed to be lower than in other sectors, the dissent of institutional investors has also grown among financial companies, reaching 10% of the shareholders' meeting and 39% of the total shares held, a marked increase compared to the values recorded in the two-year period 2017-18 , when the disagreement with the remuneration policy was expressed, respectively, for approximately 33% and 26% of the shares held.
ITALIAN COMPANIES STILL LITTLE CONTESTABLE
Furthermore, Consob underlines that among the Italian listed companies there is still a high concentration and limited control contestability. At the end of 2018, the companies were controlled in 123 cases (53% of the total and 30% of the capitalization) by a single shareholder, while in another 23 cases (25% of the total and 42% of the capitalization) control was in the hands of shareholder agreements. Only 13 issuers could be defined as having dispersed ownership, mainly of large dimensions and with an overall capitalization equal to 20,5% of the total market.
The control model in Italy continues to be the familiar one: there are 152 companies, which account for 33% of the market capitalization (66% of the total). On the other hand, publicly controlled companies in Italy account for 10% of the total and account for 38% of the total capitalization.
