HESTA’s gender agenda: if not us, who?

The $52bn super fund for healthcare workers is turning the screws on corporate Australia over the lack of gender diversity in the C-suite.

Debby Blakey, who has been in the top job at HESTA for a little over five years, doesn’t believe 40 per cent is a difficult target.

The $52bn super fund for healthcare workers is turning the screws on corporate Australia over the lack of gender diversity in the C-suite, and has kicked off a campaign — backed by a handful of investors with $1 trillion in funds under management — to get women into 40 per cent of executive seats by 2030.

“If it’s not us who uses our position of influence and our seat at the table to drive change, then who will? We see it as part of our responsibility of being active investors,” HESTA chief executive Debby Blakey told The Australian.

“On whether now is the right time, well I feel if not now, in 2020 as we head into another decade, then when? Do we have to wait for another decade? Do we have to wait a half-century? These issues really should have been dealt with already.”

The pandemic that spurred a global shift in working habits provided a window of opportunity for gender diversity at the top, she said.

“Obviously there’s been huge loss of life and livelihoods and enormous pressure on families and communities. But as we emerge, there’s been such a shift in the way we do business, the way we work, the way we engage with one another in organisations, and there is a window of opportunity in terms of shifting mindsets.

“It’s the perfect time to actually seize that moment and engage with companies on how they can apply that ability they’ve demonstrated through COVID-19 to deal with gender diversity.”

A recent report from Chief Executive Women found that just 30 of the ASX200 companies had achieved gender balance in their executive teams.

With an ambition to nearly triple that number in the next 10 years, HESTA doesn’t just want a commitment from companies but is also calling for clear and public targets on how they’ll get there.

A handful of investors, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management, have already signed on, including Aberdeen Standard Investments, BlackRock Australia, Ellerston Capital, Fidelity International, First Sentier Investors, IFM Investors, Pendal Group and WaveStone Capital.

Each investor has committed to engaging with ASX200 companies to get them to sign up to the campaign and pledge to have women make up 40 per cent of C-suite roles by 2030.

Ms Blakey, who has been in the top job at HESTA for a little over five years, doesn’t believe 40 per cent is a difficult target.

“Most organisations are mindful of the need for gender diversity, and are in some way working on it. I think it’s just the urgency. It’s the front-of-mind conversation that needs to be had. And I think as investors we have a very strong role in that,” she said.

The 40:40 Vision initiative gives companies flexibility to set and develop their own plans and targets on how they’ll get more women into executive roles, she said.

“We want to see real, genuine change — not just additional layers of needless reporting and governance that invariably becomes a tick-the-box exercise.

“As a significant investor, we cannot simply diversify away from risks stemming from social inequality.”

HESTA has become increasingly vocal on societal issues, attacking AMP’s decision to promote Boe Pahari to lead AMP Capital despite accusations of sexual harassment against him, and pushing for change in the executive ranks at Rio Tinto after it destroyed 46,000-year-old heritage sites at Juukan Gorge.

Ms Blakey said the weight of the investor voice had changed this year. “I certainly think AMP and Rio were seismic shifts in that, in terms of the conversations around key societal issues: one being gender the other being heritage protection. It gives us confidence that as an investor that we do have a seat at the table.”