CORPORATE FINANCE
“ For finance there is a clear need to create multiple role model examples that can inspire young women to join this career path , which is more and more at the centre of key company decision making ”
CRISTINA CATANIA PARTNER , MCKINSEY & COMPANY
Furthermore , as van den Bosch Wazen points out , according to McKinsey ’ s latest Diversity Wins report , companies with more than 30 % of women executives are more likely to outperform companies where this percentage ranged from 10-30 %.
“ The benefits speak for themselves and I ’ m thrilled that investors are pushing harder for this ,” states van den Bosch Wazen . “ The more diverse your management team , the more engaged your workforce , and the better your customers are looked after . You are better informed of the world , you tend not to miss trends , making your balance sheet strong and your organisation run more efficiently .”
Cristina Catania , Partner at McKinsey & Company agrees that gender diversity “ enriches decision-making and so has a positive impact on companies ’ performance and sustainability ”, however more specifically , and in the context of the finance function , she points out that studies have found that “ women have higher risk aversion than men and that can be a good thing ”.
Maggie Xu , Principal of Greater China Financial Services Practice at Oliver Wyman , agrees suggesting research shows that female CFOs are more risk averse and tend to adopt more conservative accounting policies . And for “ those companies / industries with higher litigation risk , default risk , systematic risk , or management turnover risk , who are more focused on accounting conservatism , female CFOs may well do a better job ”.
Arguing that women are “ equally qualified to effectively address current and future challenges and disruptions ”, Hanady Khalife , Senior Director of MEA & India for the Institute of Management Accountants further points out that beyond operations ,
41 June 2021