Investment trust boards moving away from 'stale, male and pale'

34.5% of directorships now held by women

The number of women with positions on investment trust boards has jumped substantially over the past decade, according to a new report from Investec. However, experts highlight the sector still has a long way to go to shed its past of being "stale, male and pale".

The Skin in the Game report shows that 34.5% of directorships are now held by women compared to 8% in 2010.  The number of women chairs has also increased to 19.8% compared to 3.8% in 2010. However, there are still concerns of an exclusive club, as 24% of board members hold more than one directorship for an investment trust, while nine people sit on five boards, four of which are women. Rathbones' Crossman warns it will vote against or abstain at AGMs where trusts fail to meet diversity targets "It's quite scary when you look back to where the industry was and it was a stale, male ...