In this Board Monitor Australia & New Zealand 2019 report, we examine the key attributes of new board appointees (their demographics, functional experience, and other background), map how those attributes flowed onto boards, and identify trends.

Our analysis surfaced the following key findings:

• Of the 185 independent, non-executive director seats filled on the boards of ASX 200 (Australia) companies, 59% went to current or former CEOs and CFOs, and 24% went to current executives.
• Of the 15 new non-executive director seats filled on the boards of NZX 10 (New Zealand) companies, nearly all (93%) went to current or former CEOs and CFOs, and 20% went to current executives.
• Women accounted for nearly half (49%) of appointments in Australia—the highest proportion since we started tracking board appointments in Australia in 2016.
• New Zealand maintained the same proportion of seats that went to women, at 27%, from 2017 to 2018 (4 seats).
• At 35%, the share of seats on ASX 200 boards that went to individuals from outside Australia was above the proportion of non-nationals on NZX 10 boards (20%).
• In Australia, nearly a third of appointees (32%) had digital or social media expertise, compared to 20% in New Zealand.
• Looking at the collective career experience of appointments in Australia, the greatest proportion had substantial experience in financial services (28%), followed by 23% in industrial, and 21% in business services. In New Zealand, the largest share of total substantial industry experiences lay in the industrial and business services sectors, both at 30%.

Acknowledgment

Thank you to Guy Farrow, Heidrick & Struggles’ partner-in-charge for Australia, for his contributions to this report.