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Woman sharing space with men in the business world is no longer unusual. In fact, many companies with female employees in top spots are performing pretty well, if we go by a MSCI’s report released in 2015. MSCI ESG Research’s research revealed in 2015 that “companies in the MSCI World Index with strong female leadership generated a Return on Equity of 10.1% per year versus 7.4% for those without (as of September 9, 2015, measured on an equal-weighted basis).”
To further validate women’s leadership in the business world, Stacey Cunningham, the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) chief operating officer, is set to become its 67th president. In the 226-year history of the exchange, Stacey Cunningham will become its first woman chief.
This Friday, Cunningham will take over the reins from Tom Farley, who has served as the president of NYSE since 2014 and is reportedly leaving to join a firm backed by Third Point, the hedge fund founded by Daniel Loeb. John Tuttle, the head of listings at NYSE, will take the Cunningham’s place. Cunningham joined NYSE in 2012. As a point of reference, another big U.S. exchange Nasdaq named Adena Friedman as its chief executive officer in 2017, making her the first woman leader of a global exchange.
Rise of Women Empowerment
This is not the first time that NYSE is empowering a woman and testifying to its gender diversity. In April, there was an announcement that the statue of the Fearless Girl facing the Manhattan financial district's famous Charging Bull near Wall Street will get a new address by the end of this year in front of the New York Stock Exchange. The sculpture is basically is an embodiment of gender equality and the power of women in leadership (read: NYSE to Soon Greet The Fearless Girl Statue).
The Fortune 500 also noted that the percentage of female CEOs has increased since 1998, however with some dips after 2011. There are currently 24 women CEOs at companies that form the 2018 Fortune 500 list, down from last year's record-breaking 32. The reason behind the latest drop is resignation from a third of Fortune 500 female CEOs last year.
Against this backdrop, we would like to highlight a few investing options that are focused on women leaders.
Stock Picks
Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)
Mary Dillon has been serving as the beauty retailer’s CEO since 2013. The company recent made a place for itself on the Fortune 500 list. The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS)
Michelle Grass took the position of a CEO at this retailer this year. Gass, who was the retailer's chief merchandising and customer officer before being a CEO, led a partnership between Kohl's and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), per CNBC. The Zacks Rank #2 company comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 42%).
ETF Picks
SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF SHE
This ETF offers exposure to U.S. companies that demonstrate greater gender diversity within senior leadership than other firms in their sector by tracking the SSGA Gender Diversity Index. The 169-stock fund holds Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Coca-Cola and Mastercard in the top three positions.From a sector look, information technology takes the largest share at 22.8%, followed by healthcare (18.2%) and consumer discretionary (12.3%).
Barclays (LON:BARC) Women in Leadership ETN (LON:WIL)
This product is linked to the performance of the Barclays Women in Leadership Total Return USD Index, which provides exposure to U.S.-based companies that satisfy one or both of the gender diversity criteria of having a female chief executive officer or having at least 25% female directors on its board (see: all the Large Cap ETFs here).
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