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(In FEB 3 story LGIM corrects data on Spain, paragraph 5)
LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Legal & General's investment
management arm, one of Britain's biggest investors, will vote
against combined chief executive and board chairman roles
globally, it said on Monday as part of its annual review of
voting policies.
Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) will also vote
against all Topix 100 companies in Japan that do not
have at least one woman on their board, it said in a statement.
The separation of CEO and board chair roles provides a
better balance of authority and responsibility, Sacha Sadan,
director of investment stewardship at LGIM said, adding there
was "a worrying trend of companies splitting the roles after a
scandal, then recombining over time".
"We are sending a very clear message that we will not
support a combined role going forward,” Sadan said.
LGIM said the issue was particularly acute in the United
States, France and Spain. Forty-seven percent of S&P 500
boards have combined CEO and board chair roles and 20% of IBEX
35 companies in Spain do, along with 53% of France's CAC
40 companies, it said.
The percentage of women board members at Japan's TOPIX 100
companies rose above 10% for the first time last year, but this
compares with 30% of Britain's FTSE 350 and 27% of the
S&P 500, LGIM said.
It said it would also vote against the largest 100 companies
in the S&P 500 and Canada's S&P/TSX where there are
currently fewer than 25% of women on boards, as it extends
voting on board diversity first introduced in 2015.
(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and
Mark Potter)
