Fearless Girl Moves to Her New Home

On the same day State Street debuted Fearless Girl, it called on thousands of companies in its investment portfolio in the U.S., U.K. and Australia to increase the number of women on their corporate boards.

Now in its second year, the Fearless Girl campaign has expanded to also include pushing for board diversity in Japan and Canada, and the effort continues to drive impact globally, according to the firm.

Since March 2017, State Street has called on more than 1,200 companies with no women on their boards to take action.

In the first half of 2018 alone, State Street voted against nearly 600 companies that have not taken adequate steps toward adding at least one female director. The firm noted that 301 companies have now added a woman to their board and 28 more have committed to doing so.

To build upon this momentum, State Street escalated its board diversity voting guideline in September.

The initial voting guideline dictated that State Street Global Advisors would vote against the nominating and governance committee chair if the company failed to commit to action in the near term. Going forward, the guideline will be enhanced to call for voting against the entire slate of committee nominees if a company does not take action within three years.

State Street also expanded its focus beyond the board level this year. The firm is calling on its portfolio companies to monitor and disclose the level of gender diversity not only on their boards but at all levels of management. State Street said it will begin screening and engaging with companies in the STOXX 600 and FTSE 350 indexes to start, seeking to understand company practices that promote diversity.

— Related on ThinkAdvisor:

• State Street Global Advisors Drops 'SSGA,' Moves 'Fearless Girl'
• 'Fearless Girl' Was Never a 'Statement of Accomplishment': State Street