Although one fifth of firms in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index still have all-male boards, new appointments of women directors are rising. The next task, in the city and elsewhere in the region, is to ensure women are present in sufficient numbers for companies to reap the full rewards of diversity.Females accounted for almost 19 percent of appointments to the boards of HSI companies in the past year, according to a report released on Tuesday by Community Business. That’s an improvement of seven percentage points on the previous twelve months. Yet there are still fewer than two female directors for each of the 51 constituents – and three companies, including Chinese technology giant Tencent, have shamefully never had a woman on the board.

Source: Asia’s boardrooms require critical mass of women – Breakingviews