November 2019

2019 FTSE 150 Board Trends

The 2019 UK Spencer Stuart Board Index reveals that the UK’s top 150 listed companies are making concerted efforts to reinvigorate their boards, appointing a record number of new non-executive directors this year. The class of 2019 comprises more new faces, more women and improving levels of ethnic diversity. For example, a record 72% of FTSE 150 boards appointed a new non-executive director and for the first time the majority of these new directors were women. Women now represent 31% of all directors in the top 150 FTSE companies and nearly 43% of non-executives — both new milestones.

In addition to looking at trends in board composition, the Board Index also examines director remuneration and governance practices such as board evaluation. Among the noteworthy findings, both chairs an CEOs are less likely than ever before to sit on another listed company board — a reflection of the increased workload involved as well as an early indication that concerns about ‘overboarding’ are starting to take effect.

↑ — denotes a significant change from prior years.

New non-executive directors

72^%

of boards appointed at least one new non-executive director

15^%

of all directors were appointed in past 12 months

35^%

have a financial services background

diversity among the new non-executive directors

	2019	2018	2017	2016
Women	52.7% ↑	43.2%	38.8%	33.7%
Foreign	41.2%	41.9%	36%	41%
BME¹	11.5%	9.7%	13.1%	7.7%

¹ Black and minority ethnic. 8.1% of all directors in the top 150 FTSE companies are BME.

first-time directors

57^%

are women

52^%

are foreign

13^%

are BME

8^%

have an Oxbridge degree

53

is the average age

Remuneration and fees

remuneration of directors

	2019	2014	2009	5 year change	10 year change
Average non-executive retainer	£69,238	£61,920	£54,000	11.8%	28.2%
Average (part-time) chair retainer	£404,544	£351,977	£312,000	14.9%	29.7%

chair fees (part-time only), segmented by ranking group (ftse 150, £000)

2018

2019

1 to 10	788
	773
11 to 20	678
	700
21 to 30	618
	637
31 to 40	498
	473
41 to 50	313
	352
51 to 100	372
	341
101 to 150	259
	280

non-executive director fees, segmented by ranking group (ftse 150, £000)

Retainer

Total fee

1 to 10	98
	161
11 to 20	88
	162
21 to 30	85
	121
31 to 40	75
	98
41 to 50	71
	93
51 to 100	64
	80
101 to 150	60
	72

Other governance measures

board committees

	Audit committee	Remuneration committee
Female chairs	24%	52%
Female members	47%	39%
Average fees for committee chairs	£24,731	£21,562

tenure

4.1^years

Average tenure of non-executive directors

4.9^years

Average tenure of both chairs and CEOs

external commitments

32^%

of chairs do not sit on another listed company board

72^%

of CEOs do not sit on another listed company board

board evaluations

37.3% External

61.3% Internal

1.4% None

The 2019 UK Spencer Stuart Board Index reveals that the UK’s top 150 listed companies are making concerted efforts to reinvigorate their boards, appointing a record number of new non-executive directors this year. The class of 2019 comprises more new faces, more women and improving levels of ethnic diversity. For example, a record 72% of FTSE 150 boards appointed a new non-executive director and for the first time the majority of these new directors were women. Women now represent 31% of all directors in the top 150 FTSE companies and nearly 43% of non-executives — both new milestones.

In addition to looking at trends in board composition, the Board Index also examines director remuneration and governance practices such as board evaluation. Among the noteworthy findings, both chairs an CEOs are less likely than ever before to sit on another listed company board — a reflection of the increased workload involved as well as an early indication that concerns about ‘overboarding’ are starting to take effect.

↑ — denotes a significant change from prior years.

New non-executive directors

72^%

of boards appointed at least one new non-executive director

15^%

of all directors were appointed in past 12 months

35^%

have a financial services background

diversity among the new non-executive directors

	2019	2018	2017	2016
Women	52.7% ↑	43.2%	38.8%	33.7%
Foreign	41.2%	41.9%	36%	41%
BME¹	11.5%	9.7%	13.1%	7.7%

¹ Black and minority ethnic. 8.1% of all directors in the top 150 FTSE companies are BME.

first-time directors

57^%

are women

52^%

are foreign

13^%

are BME

8^%

have an Oxbridge degree

53

is the average age

Remuneration and fees

remuneration of directors

	2019	2014	2009	5 year change	10 year change
Average non-executive retainer	£69,238	£61,920	£54,000	11.8%	28.2%
Average (part-time) chair retainer	£404,544	£351,977	£312,000	14.9%	29.7%

chair fees (part-time only), segmented by ranking group (ftse 150, £000)

2018

2019

1 to 10	788
	773
11 to 20	678
	700
21 to 30	618
	637
31 to 40	498
	473
41 to 50	313
	352
51 to 100	372
	341
101 to 150	259
	280

non-executive director fees, segmented by ranking group (ftse 150, £000)

Retainer

Total fee

1 to 10	98
	161
11 to 20	88
	162
21 to 30	85
	121
31 to 40	75
	98
41 to 50	71
	93
51 to 100	64
	80
101 to 150	60
	72

Other governance measures

board committees

	Audit committee	Remuneration committee
Female chairs	24%	52%
Female members	47%	39%
Average fees for committee chairs	£24,731	£21,562

tenure

4.1^years

Average tenure of non-executive directors

4.9^years

Average tenure of both chairs and CEOs

external commitments

32^%

of chairs do not sit on another listed company board

72^%

of CEOs do not sit on another listed company board

board evaluations

37.3% External

61.3% Internal

1.4% None

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