Committees
The average number of committees at SMI companies is 3.8, down from the 4.1 reported in our 2023 survey. This reduction is mostly due to the change of constituents in the Index.
Core committees
|
Members |
Annual meetings |
| Audit |
3.9 |
6.5 |
| Nomination |
4.4 |
5.3 |
| Remuneration |
3.9 |
5.6 |
Over 93% of all SMI board members serve on board committees, with an average of 1.5 committees per board member, compared to chairs who serve on an average of 1.35 committees. Most directors serve on one or two committees.
Number of committees per director
Presence of board chairs on committees
Only four SMI chairs are not a member of any committee and in most instances this seems to correlate with the chair having either recently joined the board or beginning their transition to move on to another role. We also found that 65% of the SMI chairs chose to join one or two committees. Three chairs opted to participate in three committees and in each case one of them was focused on future priorities such as investment or innovation.
Number of committees board chairs sit on
By far the most popular committee for chairs to serve on and frequently chair is the nomination committee. 25% of the SMI companies established a chairman’s committee which, perhaps unsurprisingly, is also chaired by the board chair. By comparison, the remuneration and audit committees were less popular.
Committees with presence of board chair
Board meetings and attendance
SMI companies held an average of 10.6 meetings during the period covered by their annual reports, of which most (an average of 9.9) were scheduled. The number of SMI companies disclosing their ad hoc meetings decreased from eight in 2023 to just three.
Not all companies report whether board meetings took place in-person or relied on virtual conferencing, which might indicate that a combination of both options has been adopted in the aftermath of the pandemic.