"Maersk Considering Female CFO Amid Gender Gap in Top Management" 10 Apr 2018

A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S is considering hiring its first female chief financial officer, as the century-old conglomerate seeks to make up for a widening gender gap in top management. Shipping is a traditionally male-dominated industry and may help explain why Maersk still has the second-worst gender balance ratio among major corporations based in one of the most progressive corners of the world. Jim Hagemann Snabe, who’s been chairman for a year now, says more diversity would be good for business at Denmark’s largest company, which operates in 130 countries. While Maersk’s home country of Denmark is known for its high level of female participation in the work force, it doesn’t have mandatory gender quotas for company boards like in neighboring Norway. Maersk now has the lowest ratio (20 percent) of female board members in the Stoxx Nordic 30 Index after ostomy bag-maker Coloplast A/S (18 percent). That compares with a ratio of 50 percent at Nordea Bank AB, the region’s leader, and an average of 35 percent across Stoxx Nordic companies..."We’re reviewing the future structure of the board, and we won’t just look at skills, which are obviously important, but also at diversity, including gender diversity,” Snabe said.