Financially Speaking | Listing the cracks in the ceiling
Published:Monday | April 10, 2017 | 12:00 AM
In February, when Citibank NA announced it selected a woman to be the head of Citi’s country operations in Jamaica, starting April 1, it served to tip the balance towards female on the gender map of powerful bankers in Jamaica.
To be sure, there only seven commercial banking operations, but for now four women are in charge of four of them. By a narrow margin — and this is all based on industry data from the central bank up to December 2016 — women oversee the majority of the country’s bank savings.
Men still oversee a larger share of the loan market and manage most of the assets in a sector worth $1.21 trillion overall. But still, baby steps.
Lewis has joined Maureen Hayden-Cater, Mariame McIntosh Robinson and Jacqueline Sharp as banking bosses. Hayden-Cater is the only one among them, and the only one in the overall sector to helm two different banks — First Global and now newcomer JN Bank.
Of the overall $775 billion of deposits in commercial banks, women manage $394 billion or 50.78 per cent of the pool. But they only control 42 per cent of all loans, and 45 per cent of overall assets.
While you contemplate the cracks in the banking ceiling, here’s another consideration: There are also company boards out there where women dominate, that is, the female directors outnumber males. It’s not to be overstated — it is a mere fraction, after all — but it becomes important for aspirants visualising the role of women in business and the corporate world.
Still, for companies listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange there are two times as many boards with no women at all than the number of boards dominated by or equally represented with women. So there is a lot more ground to cover.
A review by the Financial Gleaner finds that of the 507 directorships for listed companies as the start of April, only 113 or 22 per cent of them were held by women.
But, again, given the progress to date, now when you conjure up the image of a company boardroom, it’s okay to picture it dominated by the visages of women.
Here’s a compilation of lists to help you along. It’s all confined to and drawn from 65 companies that disclose information on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and the banking industry data reported by the Bank of Jamaica.
By the way, there is a listed company, Key Insurance, that has both a woman as the chairman and the chief executive. There used to be another — Scotia Group was the pioneer — but, right now, Key is the only one.
BOARDS CHAIRED BY WOMEN
Barita Investments Ltd
Caribbean Cream Ltd/Kremi
Key Insurance Co Ltd
BOARDS DOMINATED BY WOMEN
138 Student Living Jamaica Ltd
Key Insurance Co Ltd
Medical Disposables & Supplies Ltd
Pulse Investments Ltd
Scotia Investments Jamaica Ltd
BOARDS WITH NO WOMEN
Berger Paints Jamaica Ltd
Caribbean Flavours & Fragrance Ltd
Ciboney Group Ltd
KLE Group Ltd
Knutsford Express Services Ltd
Margaritaville Caribbean Ltd
Margaritaville Turks Ltd
Mayberry Investments Ltd
Proven Investments Ltd
Sterling Investments Ltd
Supreme Ventures Ltd
Sweet River Abbattoir & Supplies Company Ltd
COMPANIES MANAGED BY WOMEN
138 Student Living Jamaica Ltd
1834 Investments Ltd
General Accident Insurance Co Ltd
Honey Bun 1982 Ltd
Jamaica Public Service Co Ltd
Jamaica Stock Exchange Ltd
Key Insurance Co Ltd
Lasco Financial Services Ltd
Medical Disposables & Supplies Ltd
Pulse Investments Ltd
Salada Foods Jamaica Ltd
Scotia Group Jamaica Ltd
BANKS MANAGED BY WOMEN
Citibank Jamaica
First Global Bank
JN Bank
Scotiabank Jamaica
TOTAL BANK ASSETS: $1.213 Trillion
Total managed by women: $552 Billion
Percentage managed by women: 45.56%
TOTAL BANK LOANS: $555 Billion
Total managed by women: $233 Billion
Percentage managed by women: 42%
TOTAL BANK DEPOSITS: $775 Billion
Total managed by women: $394 Billion
Percentage managed by women: 50.78%
TOTAL STOCK MARKET WEALTH: $943 Billion
TOTAL ASSETS OF LISTED COMPANIES: $2.418 Trillion
Total managed by women: $626 Billion
Percentage managed by women: 26%