Key Takeaways

Below are some key highlights from our research.

The data suggests a relatively balanced split between external hiring and internal promotion.

>50%

of all CEO appointments were promotions in 5 of the 9 sectors analysed

55% of NASDAQ & 53% of FTSE 350

CEO appointments were promotions

Generally, age and experience are top priorities when it comes to board-level hiring. Gender diversity appears from our findings and analysis to have slipped down the corporate agenda in H1 2024.

Gender diversity appears from our findings and analysis to have slipped down the corporate agenda in H1 2024

Fewer than 1 in 5

board appointments in H1 2024 were women.

24

average age gap between youngest and oldest board members on NASDAQ firms

21

average age gap between youngest and oldest board members on FTSE 350 firms

The number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) committees indicates that CSR is more of a focus for FTSE 350 firms than for NASDAQ ones.

41% of NASDAQ

& 53% of FTSE 350

firms have CSR committees

The data trends indicate that boards prioritise internal knowledge for CEO appointments but also seek to bring in new talent and fresh ideas for other roles through external board appointments. Succession planning appears to be more challenging in certain sectors than in others. To some extent, CSR and gender diversity seem to be less of a strategic priority in the first half of 2024.

Our research methodology

For this report, we analysed 2,276 NASDAQ-listed and 205 FTSE 350-listed companies in the following sectors:

As might be expected, financial services represents by far the largest sector on both indices, with the NASDAQ also being heavily weighted in favour of technology.

Overview: Board Moves

We captured 504 board moves in H1 2024 across key sectors from companies listed in the FTSE 350 and NASDAQ..

This represents a 19% decline on the 621 board moves seen in H2 2023.

And a 0.65% churn rate out of a total board population of 38,763 across the two indices.

70% of reported moves were promotions or hires, indicating either a growth in total board positions or companies being added to the indices.

Insights into board moves and sector trends

In H1 2024, technology remained resilient, with growth in cybersecurity, SaaS, and AI despite high interest rates. Financial services saw fewer board moves, likely aiming for stability. Insurance, however, had significant turnover as the industry shifted toward cloud technologies, despite price competition. Real estate, facing higher interest rates, had fewer board changes, indicating a focus on retrenchment.

Key events and outliers: In the first half of 2024, Nvidia experienced an impressive 150% increase in stock price, which sparked a global stock market rally. In the insurance sector, Lancashire, one of the three London market carriers, saw a 19% growth in insurance revenue, while Hiscox experienced a 6% growth and Beazley saw a 4% increase.

Hires, Promotions, Departures and Retirements

The chart shows key trends across sectors, with energy and financial services facing leadership retirements that could lead to talent shortages. Insurance has twice as many hires as departures, reflecting the need for external talent. All sectors are prioritising external hires over internal promotions, likely due to evolving technology demands. The increasing focus on ESG roles may also be driving this shift toward external recruitment.

1 in 8 companies in the insurance sector experienced a board move.

Meanwhile, just 1 in 167 real estate firms experienced a move, 3x lower than the sector with the next lowest proportion of moves (technology).

Top 10 Companies by Board Moves

The Financial Services sector dominates the list of top 10 companies by number of moves for H1 2024, with 7 of the top 10 being banks or investment firms, one an Insurance firm, one an energy company, and one a risk analytics firm. This reflects nothing more than the increased turnover of FS board members when compared with other sectors, as well as specific developments within the companies themselves.

Vanity net board -1

Vericity is an insurance industry outlier with 11 total moves, which could reflect the impact of acquisition talks with iA Financial Group which began in October 2023 and were concluded in H1 2024.

Verisk Analytics net board +6

Verisk launched its anticipated suite of next-generation natural catastrophe risk models to market in H1 2024 and appointed several directors from within insurance to boost its industry presence.

BP net board

BP is an energy industry outlier with 3 moves higher than the rest. This likely reflects board turbulence that began when former CEO Bernard Looney was sacked in late 2023 and interim CEO Murray Auchincloss stepped up.