Asset management directors 'risk competency' in multiple board roles
Sentiment polling data by EY found investors are wary of company directors working across several boards.
49% of board members across Europe's wealth and asset management firms hold more than two board positions, according to the latest EY European Financial Services Boardroom Monitor.
This is compared to the banking sector, where it is least common for directors to hold multiple board positions, at 39%.
One in six asset managers expected to disappear by 2027
Sentiment polling data by EY found investors were wary of company directors working across several boards.
More than eight in 10 (82%) of European investors said they believed holding board positions at three or more firms could present challenges to board directors' abilities to fulfil their duty of governing a company, rising to 85% if one was at executive level.
Participants in the 2023 EY European Financial Services Chairs' Interview Series raised concerns the prestige of a board seat could affect willingness to challenge the status quo, an attribute deemed critical by chairs and regulators, while others noted that board members might be financially dependent on their board positions, impacting their independence.
Board directors serving Europe's largest financial services firms currently hold an average of three board seats each, and over a quarter (26%) hold four or more, the EY survey found.
From a regulatory perspective, while there are local market limitations to some director roles, there is no blanket regulation applied across European financial services markets to restrict or mandate the number of board roles that can be held by an individual.
Omar Ali, EY EMEIA financial services managing partner, said: «Concerns about ‘overboarding' and the knock-on
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