By Elliot Gulliver-Needham
Female chief financial officers outnumber the number of female chief execs more than two to one in the FTSE 100, with only four FTSE 100 companies having both a female CEO and CFO.
Out of the 100 companies in the FTSE, only 10 have a female CEO, compared to 24 CFOs. 14 of the female CFOs have been in their current role for less than two years, data from AJ Bell revealed.
The four companies with both a female CEO and CFO are Aviva, Diageo, GSK and Severn Trent.
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, described the meagre number of female CEOs on the FTSE as “disappointing”, noting that while there were no hard rules regarding gender for London-listed companies, “there have been voluntary, business-led campaigns in recent years to encourage both gender and racial diversity”.
The longest serving female CEO in the FTSE 100 is Liv Garfield, who has headed up Severn Trent since April 2014.
Hewson noted added: “Amanda James is the longest-serving FTSE 100 female CFO still in the role, having been in charge of the retailer’s finances since April 2015, although she is leaving in July.
“The next longest serving are Katie Murray at NatWest and Sally Lake at Beazley, both of whom have been in their CFO positions since 2019. Lake plans to step down shortly.”
