Huu Minh
Based on a newspaper article, IFRC Index has built, calculated and published the Women CEO Indexes Series, following International Standard and which are one of the best performing indexes on the Vietnamese Equity market, and can become a underlying of index product like derivatices, funds or ETFs.
The WOMEN CEO Benchmark index includes all companies listed on both Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi stock exchanges. The constituents of the two WOMEN CEO 10 and WOMEN CEO 25 indexes are selected among the best in free-float capitalization and liquidity to facilitate the transaction of the basket in the event of the index product.
They were launched in 2013, their history is recalculated backwards from 2008-12-31, and are available in Price version, and Total Return version (including dividends), and converted in several currencies (VND, USD, EUR, and JPY).
Vietnam Women CEO indexes History
2013 seems to be the year of Vietnamese women, and especially Vietnamese businesswoman.
Mai Kieu Lien, Vinamilk Corporation Chairwoman cum CEO, is among Asian CEOs, who have been granted the 2012 Asian Excellence Recognition Award in Investor Relations by the Corporate Governance Asia Journal. She is also the first and only Vietnamese CEO who has shared the honor with other leaders from large groups in Asia, such as China Telecom, Maybank, DBS Group, Singapore Airlines, HTC, …
In the same time, Mai Kieu Lien and Pham Thi Viet Nga, Chairwoman of DHG Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Co, Ltd were listed on Forbes Asia’s Women in the Mix, 2013: The year’s Top 50 for Achievement in Business.
These successes show that Vietnam women are contributing a significant role in the economy.
Therefore, it’s attractive to make an empirical research about the company’s performance which has women leader in the stock market and create a thematic index of this kind.
The Vietnam women CEO research and its indexes have objectives:
- confirm Vietnamese women position in the stock market
- promote the empowerment and the interest in the women role
- promote the researchers to participate in a practical subject
- create a financial product
Women CEO Index is a tool to promote its constituents’ business, its leader (CEO), and attracts the investment
The IFRC Vietnam WOMEN CEO indices are a precursor (launched on 2013), for a long time, other index providers have followed suit:
- MSCI World Women’s Leadership Index (2016, 607 components, value = 100)
- Hypatia Women CEO Index (2021, 118 components, Base date = 2017-12-29, value=100)
Funds and ETFs are even issued on this theme to allow investors to increase their performance.
Vietnam Women CEO Indexes Design and Launch
As from end of March, 2013
- We identify 38 Vietnamese listed companies in the HOSE and HNX Stock Exchanges which are managed by female CEO.
- This figures (38/726 companies, i.e. 5.23%) places Vietnam in the top countries having the highest percentage of Women CEO: less 5% of CEO of S&P 500 are women.
- The total capitalization of these 38 companies represents more than USD 10 billion, or 26% of the total market capitalization of the 2 Vietnamese stock exchanges.
- Large caps: 8 of these 38 companies are large caps, i.e. 21% of the sample which is higher than the ratio of 7% for the whole universe.
- Consumer Goods, and Financials are the most representative sectors. Their weights are almost double compared to the universe
- Banks, Oil & Gas and Utilities sectors are not represented
The WOMEN CEO Index is designed following international standard, and launched on 2013-07-31
- Base Value and Date: 1,000 at 2008-12-31
- Review: Quarter
- Full set of indexes: All-Shares and Tradable, Equally/Capitalisation/FreeFloat Capitalisation weighting, Prices/Total Return, in different currencies (VND, USD, EUR, JPY)
IFRC Women CEO Vietnam Indexes Series
- IFRC VNX Women CEO index: All-Shares index, Quarterly Review, Full Capitalisation weighted
- IFRC VNX Women CEO Equal Weighted index: All-Shares index, Quarterly Review, Equally-weighted
- IFRC VNX Top 10 Women CEO: Tradable index, Top 10 Largest Free Float Capitalisation and Most Liquid
- IFRC VNX Top 25 Women CEO: Tradable index, Top 25 Largest Free Float Capitalisation and Most Liquid
The WOMEN CEO indices are calculated on the IMS (Indexes Management System) , built and managed by IFRC Indexes which design, calculates, publishes, and maintains more than 16,000 indices and indicators, including nearly 10,000 for the Vietnamese market.
Vietnam Women CEO indexes Performance
Vietnam Women CEO Indexes vs Vietnam VNI Index (2008-2023)
The performances of Vietnam Women CEO Indexes are impressive in comparison with the national indices calculated by the Vietnamese Stock Exchanges, such as VNI or HNX Indexes.
With a historical volatility very close to that of VNI index, around 20% per year, the WOMEN CEO indices, and especially WOMEN CEO 10 and WOMEN CEO 25, largely outperform the VNI index, with an average of 20% per year, i.e. a return difference more than 10% per year.
In turbulent times, How Women CEO CEO Manage COVID-19 (2020-2023)
Next Steps
BeQ Holdings / IFRC plan to launch a new series of Women CEO indexes covering ASEAN+4 (China/Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan) in 2024, and will be presented during the Women CEO World 2024 Summit in Singapore.
