The IBEX® Gender Equality Index adds 17 new companies and already comprises 45 constituents

• The first index to measure Spanish listed companies’ gender equality outperforms the IBEX 35® by four percentage points so far this year
• To be part of the index, eligible companies must have between 25% and 75% female presence on their Board of Directors and between 15% and 85% in senior management positions

The Technical Advisory Committee today approved the inclusion of 17 new companies in the IBEX® Gender Equality as of June 20, bringing the total number of listed companies that meet the gender diversity criteria to 45. The review was carried with data published by the Spanish stock market supervisor – CNMV - on the presence of women and men in decision-making bodies of Spanish listed companies.

Audax Renovables, Alantra, Acciona, Acciona Energía, Clínica Baviera, Cie Automotive, Enagás, Indra, Línea Directa, Libertas 7, Duro Felguera, Nicolás Correa, Deoleo, Prisa, Sabadell, Tubos Reunidos and Unicaja join the index, while Adolfo Domínguez, Almirall, Global Dominion, Amrest and Bodegas Riojanas are excluded. Aena, Applus Services, BBVA, Bankinter, CaixaBank, Prosegur Cash, Inmobiliaria Colonial, Ebro Foods, Ence, Faes Farma, GAM, Grenergy, IAG, Iberdrola, Inditex, Logista, Lar España, Mapfre, Meliá, Oryzon, PharmaMar, Prim, Red Eléctrica, Repsol, Realia, Santander, Soltec and Telefónica remain in the index.

The index universe taken as a reference for this diversity indicator calculated by BME is the Índice General de la Bolsa de Madrid (IGBM) and eligible companies must have between 25% and 75% of female presence in their Board of Directors and between 15% and 85% in senior management positions.

Of these 45 constituents, 20 form part of the IBEX 35®, 12 of the IBEX Small Cap®, 7 of the IBEX Medium Cap® and another 6 of the IGBM. The stocks in the index are equal-weighted, therefore the weight of each of them will be 2.2%.

Carmen López, Head of Indices at BME, explains that "Since its launch, the IBEX® Gender Equality has fulfilled a dual function: on the one hand, it serves as a gauge of the state of gender equality in Spanish listed companies and, on the other hand, it also acts as a driver of change by encouraging companies that are not part of the index to make progress on this issue, which is essential for the proper development of the economy and compliance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5".

Until now, 33 companies were part of the index and in 2018 just 10 Spanish listed companies met the IBEX® Gender Equality’s inclusion criteria, compared to 45 now, after today's review. In other words, in four years the number of Spanish listed companies that are more advanced in terms of gender equality has more than quadrupled.

Since its launch on November 30, this index has risen by 9.2%, more than two percentage points above the Ibex 35®, and so far this year it has outperformed the selective index by four points: 6% vs 1.48%.