Index keeps account of shareholders’ interests

Auckland University of Technology has developed an annual index to score the corporate governance performance of New Zealand’s top 50 companies.

The NZ Corporate Governance Index will measure the alignment of interest between company boards and shareholders, and publish the results in a yearly report.

It was developed by the Auckland Centre for Financial Research at AUT, and uses 17 measures to rate performance. These include shareholder structure, average frequency of board meetings, percentage of female directors, pay levels for chief executives and excessive pay increases.