Spencer Stuart’s “2022 S&P 500 New Director Snapshot” supplements its “2022 S&P 500 Board Diversity Snapshot” (we recently reported on here). Notably, the number of new directors and the number of companies appointing new directors declined from 456 new directors and 59% of companies appointing at least one new director in 2021, to 395 new directors and 55% of companies appointing at least one new director in 2022. For purposes of the report, benchmarking data is based on the proxy statements filed during the 12-month period from May 1 to April 30.
Additional key takeaways include:
- First time directors comprised 34% of total appointments, generally on par with 2021 (35%), continuing a trend of looking to C-level experience outside the traditional CEO/CFO/CFO experience more commonly associated with tenured directors, as shown here:
- Global experience among new directors (e., directors who have spent time working in an international location) spiked from 34% of new directors in 2021 to 50% in 2022, which is consistent with the nature of the risks and opportunities companies increasingly encounter and that boards are expected to oversee.
- More than half of boards disclosed using board skills matrices and nearly half disclosed using peer evaluations – both deemed to be helpful board succession planning tools.
The report also shares director succession/ refreshment practices that purportedly leading boards have adopted.
See our recent reports: “Benchmarking: Board Skills Matrix” and “New Director Profile Reflects Evolving Risks & Opportunities” and additional resources on our Board Recruitment & Succession/Refreshment and Board Composition pages.