Thirdly, those companies with females on the board showed higher price-to-book multiples, in line with higher average ROEs: the aggregate price-to-book for companies with women on the board was 2.4x, versus 1.8x for those without.

Lastly, Credit Suisse found that companies with at least one female board member showed better growth over the six-year study period. These firms showed an average net income growth of 14 per cent, against an average of 10 per cent for those with no female board representation.