"WOMEN CAN DO ANYTHING"
Anla Cheng, a Wall Street veteran with banking and private equity experience, was the mastermind behind the event. After years of attending China-related events where the majority of panelists were men, she wondered why so many women in influential positions were underrepresented at such events, so she decided to organize a forum especially for women.
When asked what was the most rewarding part of organizing the forum, Cheng said: "Being able to bring such incredibly talented leaders and minds and accomplished women under one roof -- it was very inspirational. Their words of advice resonated with our future women leaders."
Cheng described the atmosphere at the forum as "upbeat, optimistic" and as creating a "feeling of empowerment for women." She cited one participant as saying, "Now I know, women can do anything."
Cheng said studies by Deloitte, MSCI, Credit Suisse and Catalyst (which cover up to 6,000 - 10,000 companies) found that women in the United States held 12 percent of board seats; but only 4 percent of board chair positions.
"That companies with more women on boards had better financial results from all over the world confirms the benefits of gender-balanced boards," she said, citing 16 percent higher Return on Sales and 26 percent higher Return on Invested Capital as numbers that support this. Cheng said that companies with fewer women on boards had more governance-related controversies.
"As we get more women in senior positions, women are making decisions, they are opinion-makers and leaders. With those positions, they are making decisions on how to treat others, what deals are to be made and are paving the way for future trends for both China and the United States."P In fact, she did see a new trend in China. "More women are in Private Equity (PE) and Venture Capital (VC) in China and making acquisitions with better corporate governance, for instance," Cheng said, adding that more women in China are also becoming involved in the movie business and the Internet sector.
"Women understand on-line retailing and the consumer psyche very well as we transition away from shopping malls and stores. Women are more interested in impact investing and social means to make money and help society, is another example. Women are much more interested in the environment as they care more about health for their children and parents. They care more about food safety as well," Cheng said.
On whether women's influence will change if more countries turn toward protectionism and isolationism, she said so long as the economic divide exists, "we will have a society polarized which will favor protectionism." Cheng said it was important for world leaders to come up with solutions to the economic divide in different countries.
"We need to solve this widening gap in order to have a stable and robust middle class. I think women can help influence these changes and come up with solutions to bridge this gap," she said.
