NEO Rings The Bell For Gender Equality On International Women’s Day 2019

Representatives of “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” partners, including Women in ETFs Canadian Chapter Co-Head, Deborah Frame, joined Jos Schmitt, President and CEO, NEO, to open NEO in celebration of International Women’s Day 2019. Anne Le Guellec, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, honoured the celebration with her participation.

NEO Exchange takes action to embrace 2019 theme: ‘Think equal, build smart, innovate for change’

Toronto – March 8, 2019 – NEO is proud to take part in today’s global collaboration across more than 75 stock exchanges to “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” in celebration of International Women’s Day 2019. The initiative, now in its fifth consecutive year, is a partnership between the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, UN Global Compact, UN Women, the World Federation of Exchanges and Women in ETFs, to raise awareness about the business case for women’s economic empowerment and the opportunities for the private sector to advance gender equality and sustainable development.

Building on its existing commitments as part of the Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative, NEO announced two new commitments that affirm its dedication to gender-equality in Canadian capital markets. In January, NEO became the first Canadian stock exchange to sign a CEO Statement of Support for the Women’s Empowerment Principles, an initiative spearheaded by the European Union in partnership with UN Women and UN Global Compact. NEO has also proposed a change to its listings manual to encourage nominating and corporate governance committees of NEO-listed companies to consider the diversity of the board composition when making recommendations for new board members or executive officers.  Considerations for diversity of the board includes whether targets have been adopted for women, visible minorities, Aboriginal people and people with disabilities.

“NEO’s mission is to fight for fairness and push back against entrenched views that limit competition and growth across the Canadian capital markets. It is for this reason we readily embrace programs that promote equality at every level of an organization. We firmly stand by these values with our new and continued commitments to the Women’s Empowerment Principles and the Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative,” said Jos Schmitt, President and CEO, NEO.  “We understand that our role as a senior stock exchange is to partner with public companies and fund providers as they achieve great things, which is why we are proud to support gender-focused investment products on our exchange and encourage NEO-listed companies to embrace diversity at their board and executive levels.” 

“The European Union has been strongly encouraging business leaders to join the Women Empowerment Principles community and use them as guidance for actions that we can all take in the workplace, marketplace and community to empower women and benefit both businesses and people,” said Ambassador of the European Union to Canada Peteris Ustubs. “We are particularly pleased that the NEO Exchange was the first Canadian Stock Exchange to commit to the Women’s Empowerment Principles, demonstrating that NEO recognizes the importance of not only raising awareness for gender diversity but taking action to enable it.”

Also celebrating with NEO today were Lindsay Patrick, Managing Director & Head, Sustainable Finance, RBC Capital Markets; Jennifer So, Associate Portfolio Manager, Senior Associate Fundamental Canadian Equities, BMO Global Asset Management; Florence Narine, Senior Vice President, Head of Product, AGF Investments; and Raj Lala, President and CEO, Evolve ETFs.  These individuals participated in a panel discussion on the gender-based investment thesis that partially informs four Canadian ETFs, including the RBC Vision Women’s Leadership MSCI Canada Index ETF (NEO:RLDR), which was launched on International Women’s Day in 2018.  This panel was moderated by Clare O’Hara, the Wealth Management Reporter at The Globe and Mail.

About NEO Exchange

NEO Exchange Inc. is the operator of Canada’s next generation stock exchange, putting the needs of investors, businesses looking to raise capital and dealers first. Launched in March 2015, the NEO Exchange currently offers an innovative trading venue for all listed Canadian securities and a value added listings process for capital raising companies and investment products, focused on liquidity, transparency and efficiency. For more information, please visit: NEOstockexchange.com

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