A storm is brewing in investment circles with blacklistings announced over comments made by the chief executive of chemical company DGL, Simon Henry, about My Food Bag co-founder Nadia Lim.
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Henry made derogatory comments about Lim, her appearance, and her role in the promotion of the food company's sharefloat last year. He described Lim as a "little bit of Eurasian fluff" and claimed a photo of her showing cleavage was used in the My Food Bag prospectus to sell shares.
The two companies floated and listed on the NZX about the same time, and Henry made the comments when comparing their relative performances since then.
The comments have been broadly criticised, and investment managers Kiwi Wealth and Simplicity have blacklisted DGL from their funds.
Henry was not available for comment.
But the Shareholders' Association chief executive Oliver Mander said Henry needed to realise "it's not the 1970s anymore" and the comments were at odds with how company executives should think and act, and contrary to established diversity and governance practices.
"The views of Mr Henry in relation to Nadia Lim send a false message when it comes to entrepreneurship and corporate development in New Zealand."
"We welcome all forms of thought diversity and experience on the boards of listed entities as improving governance and decision-making quality," Mander said.
He said the comments suggesting personal appearance had been used to try to sell the My Food Bag offer were an insult not just to Lim but also to investors.
"We consider it improbable and insulting to the capabilities of New Zealand investors that any investor would make a significant financial decision based on a picture of a company's founder."
Mander said Henry also seemed to be at odds with DGL's own policies which "support the commitment of the company and its controlled entities to an inclusive workplace that embraces and values diversity."
Kiwi Wealth's chief executive Rhiannon McKinnon told Checkpoint that while Henry remained executive director of DGL and their concerns about the issue remain they would be unlikely to consider adding DGL to their investment portfolio.
"We were appalled like may others by the tone, the misogyny, and the racism in that comment, and it made us look again at DGL in terms of red flags around their governance processes, around ESG (environmental social and governance factors), and caused us to take it to our responsible investment committee.... on the basis of the governance of the company.
"It's totally inappropriate for someone at such a senior level to be making comments ... on a public forum asking to be on the record is something that seems reckless at best."
McKinnon said the comments were particularly concerning given that Henry is the majority shareholder of DGL, with 57 percent of its shares, as well as the company's founder, chief executive and executive director - so is also on the company's board.
"We thought that a company with this... type of governance would have maybe had more controls on his ability to say those comments on public, but also [it's a] concern for the safety and wellbeing of any female staff that he might have within the company."
