According to research conducted by the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF), mutual and cooperative insurers are more likely to have women serving as their chief executive officers.

To mark International Women’s Day, ICMIF looked at insurers across the globe and found that that nine of the largest 100 cooperative and mutual insurers in the world have women CEOs, while only one of the top 100 stock insurers is led by a woman. The researchers note that 70% of these female-led member companies have outperformed their local market over the last five years.

Canada singled out

The ICMIF, which is based in Manchester, England, points out that some regions of the world have very high numbers of female CEOs in the cooperative and mutual insurance sector. The report singles out Canada as an area of particular interest, with 27% of CEOs of mutual and cooperative insurers being women.

“I am not surprised that cooperative and mutual insurers are once again showing leadership, given our bone deep commitment to remain connected to and reflective of our stakeholders,” comments Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Cooperators. “I do look forward to a time, however, when we can celebrate statistics across all geographies and industries that truly reflect parity.”