Wall Street's "Fearless Girl" now faces the New York Stock Exchange.
Originally installed by State Street Global Advisors on March 7, 2017, on the eve of International Women's Day opposite Wall Street's famed bull, the bronze statue of a defiant young girl was originally created to highlight the $2.8 trillion money manager's campaign for increasing the number of women on corporate boards.
SSGA, in partnership with the city of New York, moved the statue to give it a higher profile, the money manager said in a news release, "serving as a constant reminder to companies and investors that having women in leadership is good for business."
The unveiling of the new location opposite the NYSE at 11 Wall Street took place Dec. 10, and attendees included U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y.; Betty Liu, NYSE's executive vice chairman; Lori M. Heinel, SSGA's deputy global chief investment officer; and Cyrus Taraporevala, president and CEO of SSGA.
Worldwide as of Sept. 27, 301 of the 1,228 companies SSGA identified at the March 2017 launch of the campaign as lacking a single female board member, have added a female director and 28 have committed to adding a female director. Beginning in 2020 in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, SSGA will vote against entire slates of board members on companies' nominating committees for those companies without at least one woman on the board.