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00:00S & P GLOBAL CHIEF U.S. ECONOMIST. GOOD TO TALK TO YOU. IT HAS BEEN A WHILE. WALK US THROUGH THE ACTUAL FACTS, THE REPORTING THAT YOU LEARNED, OF FIRMS AND THEIR PROFITS WHEN THEY HAVE A FEMALE CEO. BETH ANN: SURE. I WISH I COULD TAKE CREDIT, BUT MY COLLEAGUES AT MARKET INTELLIGENCE ACTUALLY WROTE THE REPORT. I HAD DONE AN EARLIER REPORT LOOKING ON WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE, HAVING MORE WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE OVER THE LAST THREE DECADES, MAKING THE U.S. ECONOMY BIGGER, ABOUT $1.6 TRILLION BIGGER THAN IT IS TODAY. THE QUESTION THAT MY COLLEAGUES ASKED WAS WHAT IF WOMEN DID NOT ONLY ENTER THE WORKFORCE, BUT WITH MORE WOMEN IN THE SO-CALLED C-SUITE? WHAT THEY FOUND WAS THAT MORE FEMALE CFOS IN THE FIRMS THAT THEY STUDIED OVER 17 YEARS, THEY SAW THAT THOSE FIRMS WERE $1.8 TRILLION BIGGER THAN THE MARKET OVERALL. THEY ALSO FOUND THAT LOOKING AT FEMALE CEOS IN THESE FIRMS, THERE WAS MORE DIVERSITY. ABOUT TWICE AS MANY WOMEN WERE ON THE BOARD THAN THE OVERALL MARKET. SONALI: THIS STUDY IS INTERESTING BECAUSE THERE ' S ALMOST 6000 COMPANIES THAT WERE STUDIED HERE, VERSUS THE REPORT THAT ONLY HAD ABOUT 300. EMPIRICALLY, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU FOUND, ABOUT HOW DISCERNING BOARDMAN BURRS WERE ABOUT CHOOSING A FEMALE CEO? I SPOKE TO YOUR ECONOMISTS ON THIS YESTERDAY, AND HE MENTIONED THAT WOMEN HAVE A HARDER TIME GETTING THE JOB IN THE FIRST PLACE. BETH ANN: I THINK THERE ' S A COUPLE OF FACTORS AT PLAY HERE. SOMETHING YOU DISCUSSED EARLIER ON, I DO THINK THAT IN ORDER TO PICK A FEMALE FOR THE C-SUITE, YOU NEED A BIGGER POPULATION. IT IS THAT SO CALLED -- IF THAT SO-CALLED RUNG IS BROKEN AT A LOWER LEVEL, THERE ' S FEWER WOMEN TO CHOOSE FROM. ECONOMICS LIKES A SORT OF ME -- LIKES ASSORTED HAVE MATING. COMPARING ZEBALLOS OF FEMALE LEADERS VERSUS THE MALE COUNT -- COMPARING THE BIOS OF FEMALE LEADERS VERSUS THE MALE COUNTERPARTS, THE WOMAN WHO MADE IT UP THIS HIGH HAD VERY STRONG BIOS, STRONGER THAN THE OVERALL CEOS. STRONGER BIOS, STRONGER EXPERIENCE, AND STRONGER CREDIT. SONALI: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE OTHER FINDINGS HERE? IT WASN ' T JUST OUTPERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF STOCK-PRICE. THERE WERE SOME OTHER METRICS THAT WOMEN WERE ABLE TO PUSH UP IN TERMS OF COMPANY PERFORMANCE. BETH ANN: I THINK WOMEN EXECUTIVES WERE ABLE TO PUSH OF A NUMBER OF FACTORS. AS I MENTIONED A LITTLE WHILE AGO, YOU SAW MORE FEMALE DIVERSITY. THAT CERTAINLY INCREASED THE LEVELS OF THE MARKET. -- I ' M SORRY, OF THE OVERALL FIRM RELATIVE TO MARKET PEERS. WITH MORE FEMALE DIVERSITY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? THAT MEANS MORE SEATS AT THE TABLE, A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT THAT GIVES THAT FIRM A LITTLE MORE OF A FOCUS NOT JUST ON THE MALE FOCUS, BUT ON THE OVERALL ECONOMY, BOTH FEMALE AND MALE. THAT, I THINK, IS A REAL PLUS FOR THAT FIRM AS IT COMPETES WITH ITS PEERS. ALIX: WE JUST SHOWED A CHART TALKING ABOUT THE AVERAGE RETURNS 36 MONTH OUT FROM WHEN A FEMALE CEO TOOK THE HELM. IT IS UNDERPERFORMED. THE RETURNS ARE LOWER THAN IF A MAN DID IT. BUT IN THE CFO WORLD, IT IS ACTUALLY HIGHER. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT DISTINCTION? BETH ANN: KEEP IN MIND, CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION. WHEN YOU DO COMPARISON OVER A 24 MONTH PERIOD, COMPARING FEMALE CEOS VERSUS CFOS, YOU ' RE GOING TO HAVE DISTORTIONS. I DO THINK ONE THING TO POINT OUT IF YOU ALSO WANT TO LOOK, FOR EXAMPLE, BY SECTOR TO GET MORE DETAILS ON THAT, AND THE VOLATILITY IN THE MARKETS. WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST WE FOUR MONTHS. THAT ALSO ADDS SOME DISTORTIONS AS WELL. ALIX: IT COVERED A LOT OF

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S&P Global Says Firms Win When Women Lead

Beth Ann Bovino, chief U.S. economist at S&P Global, discusses the firm's report on the performance of companies with female leadership in the c-suite. She speaks on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas." (Source: Bloomberg)

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