US company directors 'getting older on average'

Company directors in the US are becoming older on average in recent years, an issue that could have a bearing on corporate governance issues.

A new report from Bloomberg has highlighted Equilar figures showing that around 15 per cent of directors at companies in the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index are older than 69 years of age.

This represents a rise compared to the 9.8 per cent rate seen in 2002, with 64 per cent of directors aged above 60 and the overall average age standing at 62.

Corporate governance issues informed the news provider that some companies are now choosing to take measures to reverse this trend, in order to ensure investors that upper management is willing to embrace new ideas.

Charles Elson, director of the University of Delaware's centre for corporate governance, said: "You have to refresh the board, whether it's through term limits or through age limits."

This comes after Bloomberg collated data earlier this year showing a decline in boardroom diversity among S&P companies in the last year, with the overall representation of women dropping since 2010.