Retiring Men on Boards Open Up Gains for Women at U.S. Banks

The retirement of male directors at Wells Fargo & Co. and Truist Financial Corp. helped women gain share on bank boards in October, even though the number of female directors at the biggest U.S. banks has been unchanged for three months.

Both Wells Fargo and Truist opted to shrink their boards rather than replace retiring members. As a result, the share of women on boards in the S&P 500 Banks Index crept up to 33.5% in October from 33.2% in August, even as the number of women was unchanged.

“It’s becoming much more common -- typically they increase the board ...