Top 100 Non-Executive Directors
Top 100 Non-Executive Directors
Petri Hofsté is the most influential non-executive director in the Netherlands for the third year running. Furthermore: Despite the upcoming quota for women, we again have twice as many men as women amongst the newcomers. And it is high time for greater cultural diversity.
You can read our analysis of the list here: Analysis Top 100 Non-Executive Directors 2022. We also interviewed Feike Sijbesma: ‘Nobody can be successful in a world that is failing’ and Eelco Blok: ‘Greenwashing is unacceptable.’
(1) Petri Hofsté
Petri Hofsté's “hat trick”: She secured the position of “first lady” of the Dutch Supervisory Boards for the third time. This means the Top 100 Non-Executive Directors is once again led by a woman. That ties in nicely with the implementation of a quota for women from 1 January 2022, something Hofsté has advocated for many years. She holds non-executive positions with Rabobank, insurer Achmea, geo-data specialist Fugro, family-run business Pon, and is four-time Chair of an audit committee. Not surprising with her numerical background.
(5) Feike Sijbesma
Unlike last year (and the year before that), the Top 100 is no longer led by a female duo. The runner-up is a man again: Feike Sijbesma, former CEO of fine chemistry company DSM, became Chair of Philips' Supervisory Board (of which he was already a member) and moved up three spots in the list. After his departure as CEO of DSM, Sijbesma became co-chair of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), the worldwide center for climate adaptation. He does this together with former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon. In addition, he co-chairs the global Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders.
(4) Wout Dekker
In third place we find Wout Dekker, non-executive director at Pon Holdings, SHV Holdings, Royal FrieslandCampina and Randstad. At first sight, his non-executive roles appear to be miscellaneous, although he believes having a social mission as a common denominator in his portfolio.
(6) Annet Aris
At number 4, we find Annet Aris, who this year moves up two places. The former McKinseyan is a member of the Supervisory Board of chip machine manufacturer ASML, recruitment agency Randstad and Rabobank, amongst others. Aris is versatile and internationally oriented, specialized in digital transformation and has extensive experience in consulting.
(56) Angelien Kemna
Former APG CFRO Angelien Kemna is the biggest climber on the list. She became a non-executive for internet investor Prosus, a spin-off of South African media group Naspers, listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange since 2019. The board consists of no fewer than 14 members – including four women – so those meetings must be challenging. In addition, Kemna is on the Supervisory Boards of financials AXA and NIBC, and FrieslandCampina.
See full list 
Justification
A non-exec is eligible if they hold two or more positions as a Supervisory Board member or Director with the most important businesses in the Netherlands. By this, we mean companies that are listed on the AEX, AMX (MidCap), or AScX (SmallCap) index and unlisted companies with equity in excess of 500 million Euros.
Allocation of Points
The Supervisory Board members are awarded points based on the amount of equity held by the companies where they hold a position. Supervisory positions for these businesses are worth more points than executive roles. In addition, the non-executive directors receive points for Chairmanships of Supervisory Boards, Chairman positions on Boards of Directors, and Chairmanships of audit, remuneration and nomination committees.
Finally, points are awarded for supervisory roles for large overseas companies, universities, universities of applied science, hospitals, and other large businesses.
Cut-off Date
The cut-off date for the rankings is 1 November 2021.