Board of directors
The task of the Board of Directors is to manage the company’s affairs on behalf of the shareholders. The Board members are elected by the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting for the period up to the end of the next AGM.
In addition to laws and recommendations, H&Mâs Board work is regulated by the Boardâs work plan which contains rules on the distribution of work between the Board, its committees and the Managing Director, financial reporting, investments and financing. The work plan, which also includes a work plan for the Auditing Committee, is established once a year.
According to the Articles of Association, H&Mâs Board is to consist of at least three and no more than twelve members elected by the AGM and no more than the same number of deputies. The Annual General Meeting determines the exact number of Board members.
Board meetings
During the financial year H&M normally holds six regular Board meetings, one of which is the statutory Board meeting. Extraordinary Board meetings are held when the need arises. The Board consists of eight ordinary members elected by the Annual General Meeting. There are also two employee representatives, with two deputies for these positions. Seven members of the Board are women and five are men; four of the twelve are employed by the company. The Board is assisted by a secretary who is not a member of the Board.
The Board meetings begin with a discussion of the companyâs financial situation, with costs and sales as the main focus. The Board goes through the various financial reports and the Annual Report and verifies these before they are published. The Board meetings also discuss matters such as overall strategy, expansion and dividend policy. The Managing Director attends meetings of the Board in order to report on the operational work within the Group and ensures that the Board is given relevant and objective information on which to base its decisions.
Attendance at the Board meetings is very good and the members participate in all discussions. Accounting matters are dealt with in detail within the Auditing Committee and reported back to the Board.
Board of directors
Stefan Persson
Chairman of the Board
| Born | Year Selected | Primary occupation |
|---|---|---|
| 1947 | 1979 | Chairman of the board |
Other significant board assignments
Member of the Association of MSAB and board assignments in family-owned companies.
Education
Stockholm University & Lund University, 1969–1973.
Work experience
| 1967-1982 | Country Manager for H&M in the UK and responsible for H&M’s expansion abroad | |
| 1982-1998 | Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of H&M | |
| 1998– |
Chairman of the Board of H&M |
Shareholding
0
Shares held by related parties
194,400,000 A-shares as well as 393,049,043 B-shares owned through Ramsbury Invest AB.
Independent of the company and the company management as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
No
Independent of major shareholders in the company as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
No
Mia Brunell Livfors
Board member
| Born | Year selected | Primary occupation |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 2008 | President and Chief Executive Officer at Investment AB Kinnevik. |
Other significant board assignments
Member of the Board since: 2006: Metro International S A, Tele2 AB, Transcom WorldWide S A, Korsnäs AB, 2007: Modern Times Group MTG AB, Millicom International Cellular S A, 2008: Efva Attling Stockholm AB, 2010: CDON AB.
Education
Studies in Business Administration, Stockholm University.
Work experience
| 1989-1992 | Consensus AB | |
| 1992-2006 |
Various managerial positions within Modern Times Group MTG AB 1992-2001 and Chief Financial Officer 2001-2006 |
|
| 2006- | Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Investment AB Kinnevik |
Shareholding
Shares held together with related parties 600
Independent of the company and the company management as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Independent of major shareholders in the company as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Anders Dahlvig
Board member
| Born | Year selected | Primary occupation |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 2010 | Board assignments |
Other significant board assignments
Chairman of the New Wave Group. Member of the Board of Kingfisher plc, Oriflame SA, Axel Johnson AB, Resurs Bank AB and Pret A Manger.
Education
Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Lund University 1980
Masters of Arts degree in Economics, University of California Santa Barbara, 1982
Work experience
| 1983-1993 | Various roles within IKEA in Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium | |
| 1993-1997 | Managing Director of IKEA UK | |
| 1997-1999 | Vice President of IKEA Europe | |
| 1999-2009 | CEO and President of the IKEA Group |
Shareholding
17,510
Independent of the company and the company management as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Independent of major shareholders in the company as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Lottie Knutson
Board member
| Born | Year selected | Primary occupation |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 2006 | Marketing Director at Fritidsresor Group Nordic, with responsibility for marketing, communications as well as corporate and social responsibility. |
Other significant board assignments
None except member of the Board of H&M.
Education
Université de Paris III, Diplôme de Culture Francaise, 1985-1986. Theatre history, Stockholm University, 1989, The Department of Journalism at Stockholm University, 1987-1989.
Work experience
| 1988-1989 | Journalist, Svenska Dagbladet | |
| 1989-1995 | The communications department at SAS Group | |
| 1995-1996 | PR consultant, Johansson & Co | |
| 1996-1998 | PR- and communications responsible consultant, Bates Sweden | |
| 1998-1999 | Communications consultant, JKL | |
| 1999- |
Marketing Director at Fritidsresor Group for the Nordic countries |
Shareholding
1,400
Shares held by related parties
0
Independent of the company and the company management as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Independent of major shareholders in the company as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Sussi Kvart
Board member and member of the Auditing Committee
| Born | Year selected | Primary occupation |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | 1998 | Consulting, with a focus on strategic business advice, corporate governance and board procedures. |
Other significant board assignments
Chairman of Kvinvest AB, member of the boards of Healthcare Provision – Stockholm County Council, Stockholms Stadshus AB, Transparency International Sweden and DGC One AB.
Education Bachelor of Laws, Lund University 1980.
Work experience
| 1983–1989 | Lagerlöf (now Linklaters) law firm, as lawyer from 1986 | |
| 1989–1991 | Political expert, riksdagen (Swedish parliament), parliamentary office of the Swedish Liberal Party | |
| 1991–1993 | Political expert, Swedish Cabinet Office | |
| 1993–1999 | Company solicitor, LM Ericsson | |
| 1997–2001 | Member of the Aktiebolagskommittén (Swedish Companies Act Committee) | |
| 2000–2001 | Working as a solicitor and with business development at LM Ericsson, Corporate Marketing and Strategic Business Development | |
| 2002– | Sussi Kvart AB |
Shareholding
4,400
Shares held by related parties
1,700
Independent of the company and the company management as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Independent of major shareholders in the company as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Bo Lundquist
Board member and Chairman of the Auditing Committee
| Born | Year selected | Primary occupation |
|---|---|---|
| 1942 | 1995 | Head of family-owned investment company. Board assignments. |
Other significant board assignments
Chairman of the boards of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH) Stockholm, Shareville AB, Club Consulting AB and Gothenburg School of Gymnastics.
Member of the boards of Teknikmagasinet AB, Athlete Sports Academy Sweden AB and the Anders Wall Foundation’s Professorial Chair in Entrepreneurship.
Education
M.Sc. Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg 1968.
Work experience
| 1970–1974 | Administration Manager, Luleå Colleage | |
| 1975–1978 | Head of Division, SSAB | |
| 1978–1982 | Sales Manager, Sandvik | |
| 1982–1984 | CEO, Bulten Senior positions in the public sector and in Swedish listed companies, including: 1984–1990 Vice President of Trelleborg |
|
| 1991–1998 | Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, at Esselte | |
| 1994–1998 | Involved in various important trade & industry organisations, including Chairman of the Federation of Swedish Commerce and Trade |
Shareholding
0
Shares held by related parties
100,000 shares owned through Bo Lundquist's company Caboran AB
Independent of the company and the company management as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Independent of major shareholders in the company as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Melker Schörling
Board member
| Born | Year selected | Primary occupation |
|---|---|---|
| 1947 | 1998 | Founder and owner of MSAB. |
Other significant board assignments
Chairman of MSAB, AarhusKarlshamn AB, Hexagon AB, Hexpol AB and Securitas AB.
Education
M.Sc. Business and Economics from the School of Business, Economics and Law, Gothenburg University 1970.
Work experience
| 1970–1975 | LM Ericsson, Mexico | |
| 1975–1979 | ABB Fläkt, Stockholm | |
| 1979–1983 | Managing Director, Essef Service, Stockholm | |
| 1984–1987 | Managing Director, Crawford Door, Lund | |
| 1987–1992 | Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Securitas AB, Stockholm | |
| 1993–1997 | Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Skanska AB, Stockholm |
Shareholding
0
Shares held by related parties
228,000 *
* Shares owned through Melker Schörling AB
Independent of the company and the company management as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Independent of major shareholders in the company as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Christian Sievert
Board member and member of the Auditing Committee
| Born | Year selected | Primary occupation |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 2010 | Partner Segulah |
Other significant board assignments
Member of the boards of AB Segulah, Segulah Advisor AB, Gunnebo Industrier, Kemetyl, CCS Healthcare and S:t Eriks.
Education
MSc in Business Administration, School of Economics, Stockholm 1994
Work experience
| 1994-1997 | Bain & Company, consultant, Stockholm and San Francisco, USA | |
| 1997-2003 | Investment Manager and Partner, Segulah | |
| 2003-2013 | CEO/Managing Partner of Segulah | |
| 2013- | Partner Segulah |
Shareholding*
56,000
Shares held by related parties
4,000 shares are owned by Christian Sievert’s company Whitechris Industri AB, 600 shares owned by spouse.
* Additional information: In addition to Christian Sievert’s shareholding shown above, Christian Sievert holds 5,000 H&M shares via a pension plan.
Independent of the company and the company management as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Independent of major shareholders in the company as defined by the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
Yes
Margareta Welinder
Employee representative
| Born | Year selected | |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 2007 | |
Shareholding
0
Shares held by related parties
0
Marie Björstedt
Employee representative
| Born | Year selected | |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 2011 | |
Shareholding
0
Shares held by related parties
0
Tina Jäderberg
Deputy employee representative
| Born | Year selected | |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 2007 | |
Shareholding
0
Shares held by related parties
0
Ingrid Godin
Deputy employee representative
| Born | Year selected | |
|---|---|---|
| 1959 | 2012 |
Shareholding
0
Shares held by related parties
0
Contact Corporate Governance
Corporate governance reports
The reports contain information on H&M’s corporate governance and internal control.
Board of directors
The Board of Directors manage the company’s affairs on behalf of the shareholders.