Shareholders' Association slams Simon Henry's attack on Nadia Lim

Simon Henry, DGL CEO, is under fire for derogatory comments about My Food Bag ambassador Nadia Lim. Photo / Supplied

The verbal attack on My Food Bag ambassador Nadia Lim by a chemicals company chief executive is insulting to most retail and institutional investors as well as to Lim, says the New Zealand Shareholders' Association.

DGL Group chief executive Simon Henry, when comparing last year's public float of his chemical logistics company with that of My Food Bag, was quoted as saying: "I can tell you, and you can quote me, when you've got Nadia Lim, when you've got a little bit of Eurasian fluff in the middle of your prospectus with a blouse unbuttoned showing some cleavage, and that's what it takes to sell your scrip, then you know you're in trouble."

Simon Henry, DGL CEO, is under fire for derogatory comments about My Food Bag ambassador Nadia Lim. Photo / Supplied

Henry's comments have caused outrage and disgusted many in the business community. KiwiSaver provider Kiwi Wealth quickly moved to add DGL to its investment exclusions list following the reported comments.

Shareholders' Association chief executive Oliver Mander said the comments flew in the face of the association's own policy statements related to board composition, and were insulting to investors as well as to Lim.

"We know that investors make decisions based on a variety of factors, including financial performance, governance quality and (increasingly) environmental sustainability.

"We consider it improbable and insulting to the capabilities of New Zealand investors that any investor would make a significant financial decision based on a picture of a company's founder."

NZ Shareholders chief executive, Oliver Mander. Michael Craig

Mander said Henry's views "send a false message when comes to entrepreneurship and corporate development in New Zealand."

In his NBR interview, Henry continued: "Go back to that prospectus and find that photo. You know you're in trouble. I mean, you know when you (sic) got a TV celebrity showing off her sensuality to hock scrip, then you know you're in trouble. The uglier the board, the more successful the share ..."

The only image of Lim in the prospectus is of her standing around a barbecue in a casual v-necked camisole top with jeans. The top has no buttons.

The Melbourne-based ASX and NZX-listed company that Henry founded has failed to respond to several Herald approaches for comment from its chairman and other board members, and from Henry, who owns 57 per cent of DGL Group.

My Food Bag co-founder and brand ambassador Nadia Lim as featured in the company's IPO product disclosure statement. Photo / My Food Bag

Mander said the NZSA, formed in 2001 to represent, promote and protect the interests of investors in shares and other investment products, said it welcomed all forms of thought, diversity and experience on the boards of listed entities as improving governance and decision-making quality.

He noted Henry's comments worked against DGL Group's own diversity policy, carried in its listing document last year.

Mander said NZSA looked forward to discussing DGL's progress on its diversity objectives in future.