Yes, But Do You Know Any Women?'

These three women are the first female global chief economists at the banks they work for. But don’t break out the Champagne just yet

- Lucy Meakin And Jeanna Smialek

THERE’S A PARTICULAR telephone conversation that HSBC Global Chief Economist Janet Henry has down pat. Here’s how it goes: “You get a call from a headhunter,” she says. Then Henry inevitably finds herself saying, “No, I’m not interested.” But it doesn’t end there. “They always say, ‘Do you know anyone that might be?’ I give them men’s names because I’m always curious to see if they’ll say— and they do say—‘Yes, but do you know any women?’ ”

As one of a handful of women leading economic research departments at global banks, Henry is well-positioned to observe the recent shift in demand for greater gender diversity within her profession. She looks back on her own experience as she sips tea from a disposable cup in a noisy cafe at HSBC Holdings Plc headquarters in London’s Canary Wharf. When she joined the bank in 1996, she was the only woman on its global economics team. Now women account for 13 of her 39-strong global group.

While there’s still nothing like equality in numbers with men, women are taking on prominent economic roles at major banks from Wall Street to the City of London. Henry is joined at the top by Catherine Mann, who became global chief economist at Citigroup Inc. in February, and Michala Marcussen, who was named Société Générale SA’s group chief economist last year.