The report is based on an analysis of 381 financial services organisations in 32 countries, a survey of 850 financial services professionals around the world and interviews of more than 100 senior female and male leaders. Its findings are only a slight improvement on the last version of the report, published in 2014.

Globally, women make up just one-fifth of boards and 16 per cent of executive committees in financial services. Norway and Sweden enjoy the strongest female representation at executive committee level. Japan, South Korea and China, on the other hand, have the most room for improvement, with female representation at just 2 per cent, 4 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively.

Asia is clearly lagging as a region, with India at 11 per cent and Hong Kong at 13 per cent. Singapore and Thailand, however, stand out with a respective 25 per cent and 31 per cent. The report highlighted that the former has grown rapidly since 2013 though the latter seems to have hit a ceiling with a slowing rate of change.

“The industry is far from where it should be on gender balance,” said Ted Moynihan, managing partner of financial services at Oliver Wyman. “An organisation’s key business and strategic decisions are made by its executive committee and they are also highly visible, both internally and externally, making them effective as role models and sponsors – and driving business success.”

In other revelations, female executives in financial services are 20 to 30 per cent more likely to leave their employer mid-career than their peers in other industries. This was attributed to having a less attractive “career trade off” than men – with a lack of flexible working hours and support for family responsibilities. There were persistent views of an “unconscious bias” in the industry and of women being worse off when it comes to promotion and pay.

“Gender balance provides access to the full talent pool, better decision-making by bringing together different perspectives, better services to customers by better representing them, and a stronger economy. Organisations need to advance women by offering bolder structural solutions to the mid-career conflict outlined in this report, creating the right working arrangements and fostering more profound cultural change,” said Astrid Jaekel, partner and author of the report.