During the “Female Networking Breakfast” arranged in Milan at the HSBC headquarters, Anna Tavano (Head of Global Banking) discussed with 50 female students from Bocconi University, telling them about her professional experience and giving useful advice: “Never give up, be brave even in the most difficult moments of your working life”.

Anna Tavano gives advice to female students

If in terms of employment the current situation is in women’s favor (52% vs. 48%), in reality only 28% of top positions are covered by female figures. This imbalance has to change: to overcome this trend and give more possibilities of career advancement, it is becoming more and more important to take preventive action and organize awareness-raising events. Because of this, the “Female Networking Breakfast” was held in Milan, directed by Anna Tavano (Head of Global Banking for Italy at HSBC) and by other colleagues from the world of finance employed at the London headquarters. The meeting was dedicated to 50 promising Bocconi female students, who were given the possibility to listen and be inspired by the useful advice from Anna Tavano and her colleagues: “Always be yourself and never give up on your dreams, be brave even in the most difficult moments of your working life”. Anna Tavano explained that “the bank is committed to the issue of inclusion and gender equality and has developed a program aimed at reaching a quota of 30% of women employed in managerial positions by 2020”. The fundamental actions to change the situation are “the adoption of inclusion and parity criteria right from the employee selection phase, internal promotion and organization of events dedicated to the topic and a strong commitment by the top management in this direction”. The students had the opportunity to listen to the story of the professionals about their working experiences, to draw inspiration and useful information for their future career.

Anna Tavano’s career and professional experience

Anna Tavano currently holds the position of Head of Global Banking for Italy in HSBC. Previously she was Managing Director at Citigroup (Corporate and Investment Banking division). With over 22 years-long experience in the financial sector, she has been employed in leading financial institutions, working in London and Milan. During her career she has always been committed to helping women in the process of professional advancement, also dedicating herself to the broader issues of diversity and inclusion in the financial and business sectors. She took part in the inaugural “in the Boardroom”, one-year training programme on board membership for top women managers, sponsored by ValoreD and GE Capital. Anna also attended “The CEO School”, which aims to train a select panel of women to become future CEOs. Anna Tavano is an economics and finance graduate of the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. Before receiving her current role, she began her professional career in London at Citi, in 1997. Since 2000 she has been employed in the Fixed Income – Capital Markets division, heading the origination and execution team for a wide range of finance transactions for financial institutions, corporate and central governments in Southern Europe. Afterwards, Anna Tavano received the role of Managing Director at Citigroup, working in particular in the Corporate and Investment Banking division. She was also Vice Chairman for the Corporate Bank in Italy and Head of Public Sector, covering large corporate and public sector clients.