Even in a candid chat behind closed doors, it is rare to hear a room full of people at or near the top of their respective professions admitting they struggle with feeling confident. For the women gathered at the second annual Women Leaders in Financial Infrastructure forum, the candor was fueled by a sense of necessity.

At the end of September, some 120 women met at law firm Clifford Chance’s Canary Wharf office for the event, the creation of EuroCCP chief executive Diana Chan.