Standout Stories
Finance operations wisdom… To land a CFO job at a large, publicly traded company, you don’t have to be the finance chief at another such firm, the internally anointed successor, or an investment banker or public accounting partner with a history of dealing with the company.
Another tried-and-true path: get in while you’re young with one of the so-called “finance factory” companies — Ford Motor, General Electric, Honeywell, Johnson & Johnson, and Pepsico are among those often cited as such — and let your employer groom you to one day win a plum finance-chief slot elsewhere. Read article
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Critical risk, no sense of urgency… SAN DIEGO — Echoes of the controversy surrounding the introduction of fair-value accounting in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis have begun to crop up in corporate risk management, a new survey issued at the annual Risk and Insurance Management Society Conference here suggests.
Similar to how historical-cost accounting was found wanting as a way to assess the financial risks lurking in current and future market conditions, basing forecasting of corporate operational risks on insurance claims histories (as they are based now), will be of little help in capturing fast-changing exposures like cyber risk, the thinking goes. Read article
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CFOs gaining clout… When I entered the accounting profession three decades ago, chief financial officers were most often viewed as overseers of the accounting and treasury functions whose focus was to keep the lid on expenses and explain performance to shareholders and analysts. Today, it is more broadly understood that their role has extended well beyond those functions, confronting a dizzying array of challenges in a rapidly changing business environment.
Those challenges will continue growing in scope and complexity as many companies aggressively pursue growth strategies to stay ahead of the competition. In fact, in a recent KPMG survey of chief executive officers, 84% told us that the CFO is the role that will gain the most importance in the c-suite during the next three years. Read article
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Headlines
IMF Cuts 2016 Growth Forecast to 3.2%
The IMF’s projection for economic growth this year is now only one-tenth of a percentage point above 2015’s growth rate.
Companies Lag on Forecasting Critical Risks
Most risk managers are using insurance claims histories to predict emerging risks.
Why CFOs Continue to Gain Clout in the C-Suite
CEOs are planning more aggressive growth strategies over the next three years. Guess who will have a pivotal role?
Employers Feeling Pain of Obamacare Compliance
Half of the employers surveyed by Mercer say the additional administrative burden of proving compliance has been “very significant.”
Wisdom from a Finance Factory Graduate
Solid finance operations practices are more about discipline than rocket science, says FLIR’s new CFO, fresh from 20 years at Ford.
Peabody Joins Coal Mining Bankruptcy Parade
The world’s largest private-sector coal company is seeking to recover from a “substantial debt burden amid a historically challenged industry.”
Five Top Banks Fail Tests of Bankruptcy Plans
The firms now have until Oct. 1 to show they can survive a financial collapse without a taxpayer bailout.
McCormick Scraps $2B Bid for Premier Foods
U.K. Premier’s stock price plunged on news it had rejected the offer, which represented a 106% premium to the pre-announcement price.
Fed Survey Shows Wages Picking up in U.S.
Wage growth and signs that the oil industry may be emerging from its decline were two of the bright spots in the Fed’s latest “Beige Book.”
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