Newswise — CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia — Sixty-one percent of chief financial officers from leading companies in the Washington, D.C., region are optimistic about the economy compared to 54 percent just five months before.
This takeaway emerged from the 11th Strategic CFO Roundtable, held at the offices of Sands Capital Management in Arlington, Virginia, where CFOs gathered to discuss, debate and share best practices for enhancing the strategic role of the CFO. In addition to evaluating the current economy, the CFOs discussed their approach to “Cash Strategies: The When/How/Why of Deploying Capital.”
In 2009, Kenneth M. Eades, Paul Tudor Jones Research Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and Jane-Scott Cantus, principal member, ILEX Leadership Associates LLC., established the Strategic CFO Roundtable. In 2013, the Strategic CFO Roundtable was adopted as an important initiative of the newly launched Darden Institute for Business in Society (IBiS) — a leading global catalyst and convener of thought, information and action at the interface of business and society that promotes the development of leaders to positively impact society through their roles in business.
“The opportunity to engage with top C-suite executives, facilitated by top business school faculty, and to focus on executives’ top-of-mind issues provides unique value to participants. By working with IBiS, the Strategic CFO Roundtable will be able to focus more on strategy and the impact of their companies in society,” said Eades.
In the current business environment, the issue of cash management — the assessment of a company’s cash reserves and how they may be deployed — is a key consideration for CFOs because of its many impacts on achieving overall corporate strategy.
The gathering shed light on new avenues for research as well as opportunities to improve the ability of CFOs and organizations to take action based on their companies’ financial outlooks. Those present were optimistic about the economy and took issue with the popular impression that companies have a strategy of “hoarding cash.” Sentiments from the CFOs in attendance were that their companies are growing and investing.
More information is available in the report “Views from the C-Suite.”
The Roundtable members expressed broad insights via an accompanying economic survey. The most recent survey showed a noted increase in the optimism about the overall economic recovery. “Since the Roundtable started meeting, the members consistently have been more optimistic about the economy than the national survey participants. That said, they continue to believe that full economic recovery and job growth will take at least 36 months,” said Jane-Scott Cantus, who was recently appointed a Darden IBiS Fellow.
Participating CFOs represented leading companies across industries such as financial and professional services, media, retailers and technology. The broadened Strategic CFO Roundtable charter will now include discussion of the role of the strategic CFO to assert influence in the C-Suite, in the boardroom and on corporate strategy, as well as the impact of financial and corporate strategies on the workforce, shareholders, the national economy and society as a whole.
Past dialogues have explored the board-CEO-CFO dynamic, the impact of regulatory and political trends on financial and corporate strategy, the expanding definition of enterprise risk management and effectively retaining and recruiting talent in economically challenging times.
The next quarterly Strategic CFO Roundtable will convene in September 2013.
For questions or information, contact Matt Charles at [email protected] or a member of the Communication team.
About the Darden School of BusinessThe University of Virginia Darden School of Business is one of the world's leading business schools, offering MBA, Ph.D. and Executive Education programs. The unique Darden experience combines the case study method, top-ranked faculty whose research advances global managerial practice and business education, and a tight-knit learning environment to develop responsible and complete leaders who are ready to make an impact.
About the Darden IBiS Strategic CFO RoundtableThe Strategic CFO Roundtable is a quarterly convening of leading chief financial officers in the Washington D.C., metropolitan area to discuss, debate and share best practices for enhancing the strategic role of the CFO. With more than 300 years of collective strategic financial and leadership experience, the Roundtable Members share their views on the challenges and opportunities facing their companies and the overall economy. The Strategic CFO Roundtable is organized by the Institute for Business in Society at the Darden School of Business of the University of Virginia
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