The Better Finance Podcast

In this special episode Pat Grismer, Former CFO of Starbucks, Hyatt Hotels and Yum Brands, and Cory Hrncirik, Microsoft Modern Finance Lead, join Myles Corson for a wide-ranging discussion on the future of finance. Their conversation covers the important role of CFOs in shaping strong company culture, investing time in talent development, and leveraging finance data to drive strategy and resource allocation. The episode also provides insights from seasoned finance experts on how the finance function can have a significant impact on driving business success.  The future of finance is being shaped by major forces, including changes in consumer habits, technological advancements, and a heightened focus on social responsibility. As a result, finance leaders should adapt and innovate in order to stay ahead of the curve and help to provide continued growth for their organizations. This can require a rethink of established finance functions, such as planning, forecasting, and resource allocation, with a focus on agility and relevance. Finance technology and innovation can face challenges and opportunities as a result of these shifts. Cory Hrncirik shares insights into the future of finance in this discussion. He highlights the increasing challenges CFOs face in keeping pace with evolving business models. The finance function, responsible for forecasting and budgeting, is bombarded with massive amounts of finance data, making it difficult for them to effectively manage it. Learn about the current state of finance along with steps being taken to ensure the finance function stays competitive. CFOs have an important role supporting investments in ESG while continuing to drive the company’s economic engine. Talent and culture are a key element of the CFOs agenda, particularly attracting and developing for emerging skills. CFOs can increase their impact by adapting how they communicate to better engage with key stakeholder groups. CFOs have never had a better opportunity to transform the finance function by setting a clear vision, empowering their people to adopt a growth mindset and unlocking the power of data and finance technology. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not reflect the official policy or position of EY or any other organization. © 2022 Ernst & Young Global Limited

Host Myles Corson discusses the impact of macroeconomic and geopolitical trends including trade disruptions with Sally Jones, EY UK Trade Strategy & Brexit Leader and Nicolas Veron, Senior Fellow at Bruegel, Brussels & Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington. They discuss how Brexit and Covid-19 are reshaping trade policies and the CFO’s role in the global environments. The discussion references two major events - Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic - exploring how they have impacted macroeconomic and geopolitical trends. Sally and Nicolas share their perspectives on the evolving role of CFOs pre- and post-pandemic, and ways industries are pushing themselves in new and innovative ways to cope with changes. Industries are now pushing themselves in new and innovative ways to stay relevant. Corporations and government organizations have been incredibly adaptive to the lockdown conditions presented by the pandemic, effectively utilizing technology to shift from in-person to remote work. The challenges businesses are facing and how they’re shaping the role of the modern CFO and finance leaders in addressing those challenges cannot be understated, particularly for cross-border businesses. Technology is moving faster than governments and regulations can keep pace with. As disparate regulations emerge to protect consumers and their data, it has become increasing difficult for companies, particularly cross-border businesses, to meet all of the obligations. Plurilateral trade negotiations are coming together to create cutting-edge, trading commitments that will oblige companies operating within those countries to meet new and more ambitious sustainability standards. Trade disruptions, including ones experienced with Brexit or pandemic-related supply chain issues, can help companies pinpoint and modify business functions that operate in isolation. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not reflect the official policy or position of EY or any other organization. © 2022 Ernst & Young Global Limited

In this episode, podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Jennifer Crowe, CFO of CognitiveScale, and Anthony Sgammato, EY America’s Private Assurance Leader to discuss the importance of data analytics for private company CFOs.  They discuss how finance leaders can leverage the vast amount of data to sustain a competitive edge using tools such as business intelligence, artificial intelligence, and cloud storage while navigating potential challenges such as the rise in cyber-attacks and cultural integration issues. Listen in to learn more about the role of financial data analytics in the success of private companies. For an AI software company such as CognitiveScale that makes augmented business intelligence systems, this growth in data has proven beneficial in providing true market insight. Jennifer points out that they can now integrate with other sales tools to target customers in a smarter and more efficient way. For many others, the benefits can outweigh the challenges offering the opportunity to leverage business intelligence systems, artificial intelligence, and cloud storage to bring insights from data in real time.  The initial reluctance within the Board to put sensitive financial data into the cloud is now fast changing. New cloud technology has helped transform the way companies like CognitiveScale work, enabling real-time collaboration and flexibility both internally and externally. The rise of financial data analytics has prompted many firms to leverage cloud technology in various ways. This has led to more and more CFOs seeking the help of external partners for data hosting and management. These new business intelligence systems and data that’s being driven are providing private companies with insights that young talent can use in a more efficient way. This will enable them to do more with less and be more cost efficient, as well as work on different projects throughout the organization to expand their experience. Private company CFOs are flooded with data and understand that financial data analytics can be an important tool for maintaining a competitive edge. They recognize that the end benefits exceed the challenges of rise in cyberattacks and offers the opportunity to leverage business intelligence systems, AI, and cloud storage to bring insights from data in real time. Financial accounting is seeing an acceleration in adopting new cloud technology into the finance function. Private companies, as opposed to public companies, are more likely to provide young talent with the opportunity to really build from the ground up, potentially leading to new and exciting accounting and finance initiatives. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not reflect the official policy or position of EY or any other organization. © 2021 Ernst & Young Global Limited

In this episode of the Better Finance podcast, Myles Corson discusses the growing importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues in the real estate investment trusts (REITs) sector. He is joined by  Fulya Kocak, senior vice president of ESG issues for National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit) and Serena Wolfe, chief financial officer of Annaly Capital Management. Listen as they delve into the role of REITs as ESG change agents and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ESG ecosystem. Get insights into the latest ESG initiatives in the real estate sector. The impact of the global pandemic has pushed businesses to adapt and embrace innovative ideas for decision-making processes along with acting as agents of change. While it proved to be an adaptability test for almost all sectors, the initiative also revealed gaps and issues that could be resolved through with great solutions and ESG strategies. For real estate companies, the pandemic led to changes in how they operate including updates to cleaning protocols in anticipation of reopening workspaces. Additionally, property owners and landlords invested in the latest technologies for indoor air quality, studied energy consumption versus occupancy and witnessed an increase in health and wellness rating applications. This shift indicates the growing importance of ESG initiatives and compliance in the industry. Annaly Capital Management brought together its infrastructure, IT infrastructure and human capital in ways never considered before, in response to the magnified importance of emergency planning and system resiliency. Given the challenges faced through the pandemic, investors are not only focused on how businesses are responding to COVID, but also on the business continuity plan. With a growing focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices and meeting stakeholder expectations, it is crucial for CFOs to lead the way in defining the company's and industry's ESG strategy. Being proactive and instrumental in shaping the company's ESG approach helps it stay ahead of evolving ESG regulations. The CFO now plays a critical role in managing change, assessing where the company is today and how it can benefit from the ESG ecosystem in the future. It’s an opportunity to make a long-lasting, meaningful impact in the face of continued uncertainty and disruption. Stakeholder engagement is a critical part of the CFO’s role around ESG. CFO leadership today is more proactive and instrumental in helping the C-Suite define what ESG means for the organization. Good sustainability leadership is not tied to a title or a person. The key is to have passion, the ability to endure change and implement strategies, and strong communication and collaboration skills. There’s an incredible amount of entrepreneurship and interest around ESG topics. CFO’s should empower their people to embrace new ideas, because it’s an opportunity for everybody to make a long-lasting, meaningful impact. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not reflect the official policy or position of EY or any other organization. © 2021 Ernst & Young Global Limited  

In this episode of the Better Finance podcast, Myles Corson is joined by Dave O’Hara, corporate vice president and chief financial officer for Commercial Finance at Microsoft. Dave shares how his unconventional career path, going from public policy and economic development to a friend’s software company, eventually led to being CFO of a major division in Microsoft. He attributes his career success to never staying too comfortable and embracing change, never backing down from a challenge, and finding the right mentor who will help you think differently and grow your career.

Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Ryan Grimsland, Senior Vice President Corporate Finance and Treasurer at Lowe’s Companies, and Loren Garruto, EY Partner and Global and Americas Corporate Finance Leader. Together, they discuss how finance can enable business to better manage unpredictable market behavior as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. They take a closer look at the challenges caused by the pandemic and how becoming more agile in forecasting and planning can help the business prepare for future disruptions.

Find out more about the role of tomorrow’s CFO and the future skills of finance. Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Simon Bittlestone, CEO of Metapraxis, a financial analytics company, and Andrew Harding, chief executive of Management Accounting at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, which was created in 2017 when they brought together the American Institute of CPAs and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Brian Tomlinson, Director of Research, CEO Investor Forum, Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), and Marc Siegel, a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and EY partner. Together they discuss the acceleration of ESG, or environmental, social and governance, issues in corporate reporting. Their conversation also considers the increasingly vital role ESG plays in investor communications and what investors are looking for companies to disclose. © 2021 Ernst & Young LLP

Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Michael Keeler, Chief Executive Officer of LeaseAccelerator, to discuss how technology and managed services are transforming lease accounting. Together, they take a closer look at the challenges, administrative burdens and missed cost saving opportunities of large lease portfolios. The conversation continues with managed services and how technology is helping to automate, harmonize and simplify the leasing process and lease accounting compliance. © 2020 Ernst & Young LLP

Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Dr. Matthew Bell, EY’s Asia Pacific Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS) Leader, to discuss his varied career path and key findings from the 2020 EY CCaSS Institutional Investor survey, How will ESG performance shape your future? © 2020 Ernst & Young LLP