Companies hunt for ‘wartime’ finance generals

As 2022 draws to a close, many companies are reassessing their financial strategies as they brace to endure continuing economic headwinds in the coming year.

Private equity (PE) firms are being proactive when it comes to their financial leadership, said Sean Mooney, CEO and founder of “business builders” network for private equity-grade service providers, BluWave.

BluWave, which combines technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and concierge-like consultative support to serve its over 500 private equity clients, is seeing “tremendous amounts of hiring in the private equity sector,” Mooney, a 20-year PE veteran, said.

In economic times like now, PE firms are moving to ensure they have the support they need in their organizations, “so we’re seeing a tremendous amount of interim CFO activity and new hiring activity, in large part because they’re bringing in wartime generals in place of peacetime ministers,” Mooney said.

Companies that are searching for new financial leadership may be running up against a number of challenges, including the need to swap out their “peacetime” leaders in favor of executives which have the skill sets necessary to navigate stormy economic seas.  

“They need very serious professionals who are cash hawks, and are able to understand the tenor, the pace and the future of a business in a supernatural way,” he said.

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