The Ultimate CFO Community
What leads to high performance? This question will be the main issue at the seventh CFO Day. For the first time, this annual event for CFOs will begin with an exclusive round table programme and a VIP dinner on Wednesday June 11, followed by an extensive and inspiring day programme on Thursday June 12.
The European business community has performed well in all aspects in 2007 thanks in part to the boom of recent years. It is doubtful if these record-breaking results can be sustained in 2008. The consequences of the American credit crisis are more serious than was initially expected and rumours of a recession abound. Despite these less favourable developments, businesses can still perform well or better than most. At the seventh CFO Day we will discuss opportunities and threats in a geographical context.
Following on from the 2007 theme ‘Going for Growth’, this year we have chosen ‘High Performance’ as our main topic. Many CFOs are concerned with this issue on a regular basis and various international speakers will share their insights during the seventh CFO Day. The programme has been based on the input of a number of top CFOs and key partners.
“In the past, CFOs mainly visited the event as role models and to meet other CFOs,” says Mando Vroling, publisher of Chief Financial Officer and organiser of the CFO Day. “This year we have invested a great deal in the content by inviting renowned experts and international CFOs. This allows us to further facilitate the upper echelons of the community and involve them in the CFO Day.
“In coming years, we will also start organising closed sessions at large events such as CFO Day and the annual Finance Transformation conference. People can share expertise and experiences during these closed sessions, led by content experts. For instance, prior to the CIO Day in November we will organise a masterclass with CFOs and CIOs led by Manfred Kets de Vries.”
Programme
The CFO Day on June 11 will start at 15.30 with exclusive pre-conference round tables. The VIP dinner prior to the event creates the ideal environment for guests to network in an informal atmosphere. The interactive sessions during the day programme on June 12 will enable conference visitors to gather knowledge in internal and external finance issues such as strategy, value creation, globalisation, risk management, innovation, governance and equity development, and the transformation of financial roles.
“Together with our partners we have worked hard to organise a highly diverse programme,” Vroling explains. “Everyone will be able to identify with the subjects, including CFOs from companies such as Ahold, Heineken, Fortis, Wolters Kluwer and TomTom, and CFOs from (medium)large non-quoted companies. Our ultimate goal is to create a personal agenda for as many CFO Day participants as possible, based on both network and content.”
Ian Bremmer will be contributing to the programme as a keynote speaker. President and founder of Eurasia Group, Bremmer is boardroom consultant to Coca-Cola, Shell, ExxonMobil, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, Google, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Motorola and many other internationally renowned companies. He is also a consultant to American presidential candidates and the Prime Ministers of Russia and Japan. Bremmer will give a presentation on the main issue ‘What leads to high performance?’ in relation to upcoming markets and risk regions.
A special feature of the programme is the sector-oriented session on developments in the Financial Services Industry, including Ian Bremmer, Niek Hoek (CEO Delta Lloyd Groep), Ronald Latenstein van Voorst (CFO SNS Reaal) and Lars Machenil (CFO Fortis Bank). Naturally, the consequences of the credit crunch will be on the agenda.
Jacques Schraven, commissioner of Tata Steel and Stork, among others, and chairman of EuropeanIssuers, will discuss the importance of businesses having a good relationship with shareholders in order to attract capital and prevent ‘raids’. The role of the EU and other regulatory bodies, and the cooperation of ‘financial intermediaries' are also crucial. “And we are lucky to have Jacques Schraven share his experience and expertise on the takeover panels and globalisation phenomenon in other sessions during CFO Day,” says Jan Bletz, chief editor of Chief Financial Officer.
Ravi Nedungadi, CFO of The UB Group and recently elected CFO of the Year India, will be joining us to take part in the programme and discuss globalisation, the rise of the Indian economy and his company’s performance. Other speakers at the CFO Day include CFOs from Heineken, Ahold, CEVA Logistics, Kuehne + Nagel, Wolters Kluwer, Océ, Maxeda, TomTom, Nutreco, Vopak and many other top financials.
Partners including Ad Rijken of Delta Lloyd Groep, Hans Borghouts of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hank Schraven of Robert Walters, Ton Vernaus of LeasePlan, Bob Out of Rematch, Erwin Smit of Aon, Tom van Wijngaarden of Stibbe and board members from companies such as ABN AMRO, Cognos, ConQuaestor, Grant Thornton, IBM, Kirkman Company, SAS and Verizon Business were even more involved this year in the content of the programme and in including their own networks.
CFO of the year
Once again the CFO of the Year Award will be presented to draw attention to the sector and pay tribute to excellent performance. In 2006, we very much improved the award process and made it more transparent. This coming summer we will again analyse and improve the procedure with the aid of previous winners and other people involved.
In past years the award was won by financial heavyweights such as Michiel Meurs (then CFO at Ahold), René Hooft Graafland (CFO Heineken), Tom de Swaan (then CFO at ABN AMRO), Jan Hommen (former CFO Philips) and Robert-Jan van de Kraats (CFO Randstad). Numico CFO Jean-Marc Huet was elected CFO of the Year, in the AEX category last year. Nutreco Holding CFO Cees van Rijn was awarded CFO of the Year, Midcap/smallcap. Ronald van der Mark, financial senior executive at Maxeda, was named CFO of the Year of non-quoted companies.
The future of the CFO community
“In coming years, we will dedicate ourselves to the further improvement of our activities for the CFO Community,” Vroling says. “This year’s CFO Day is a step in the right direction. What we noticed in recent years is that CFOs really love their trade and are open to networking, but that content is a dealbreaker. Many top financials such as René Hooft Graafland, Boudewijn Beerkens, Robert-Jan van de Kraats, Jan van den Belt, Pieter Verboom, Ronald van der Mark, Cees van Rijn, Theo de Kool, Gerard van Kesteren, Tjero Zomer and Hans Kerkhoven have been helping us to develop the content and shape our activities for the CFO Community.”
“Our challenge is becoming even more international with regard to content and networking, as well as appealing to national CFOs and financials,” Vroling concludes. “We will also start organising more sector-oriented and cross-functional discussions. Our ultimate goal is to structurally add value regarding content and networking, and to contribute to the ongoing development of both the industry and individuals within the community. There are always some who take issue with our efforts and we invite people from all shades of opinion to become actively involved. When it comes to vision and services for the CFO Community, our passion is equal to that shown by most financials for their industry.”