Weary CFOs head for early retirement as pressure mounts at UK firms
Finance chiefs at the UK’s largest firms have been turning to an early retirement to escape the mounting pressures of life at the helm of a major listed company.
According to Russell Reynolds Associates, 26 per cent of FTSE 100 chief financial officers have left their roles in 2023 so far.
Already this makes the highest rate of turnover for five years and nearly double the 14 who left roles last year.
The report suggested that the combination of an increasing regulatory burden, higher interest rates and lower pay was pushing weary CFOs to an early retirement.
Chief executives have also increasingly demanded that their finance wonks get their heads out of company accounts and into strategic communication. Many have decided its not worth it.
In the UK, 65 per cent of CFOs who left FTSE 100 firms were retirees.
Across Europe, 61 per cent of Europe’s departing finance chiefs were retirees compared to 46 per cent in the same period last year. The average age of CFOs calling it a day was 56.
“The overall scope of the CFO continues to broaden and accelerate in its contribution to the performance of the business,” Ben Jones, co-head of the financial officers practice in EMEA at Russell Reynolds Associates, said.
As a result, Jones said that many CFOs have been considering their roles “whether that means moving to a portfolio career, private equity, or into an advisory role without the burden of the levels of compliance in the public company arena.”
Globally, CFO turnover is also at a five year high with 200 leaving their roles in the first three quarters of 2023. In the same period last year, 196 CFOs at list firms left their roles.