Finance

How to stop your CFO leaving you for private equity

Published

2 years ago

May 17, 2024

How to stop your CFO leaving you for private equity

Highly skilled and ambitious finance chiefs have long been attracted to the dynamism of private equity. In fact, a lack of experience in the industry can be considered a major hindrance to a CFO’s career progression, according to recruitment experts.

“It’s no secret that hardworking and ambitious financial professionals aspire to be a private equity CFO. I’d be very surprised if a candidate stated that they didn’t want to end up there,” says Mike Mesrie, founder and director of executive search firm MDM Resourcing. “It’s long been regarded as the promised land where there’s great riches to be had.”

In recent months, private equity firms have been largely focused on driving value in their existing portfolios and navigating headwinds. The result has been not only fewer deals but a higher turnover of CFOs, says Ben Graham, founder of executive recruitment firm Triton Exec. As a result, “CFO hiring into PE-backed businesses has risen sharply from Q4 2023 and is showing no sign of slowing down.”

It’s not for the faint-hearted, but the potential rewards are significant

With a heightened focus on jump-starting stagnating portfolio performance, demand from private equity for CFOs with the unique skills needed to navigate today’s high inflation and rising interest rates is increasing. “As the need for a successful exit grows, portfolio businesses are being actively encouraged to replace their CFO,” Graham says. “We’ve seen an increase in CFO mandates over the last 6 months.”

Businesses are paying more than ever for top finance talent. And with private equity firms now on the lookout for new CFOs, many of whom are equally eager to join the elusive club, boards and CEOs need to know how to hold onto theirs.

Understanding the pull of private equity

Understanding the nuances of the CFO role in private equity can help businesses better understand the appeal of the job – and start implementing a more effective retention strategy.

While it may be tempting to assume that financial incentives are the main motivating force, there are other equally important factors at play.

The adrenaline rush of working towards an acquisition or a sale is stressful, but exciting. And the shorter stints typically spent in a portfolio company while working towards a deal close provides an end-date that many find refreshing.

“Working in this realm presents a unique opportunity where you feel like you can directly shape the trajectory of the organisation and make tangible, impactful changes,” says Catherina Butler, interim CFO at software business Aryza. “The potential to make an impact stretches far beyond financial metrics, encompassing strategic realignments, talent cultivation, organisational structures and operational efficiencies and processes. It’s not an arena for the faint-hearted, but for those willing to embrace it, the potential rewards are significant and the journey is exciting.”

From a cultural perspective, there is a lot less juggling of personalities and shareholder demands. CFOs will typically work with just one or two sponsors, communicating financial results, working through capital structure issues or M&A opportunities and generally speaking the common language of finance. “There is a sense of alignment that is often lacking in other businesses,” says Harry Hewson, managing director of executive recruitment firm Camino Search. “You’ve got a management team that are all working towards the same goal and are motivated to get to the next stage. Finance chiefs really love that.”

It also demands a different style of leadership. Private equity CFOs have fewer external-facing duties, which can appeal to executives who tend to be more introverted. They aren’t in the spotlight as much so they get to spend more time with their team, adding value to the business. “Basically doing parts of the job they enjoy the most,” says Hewson.

A private equity firm will usually hire a finance chief with a specific goal in mind; whether it is to help execute a complex carve-out or turn around a distressed company. Working in more challenging and niche areas allows CFOs to sharpen their skills and become an experts in their field. “This is something they may not get a chance to do in their current roles,” Hewson adds.

It’s easy to see the attraction of private equity: fast-paced, strong incentives, tax benefits and less public scrutiny. Admittedly, these aspects of the job are hard to compete with. But scratch the surface and a different reality emerges.

The survival rate of CFOs in private equity is notoriously low: most are replaced within 18 months of investment and those able to make it past that point still have an average tenure of 20% less than their listed counterparts, according to accounting firm EY.

“It might sound super glamorous if it goes well. But, realistically, a lot of the time it doesn’t,” Hewson says. There is an opportunity for businesses to use that to their advantage.

The most effective retention strategies

Competition from private equity may be tough, but there are steps that businesses can take to boost CFO retention and strengthen loyalty.

Recognition and tailored reward systems, including competitive salaries and bonuses are “a must” for retaining top financial talent, stresses Doug Baird, CEO at leadership consultancy New Street Consulting Group. More important still, he argues, is the need to design compensation packages that not only reward past performance but incentivise future success. “Offering equity participation through long-term incentive plans or growth schemes is becoming more common. These schemes help to instil a sense of ownership and belonging, giving CFOs a vested interest in the success of the company – and a strong incentive to stay.”

Sustainability and digital transformation are becoming increasingly decisive factors for CFOs when considering a position, Baird adds. “CFOs will be looking to see if a company’s values and missions are clearly aligned with them on this.”

Private equity has long been regarded as the promised land

In Mesrie’s view, CFOs typically become disengaged when they feel underappreciated. Public acknowledgments in company meetings can boost morale and emphasise the value of the CFO to the entire organisation. Equally important is a culture within the C-suite that promotes a collaborative environment through open and honest communication, Mesrie adds. “For CFOs to feel personally and professionally valued, they need to be made to feel part of the team.”

Given how closely they work together, special attention should be given to the relationship between the CEO and CFO, Mesrie stresses. “It needs to be a proper partnership where the CFO is listened to. An overbearing or irrational CEO will quickly leave any finance chief feeling disenchanted, pushing them out the door.”

“The life of a CFO can be a lonely one,” Hewson adds, so anything companies can do to provide additional support and stability is key. Learning and development programmes should be tailored to finance leaders’ individual goals, he says, while flexible working hours and the option to work remotely can help them to manage their demanding roles without sacrificing personal or family time. Hewson believes this could be where businesses have the upper hand over private equity firms which tend to be less amenable to flexible working.

Continue to invest in succession planning

While having a solid retention strategy in place can keep CFOs happy, motivated and away from circling private equity firms, it’s important to manage expectations about the extent to which they will help.

Hewson believes that continuous investment in a CFO succession plan is the most effective way to safeguard financial leadership in the long term.

And yet many businesses are failing to take it seriously: only 26% of UK companies stated that they have a succession plan in place for their C-suite, according to data published by recruitment firm Robert Half. A further 17% said they have an unofficial or informal plan, while the majority (57%) admitted that they do not have any succession plan at all.

This is even more surprising given that CFO turnover is at an all-time high. Over the last 12 months, 20% of FTSE 100 CFOs left their jobs, compared with 13% in 2019, according to data published by Russell Reynolds Associates.

Hewson sees it as a “huge missed opportunity” for businesses to identify, train and develop the next generation of CFOs. “Right now, there is a pool of diverse, young and talented finance professionals that are waiting to step up into CFO positions. They’re hungrier, more motivated and they’ve got a point to prove.”

An empty CFO chair in the C-suite puts businesses at tremendous risk of instability. A failure to plan properly for that possibility is not only putting the business in jeopardy, it is shutting the door on a cohort of new finance leaders.

Three ways to motivate your CFO

Finance

Local M&A advisory firm Matrix acquired by banking giant Citizens Financial – Richmond BizSense

Published

4 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Local M&A advisory firm Matrix acquired by banking giant Citizens Financial – Richmond BizSense

Matri x Capital Markets Group is now a division of Citizens Financial Group. (Image Courtesy Citizens Financial Group)

Matrix Capital Markets Group is used to helping businesses line up mergers and acquisitions.

For its latest transaction, the Richmond-based M&A advisory and investment banking firm was itself the subject of the deal.

Matrix was acquired last week by Rhode Island-based banking giant Citizens Financial Group.

Matrix, along with its nearly three dozen employees, including 20 in Richmond, are now operating as a division of Citizens, within the $226 billion bank’s investment banking arm, Citizens JMP Securities.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. It involved an asset purchase that bought out Matrix’s 15 shareholders.

The deal ends Matrix’s 38-year run as an independent firm, a notable streak in an industry where consolidation of smaller firms into larger ones is common.

Matrix was founded in Richmond in 1988 by Scott Frayser and Jeff Moore and has since hit its stride by building a niche in handling deals for companies in the downstream energy and convenience retail sector.

The firm has been run in recent years by president Spencer Cavalier and Cedric Fortemps, co-head of the firm’s largest investment banking team.

Fortemps said Matrix began to search for a larger acquirer last year.

Cedric Fortemps

“The board decided to see if we could find a partner and a transaction that could build on what we’ve built thus far,” Fortemps said.

Matrix enlisted investment banking firm Houlihan Lokey to help in the search and negotiate on its behalf, along with the law firm Calfee as its legal advisor.

Fortemps said Citizen rose to the top of the pack of suitors in part due to JMP Securities’ track record of acquiring smaller firms like Matrix.

“They have acquired four other firms very similar to ours. Seeing the successes they had with those groups… the playbook is really to let the firms continue to operate the way they had,” Fortemps said.

Matrix’s Richmond office in the Gateway Plaza building downtown will continue to operate, as will its second office in Baltimore.

The Matrix brand will continue to be used for the time being but will eventually be phased out.

Fortemps said the firm’s success and particularly its growth in recent years has been fueled by its expertise in working deals for downstream energy clients – such as wholesale fuels distributors, propane and heating oil distributors – and convenience store and gas station chains.

Matrix’s rise in that sector began in 1997, when it hired Tom Kelso, who lived in Baltimore and owned a heating oil fuels distribution business. Kelso, who would eventually serve as the firm’s president prior to Cavalier, had a vision to launch an M&A firm for that industry.

“It took seven to eight years to grow it but eventually we were able to get a reputation of really high quality work and those successes on smaller transactions resulted in us being considered for larger deals,” Fortemps said.

Today, 21of the firm’s 26 investment bankers work on the team that handles deals for those industries. It controls about 40% market share for the M&A market for those sectors, Fortemps said.

The firm closes nearly two dozen transactions a year over the last five years and has closed 500 deals since its inception.

The typical value of its deals is more than $20 million, though the transactions it has closed over the last three years in the energy and convenience retail sectors have grown to $140 million per deal, Matrix said.

Its largest deal to date was closed last year, involving the $1.6 billion acquisition of convenience store chain Giant Eagle.

Matrix also works deals in other industries such as lubricants distribution, automotive after-market suppliers and car washes, as well as outdoor recreation and the marine industry.

After decades of representing buyers and sellers in M&A, Fortemps said the Citizens deal was a new experience for the Matrix team: being the target of the transaction, rather than the ones facilitating it.

“It certainly made me appreciate everything our clients have to go through on the other side of the table,” he said.

Finance

Deutsche Bank’s Expanding Sports Finance Strategy

Published

16 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Deutsche Bank’s Expanding Sports Finance Strategy

As the business side of team sports, such as football, becomes larger and more complex, the opportunities for banks to provide financing solutions for the individuals and institutions involved proliferate. At Deutsche Bank’s private bank, it sees considerable opportunities ahead.

With American and other non-UK investors/owners buying into UK
football teams, it has highlighted that handling the
financial side of sports is now a distinct asset class that even
those uninterested in sports should consider.

Deutsche Bank’s private banking arm certainly considers sports
finance a sufficiently large area to warrant a specialist
offering, as announced
a few days ago. The business focuses on Europe and the
US.

The financing business is led by Arjun Nagarkatti, who is the
head of the private bank for the US and Europe international
business. Deutsche
Bank has appointed Sowmya Kotha in London and Joshua Frank in
New York, who report to Adam Russ, head of wealth management and
business lending.

“Sport can be a local passion project. However, it is becoming
more of a legitimate asset class. Even a non-sports person should
look at sports,” Nagarkatti told WealthBriefing in a
meeting at the German bank’s London offices in the City. “These
are big businesses and a lot of people still don’t know how big
they are.”

Family offices/ultra HNW individuals are trying to take
a “more institutional” approach to transacting in sports
teams, he said.

Setting up such a business feeds into the specialist lending and
financial advisory work that Deutsche has discussed
with this publication in recent months. (See
an example here – via Hong Kong.) This work uses the
combined private bank/investment banking connections where
private clients will also have operating business concerns.

The sports financing business shows that this area is not simply
a private banking niche. Rival Citigroup, for example,

spoke to this news service in 2025 about its work with
ultra-wealthy people wanting to buy, sell and run sports teams.
Our US correspondent recently wrote about opportunities for
wealth management arising from changes in college
sports.

The expanded capability at Deutsche on the sports side is
“significant for the bank,” Nagarkatti said. “It is a core focus
for us.”

UHNW sports owners/potential owners tend to be ideal clients –
they are internationally minded, want advice and guidance on
financial/personal wealth matters, he continued. “This is a big
opportunity for us and it is a consistent connection we have had
with clients, and we have been doing this for 10 to 15
years.”

Deutsche is initially concentrating on the English Premier
League. As its US franchise has expanded, this has led to
financing across all four major US sports leagues: National
Football League; Major League Baseball; National Basketball
Association, and National Hockey League.

Mention of cross-border owners of clubs leads to potential owners
of, say, a UK football club needing to understand that when
they buy a team, they’re also buying into hopes and dreams.
Owners raise their heads above a parapet – not always a fun
experience.

“You become a public figure,” Nagarkatti said.

One example that springs to mind is Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the
billionaire founder of INEOS, the chemical producer who took
a 27.7 per cent stake in Manchester United more than a year
ago. While well known in business circles before buying into the
“Red Devils” –

one of the most famous sports institutions in the world – his
profile has risen since, with every comment – controversial or
otherwise – analysed, not always kindly.

American owners of teams have to adjust to the risk, for example
when a football (soccer) team gets relegated, Nagarkatti
said. Anyone looking to own a club must understand risks,
including how their public profile, assuming they were very
private people, rises rapidly, and in ways that are not always
comfortable if a team has problems, he said.

There is a need for realism.

“When you buy these top assets, you must spend time and work them
and increase their value. You must be prepared to invest time,
such as on the team, stadiums, facilities,” Nagarkatti said. “It
is like buying a hotel. You cannot just sit there and think it
will go up in value by 10 times.”

For the wealth management industry in general, the business of
sports teams, as well as the individual financial affairs of
sportsmen and women, has become a distinct – and large –
specialism. For example, the Rockefeller Global Family Office has
experts who look after athletes and entertainers. Other firms
that have expertise in and around sports include Carnegie Private
Wealth, for example, and Merrill Lynch Management. In the UK, the
private banking group Coutts has a sports, media and
entertainment division for its wealthy clients. Standard
Chartered, the UK-listed bank with a significant presence in
Asia, has launched a new alternative fund focused on sports for
ultra-high net worth and high net worth clients under its Global
Private Bank. Standard Chartered is a sponsor of Liverpool
FC.

Deutsche Bank announced 2025 full-year and fourth-quarter
financial results here.

Finance

Retired Aussies facing sad $60,000 superannuation reality impacting millions: ‘Very real’

Published

1 day ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Retired Aussies facing sad ,000 superannuation reality impacting millions: ‘Very real’

Aussies are still facing a super gender gap, with women approaching retirement with thousands less than men. (Source: AAP/Getty)

Australians now need a record amount of superannuation to afford a comfortable retirement, and one group is still lagging significantly behind. Women are approaching retirement with tens of thousands of dollars less in superannuation than men, but there are moves that can be made now to help close the gap.

By the age of 40 to 44, men have a median super balance of $108,344, compared to women with $79,445 – a gap of nearly $30,000. This gap peaks in the 55 to 59 age range, where men have $202,584 on average and women $140,662 – a difference of more than $60,000.

AustralianSuper deputy chief executive and chief member officer Rose Kerlin told Yahoo Finance while we’ve seen some improvements over time, the super gender gap is “still very real” and becomes the most obvious as women approached retirement.

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“A big part of the gap comes down to caregiving and disparities in pay. When women take time out of the workforce or move into part-time roles to care for children or family members, their super takes a hit, and that impact compounds year after year,” she said.

This gap is particularly worrying now that a single homeowner aged 67 needs a lump sum of $630,000, up from $595,000, to achieve a comfortable retirement. Couple homeowners need a balance of $730,000 in super, which is up from $690,000.

In contrast, the latest ATO data shows men at or approaching retirement at 60 to 64 have a median balance of $219,73, while women have $163,218.

The government has flagged reforms to help address the gap. Since July last year, superannuation has been paid on government parental leave payments.

From July next year, the Low Income Superannuation Tax Offset (LISTO) income threshold will increase from $37,000 to $45,000 to align with the top of the second income-tax bracket. The maximum LISTO payment will increase from $500 to $810.

While policy reform is important, Kerlin said there were also things women could do now to feel more on top of their super and more confident about where they’re headed.

“Small actions today can help build greater confidence and security for the years ahead,” she said.

One action could be making additional contributions, even small ones, whenever possible, as this could make a big difference over time.

AustralianSuper’s modelling found that someone who made after-tax contributions of $600 annually between the ages of 35 to 39 and met the eligibility criteria for the government’s co-contribution of $300 each year could retire with $9,000 more.