Women CFOs reach record level in US as top job remains elusive

The number of women taking the role of chief financial officer increased 35 per cent at big US companies in the past year, putting more female executives in the top ranks of management after decades of slow gains.

There were 54 women serving as CFO among Standard & Poor 500 Index companies as of last month, up from 40 a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Rankings. While men still account for almost 90 per cent of CFOs in the index, the growth marks progress for female managers at a time when there’s been little change at the CEO level.

Women are now overseeing the finances at such high-profile companies as JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest US bank by assets; the newspaper chain Gannett Co; and Time Warner Cable Inc, the second-biggest US cable company. The trend comes at a time when the CFO job itself is becoming more critical. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which required companies to be more transparent about their finances, thrust CFOs into the limelight and forced them to work more closely with chief executives.

“It isn’t the old green-eyeshade accountant’s job it used to be,” said Matt McGreal, head of the corporate-governance practice at the executive-search firm Crist/Kolder Associates in Hinsdale, Illinois. “The CFO is one of the few officers of corporations who has a view of the entire organisation.”

CFOs typically have experience in accounting, risk management and treasury — roles where performance can be measured in numbers, saidAnn Marie Petach, who holds the position at New York-based BlackRock Inc, the world’s biggest money manager. That has worked in women’s favour, helping them gain promotions by objectively showing competence, she said.

Currently about 15 per cent of CEOs at companies in the index were CFOs at some point in their careers, said Joshua Wimberley, who runs Korn/Ferry International’s search business focused on financial officers. PepsiCo Inc CEO Indra Nooyi, one of the highest-profile female leaders, took the job after more than six years as CFO. She previously oversaw strategy for PepsiCo, ASEA Brown Boveri and Motorola Inc. Gannett’s CEO, Gracia Martore, also climbed the corporate ladder through the CFO job. Victoria Harker serves as the McLean, Virginia-based company’s current finance chief.