IF you think the role of a chief finance officer (CFO) is just number crunching, then you must belong to a company stuck in the dark ages.
From accounting to accountability, the roles of today’s CFO are no longer simply operational. “In volatile times as these, whatever keeps the rest of the business awake at night will also keep CFOs awake,” said Hans B. Sicat, country manager of ING Bank, NV.
This kind of environment separates the best CFO from the crop. It’s also the reason that Dutch financial giant ING Bank NV and the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex) continue to shine the spotlight on the country’s outstanding CFO in the 13th ING Finex CFO of the Year Award. “As the strategic partner of the CEO, the CFO helps steer the business toward innovation and efficiency,” said Sterling Bank of Asia President and CEO Paul San Pedro, overall chairman of this year’s CFO of the Year Awards Committee.
The Search is open to the CFO of any company operating in the Philippines, whether local or foreign-owned, and privately held or publicly listed. CFOs nominated by their companies will go through a meticulous search and selection, as well as a final judging process.
The Search uses clearly defined qualitative and quantitative criteria designed by Finex Foundation and the Ateneo Graduate School of Business, which gives equal weight to the CFO’s performance of his various roles as the company’s strategist, catalyst, operator and steward.
Now on its 13th year, the Search has already recognized 12 CFOs:
- Delfin Gonzalez Jr., who won as CFO of Globe Telecom;
- Sherisa Nuesa, who won as CFO of Manila Water and now president of ALFM Funds;
- Jose Sio, former CFO and now chairman of SM Investments Corp.;
- Ysmael Baysa, CFO of Jollibee Foods Corp.;
- Jaime Ysmael, who won as CFO of Ayala Land and is currently CEO and president of Ortigas & Co. Ltd. Partnership;
- Jeffrey Lim, then CFO and now President of SM Prime Holdings Inc.;
- Felipe Yalong, CFO and executive vice president of GMA Network Inc.;
- Jose Jerome Pascual III, who won as CFO of Shell Philippines Exploration and is now CFO, VP finance & Treasurer for Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.;
- Luis Juan Oreta, who was CFO of Manila Water;
- Danny Yu, CFO of Philex Mining Corp.;
- Jose Teodoro Limcaoco, CFO of Ayala Corp.; and
- Ferdinand Constantino, CFO of San Miguel Corp.
Companies have until August 31, 2019, to submit their nomination for the 13th ING Finex CFO of the Year Award. The coveted award will be bestowed on November 20, 2019.
For more inquiries, visit the Search web site, www.ingfinexcfooftheyear.com, or call the Finex Secretariat at: (632) 811-4189 and 811-4052.
