Look out for these winning traits in the next CFO of the Year

At the glittering CFO Awards, held on 15 May, the 2019 CFO of the Year will be revealed.

The CFO Awards, “Oscars of South Africa’s finance profession” and highlight of the country’s finance calendar, recognises CFOs from companies, corporations, institutions and organisations across South Africa and awards them for outstanding performance and leadership.

Over 350 top CFOs, VIPs and business partners attend the event to enjoy exceptional networking opportunities, dazzling entertainment and a delectable dinner, rubbing shoulders with business leaders from the public and private sector.

The judging panel has meticulously examined interviews with leading finance executives to determine who will join the list of CFO of the Year winners:

– Simon Ridley, then Standard Bank FD (2014)

– Deon Viljoen, then Alexander Forbes CFO (2015)

– Reeza Isaacs, Woolworths CFO (2016)

– Till Streichert, Vodacom CFO (2017)

– Christine Ramon, AngloGold Ashanti CFO (2018)

Ethics and integrity are some of the characteristics that came up most when we asked judges what they will be looking for in the next CFO of the Year.

Victor Sekese, SNG Grant Thornton CEO, said he is looking for a CFO who has demonstrated integrity in his or her dealings. “Although this is a difficult trait to judge, it’s very important in our dispensation as it has been proved that you can’t simply assume its existence.”

Another trait that came up a lot was strategic thinking. Leon Crouse, former Remgro and Vodacom CFO, is looking for someone with a deep understanding of the business and active participation in strategy formation, execution and monitoring of progress.

Enthusiasm for their job, making a difference, a passion for people, team management excellence and innovation also came up. Ben Marx, chairman at the Department of Accountancy at the University of Johannesburg, said the CFO of the Year is someone who understands and is able to “respond proactively to the challenges and opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution”.

According to Kevin Black, audit partner at Deloitte Africa, the CFO of the Year is someone who delivers the finance function as a business enabler and who is a champion of transforming the finance function digitally.

For Herman Bosman, RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings

CEO, it is someone who is “commercially-minded and solution oriented, accurate, and has the ability to partner with the CEO”.

CFOs will also compete for a range of other awards, including the Finance & Technology, Moving into Africa, Finance Transformation, Compliance & Governance, High Performance Team, Transformation & Empowerment, Young CFO of the Year and Public Sector CFO of the Year awards.

The 2019 CFO of the Year winner will be decided by the following judges:

• Aarti Takoordeen, JSE CFO

• Ben Marx, Chairman at the Department of Accountancy at the University of Johannesburg

• Victor Sekese, SNG Grant Thornton CEO

• Leon Crouse, former Remgro and Vodacom CFO and winner of the CFO Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016

• Kevin Black, audit partner at Deloitte Africa

• Herman Bosman, RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings CEO

• Brett Tromp, CFO Discovery Health, Young CFO of the Year 2015 and High Performance Team Award • 2015 Christo winner Els, Senior Partner Webber Wentzel

• Claudelle Auditors South von Eck, Africa CEO The Institute of Internal

• Deon 2015 winner Viljoen, CFO Discovery and CFO of the Year

• Luvuyo Masinda, Head Global Client Coverage Standard Bank CIB

• Mary Vilakazi, Group COO FirstRand

• Mteto Nyati, CEO Altron,

• Ramasela Ganda, Executive Head Business Services Barloworld Equipment and Public Sector CFO of the Year 2017 winner

• Simon Ridley, Non-executive Director Standard Bank, former Group FD and CFO of the Year 2014

• Wiseman Nkuhlu, Chancellor University of Pretoria