Finding the Perfect CFO

Our newest client in the philanthropy space embarked on a continent-wide programme of work aimed at achieving financial inclusion and stability in Africa. Jack Hammer was selected as the search partner of choice to appoint technical, research and commercial leaders in East, West and Southern Africa, all committed to bringing this vision to fruition. We knew that the stakes were high and, for the sake of our colleagues and compatriots on the continent, we needed to get it right from the start.

When we take on the task of finding a great leader for a client, we know there will be more than one party involved. In this instance, our client was three-headed: the private equity investor, the CEO of their portfolio company and a minority shareholder. All with the same objective – appointing a great successor to take over from the outgoing CEO, but all with a slightly different view of the ideal candidate profile.

There are times in business when ‘no’ ultimately means ‘yes’. More times than one might imagine, in fact. Particularly when it comes to hiring people who don’t tick all the boxes on the job spec. The job spec itself requires a case study all on its own. But, to...

We are occasionally approached by potential clients who leave us wondering whether we actually want to partner with them or not. And sometimes, we turn them down. Here is an example of one where we made the right call, despite some real concerns:

The consumer finance industry (you already get why alarm bells might have been ringing) has been tarnished by unscrupulous lenders offering loans to already cash-strapped consumers, so a call from a global unsecured lending organisation made notorious by some rash business decisions, had the team both wary and excited. Wary because, as a firm, Jack Hammer has a strong conscience, and excited because our team relishes the challenge of identifying strong leaders willing and able to confront difficult businesses and turn-around situations head-on.

We were mandated by our global financial services client to source an MD for their insurance subsidiary in Mozambique. Sounds straight-forward? Turns out – it was not. Because our client wanted it all (of course): an executive - preferably Mozambican national - with substantial multi-national corporate experience, technical excellence, governance and reporting skills, and tremendous leadership stature.

We support a major FMCG and food processing business with searching for leaders and BEE talent acquisition. Operating in a highly regulated field, the listed organisation needed to hire at Divisional MD level , with consideration for the longer-term succession for the Group Executive.

The question – could we produce a pool of talented black professionals suited to the Divisional role, who might also suit our client’s longer term Group succession strategy?

The roll out of new banking products and services that our retail banking client had ambitiously planned, was dependent on key tech skills in specific disciplines at Architect, Analyst Developer and Developer levels.

What they faced was a massive skills shortage in the market, within all similar financial services companies, and an unusually high number of ‘hands-off’ agreements, which made the pool of potential candidates even smaller.

Our client, headquartered in Singapore, is Asia’s leading agribusiness group. Ranked amongst the largest listed companies on the Singapore Exchange, they employ 90,000 people globally and have a substantial presence in Africa.

The range of African currencies in play within the group’s treasury is wide and highly volatile. To manage this risk, the company needed a treasurer for their African operations, based in Johannesburg with accountability to the financial director, Africa and the group treasurer in Singapore.

Who wouldn’t want to work for one of the top global reinsurers operating in more than 25 countries globally? The South African operation is given solid support by the parent company and is perceived to be one of the strongest technical reinsurers in the MEA region. One would think this kind of search would be a walk in the park

Top company, great brand, global exposure, tremendous growth opportunity. But the wish-list of criteria meant that this was going to be more like walking through the desert. Not only would the individual need to be exceptional technically (a qualified actuary), but also great at business development, an outstanding people leader, and willing to travel extensively across the continent.

Take an industry leader in the fish and seafood market exporting 70% of their goods to Europe from Southern Africa. Add a pending business restructure to position their growth strategy. What they needed: a big fish, to be based in a small pond (Namibia).

Now, there are quite a number of big fish with CA’s, who have solid experience in cross-border tax, and exposure to the regulatory demands of the fishing industry in the region. Unfortunately, not many want to live and work in a small pond.

Our client, a listed Top 40 retailer, was starting to think about a succession plan for their executive team. In particular, someone to take over as Chief Information Officer because the incumbent was considering early retirement. When we’re called in to advise on leadership succession, the central topic of discussion is transformation and diversity. And the big question that clients always ask is whether we believe they’ll be able to secure a top black executive for the role.

The big dilemma for our client: should they appoint someone internally or externally to a key role? They wanted sight of the competitor landscape to explore..