Women CFOs Boost Company Performance, Finds OneStream Report

• OneStream's Glass Chair report finds that companies with women CFOs outperform.
• Report highlights that women take longer to advance to the CFO position but bring more cross-functional knowledge and strategic value.

A new report by OneStream has found that gender representation in chief financial officer (CFO) positions is correlated with better financial performance, with particular findings applicable to the UK and global markets.

The research, based on a survey of 1,146 finance leaders, professionals and business executives worldwide, identified that those companies whose CFOs were women hit around 4.5 percent annualised total shareholder return, with underperforming companies showing an average 10 percent rise in total shareholder return after a woman CFO was brought on board.

Involving examination of over 100 listed businesses and LinkedIn information from 346 CFOs, the study found that it takes women a minimum of three years more than men on average to become the CFO.

In the Global Fortune 500, women will take 18 years to become the CFO, while in the FTSE 100, it takes a period of about 20 years. This longer career path is due in part to women more often job-changing and organisation-switching and following a non-linear career progression, 35% of female CFOs have operating backgrounds or cross-functional experience beyond core finance activities.

This breadth of experience, the report proposes, gives women CFOs a broader enterprise view and greater operational acumen. As such, women leaders stand to balance financial strategy against people development, risk management and cross-team coordination, skills touted as key to effective CFOs today.