JM Search Expands CFO/Financial Officers Practice
September 22, 2021 –
JM Search, a senior-level talent provider serving private equity investors, portfolio companies and Fortune 1000s, recently added Stephen Thompson and Ryan Tomei to the firm’s CFO / financial officers practice. “We are thrilled to add Stephen and Ryan to our team,” said Drew Pressmen, who leads the practice. “I’m proud of the exceptional talent we are continuing to bring to JM Search. Our ability to navigate the highly competitive financial leadership landscape has allowed us to become a preferred retained executive search partner for companies seeking proven financial officers.”
JM Search has seen a significant increase in demand for financial leadership and their support teams in 2021. While traditional CFO searches are up 50 percent for the firm in 2021 relative to 2020, JM Search has also experienced a 75 percent increase in demand for supporting financial leader roles, noting that experienced CFOs are building out more specialized, operationally-oriented teams. “The addition of Thompson and Tomei will allow the firm to increase their depth and breadth in CFO and financial leader searches to meet increased client demand,” the firm said.
The evolution of the CFO function is changing,” added Brian Dwyer, CFO practice partner. “Our private equity clients are looking for financial executives who can work across the organization and understand key drivers of a business. They are looking for CFOs who can tactically and strategically add value to their portfolio companies. The addition of Thompson and Tomei solidifies our continued commitment to support these evolving market and client needs.”
Financial Services Veterans
Mr. Thompson has nearly 20 years of executive search and professional services experience to his role as principle. Before joining JM Search, he spent seven years with Spencer Stuart, where he was a member of the services practice. Prior to that, he gained in-depth search experience working in both boutique and large executive recruiting firms, including spending multiple years working for Ascend Executive Search and Korn Ferry International. Mr. Thompson started his career at Deloitte in the audit and enterprise risk services group.
Mr. Tomei has a wide range of financial search experience to JM Search. He began his recruiting career with an executive search firm specializing in accounting and finance, focusing on mid-senior level professionals in the Greater Pittsburgh area. His industry experience is broad and has a strong presence in manufacturing, technology, financial services and retail.
JM Search is an advisor to CEOs, investors and boards of directors in recruiting, assessing and delivering high performance leaders and transformational leadership teams. Its clients include private equity firms and portfolio companies, venture capital-backed businesses and publicly held companies across North America. Founded in 1980, the JM Search recruiting team brings together for- mer operating and financial executives, investors and experienced search professionals with deep industry specialization, functional expertise and proven access to talent spanning multiple industry sectors.
JM Search recently added Kevin Logterman as partner in the firm’s financial officer practice. He joins current financial officer practice partners Drew Pressman, Brian Dwyer and David Robinson. “We are thrilled to have Kevin join our firm,” said ,” said John Marshall, co-founder and CEO. “Kevin’s prior experience placing CFOs and working with private equity companies will continue to solidify our longstanding commitment to helping our clients remain at the forefront of ensuring their companies have excellent financial leadership in place.”
Mr. Logterman has over 20 years of executive search experience, serving private equity and family-owned companies. His focus has been recruiting CEO and CFO executives for middle market indus- trial companies with specific industry experience in automotive, chemicals, distribution, plastics, capital equipment and industrial services. He joins the firm from Slayton Search Partners, where he co-led the firm’s industrial practice.
Recruiting CFOs for PE Companies
Executive search firm Caldwell recently conducted a survey on the CFO role to fine-tune its understanding of the skills and experiences that define success today for a CFO of a PE-backed portfolio company and, equally importantly, which attributes may sound appealing but are not essential. More than 300 private equity CFOs shared candid responses on their backgrounds and how they landed in their current role. The results provided a clearer picture of who sits in the CFO chair at many PE-backed portfolio companies, and the skills and credentials that are truly impactful in their leadership role.
When asked to describe their previous experience, 10 percent of the participants said, “I was a divisional CFO or No. 2 finance executive in a PE-backed company,” while 20 percent had the same status at a public company. Another 35 percent had been a CFO of a public or private company. And only 34 percent had been CFO of a PE- backed company. So just a third of the CFOs in the Caldwell survey had previously held a PE CFO role.
Among companies with less than $25 million in revenue, only 15 percent of the CFOs had prior experience as CFO of a PE-backed company, while 56 percent of the companies with greater than $500 million revenue hired a CFO with prior experience in a PE CFO role. In the three other revenue categories, the companies hired a CFO with prior PE CFO experience 40 percent of the time, or less. These findings would seem to indicate that hiring a CFO with prior PE CFO experience is a “nice to have,” but not a must-have credential for all companies, said the firm.
