ON Partners Recruits CFO for Investors Management Corp.
May 1, 2023 – The pressure on chief financial officers during the pandemic has been significant. That has made finding the best ones big business for executive recruiters. Just recently, Tim Conti of ON Partners assisted in the recruitment of Jennifer Moses as CFO of Investors Management Corp. (IMC) in Raleigh, NC.
Ms. Moses was most recently CFO of G1 Therapeutics. In this position, she was responsible for SEC reporting, financing planning and analysis, and treasury. Previously, Ms. Moses was a partner at Rankin McKenzie LLC, where she served as acting chief financial officer and controller for venture-backed companies. Before that, she held roles of increasing responsibility at Deloitte, including providing tax services to clients and later focusing on strategic planning and internal communications in the office of the chief executive officer of Deloitte Tax. She also serves on the board of directors of Viridian Therapeutics Inc.
In her new position, Ms. Moses focuses on various aspects of Investors Management Corp.’s finance and operations.
Established in 1971, Investors Management Corp. is a private equity investment firm. The firm focuses on companies in the automotive aftermarket, food and beverage, healthcare, and building materials and lumber industries.
With a primary focus on technology, consumer, industrial, and the life science sectors, ON Partners recruits C-level and board talent for public and private companies, as well as venture capital and private equity firms. Founded in 2006, the firm’s consultants work from offices in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Dallas; Menlo Park, CA; Minneapolis. MN; San Francisco; and New York. ON Partners was named one of the fastest growing search firms this year by Hunt Scanlon Media. The firm is now ranked as one of the 20 largest search firms in the nation.
Related: ON Partners Recruits CFO for ClearStar
Mr. Conti, managing partners at ON Partners, has worked in executive search for more than 15 years. He has completed upwards of 150 C-level and board searches across a range of industries. His focus is on public, private equity, and venture capital organizations. Mr. Conti also serves as a member of the ON Partners executive committee.
Evolving CFO Roles
Since COVID-19 struck, CFOs are being asked to play an ever-broader role. “The tumultuous environment companies are operating within demand a different skill-set in the CFO chair,” said Mr. Conti. “CFOs are playing a critical strategic role in companies, not only to pull levers necessary to secure a company’s financial platform, but also to position the company to emerge in a strong competitive positioning in a marketplace where not all will survive. This requires the CFO to lead from the front, be strategic and savvy, to navigate a company through choppy waters. When boards and CEOs do not have confidence that they have this strategic CFO, then they have no choice but to seek out an alternative.”
Financial Services is Booming, CFO Role Continues to Evolve
Despite economic uncertainty and the challenges of finding top talent, the financial sector continues to change and grow. Interviewed by Hunt Scanlon Media, search leaders who specialize in the sector offer their insights on the path forward, the CFO’s responsibilities, and more.
“In times like these, where businesses demand hyper-agility, being a functional specialist isn’t good enough,” said Bryan Buck, partner at ON Partners. “It’s required now that CFOs can see around corners and understand the physical (and digital) trends that are reshaping their world – and then act quickly. They need to think like P&L owners – not like accountants. Regardless of the product or service their company offers, customer expectations have changed. And the CFOs in highest demand right now are the ones who have proven to be nimble and business-focused enough to drive organization’s to where the puck is moving (both organically and inorganically).”
This business environment is also putting more pressure on CFOs. “There’s definitely more need for CFOs to operate with transparency around the realities of the market conditions, how those conditions are impacting the business in the short and long term, and what strategic steps are being taken to address the challenges faced,” said Mr. Conti. “Shareholders understand that market conditions are challenging, and they’ll be more patient in these unique times, but only if they have confidence in the CFO’s leadership and strategy.”
“Yes – and it’s industry-agnostic,” Mr. Buck added. “For public companies specifically, those in negatively impacted sectors are trying to survive the rapid slow down, and maintain various levels of ongoing business operations, while planning and positioning for a potential recovery that could happen within the next few quarters…or the next few years,” he said. “Public finance leaders on the other end of that spectrum are seeing tremendous growth and demand, but they’re also cognizant that current share price reflects Wall Street’s expectation of perfection – leaving no room for quarterly missteps.”
Related: ON Partners Assists Papa John’s with CFO Search
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media