WEISERMAZARS: STUDY HIGHLIGHTS INVESTMENT IN FINANCE INFRASTRUCTURE

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

WeiserMazars LLP, a leading accounting, tax and advisory services firm, today announced the release of its annual 2012 Insurance Finance Leadership Study of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs).  This year’s study discovered a significant correlation between high-performing companies and ongoing investment in finance infrastructure.

More than twice the number of CFOs at high performing companies had a positive relationship with their technology departments, 82% vs. 40% at lower performing organizations.  CFOs at high performing companies believed that technology projects were well run and that their technology teams were knowledgeable on how to accommodate the finance department’s needs.  At lower performing companies, finance departments had a less positive relationship with IT and found that without significant supervision, their needs were not properly met.

The WeiserMazars 2012 Insurance Finance Leadership Study targeted a cross-section of insurance industry CFOs.  Admitted P&C (both commercial and personal lines), Excess & Surplus, Reinsurance, and Life and Health companies are all featured in the results.  This year’s study focuses on the Finance team’s level of technological preparedness, its relationship with the business, and its relationship to the Board of Directors in terms of risk management and overall effectiveness.  WeiserMazars assembled an Advisory Board of current and former Insurance CFOs to formulate relevant topics and to interpret the results.  We also engaged C F Effron Company, a boutique independent management consulting company providing primary and secondary research, to provide an analysis of the data for this study.

Click on www.weisermazars.com/cfostudy to see the study in its entirety, including other important industry trends.