The role of financial leader is changing, with 52 percent of CFOs, including those from hospitals and health systems, spending more time on strategic issues, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2015 CFO Outlook survey.
The CFOs surveyed said they spend their time on several strategic activities, with most financial leaders (61 percent) listing technological advances as the strategic activity they spend the most time on. Risk management was the second most popular response, with 60 percent of CFOs saying it was the strategic area that they dedicated the most time to.
Other strategic activities CFOs said they spent the most time on were data management (59 percent), human resources issues (49 percent) and communications strategies (40 percent), according to the survey.
"Results from the survey confirm what we have seen with our clients," said Alastair Borthwick, head of global commercial banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "CFOs expect to dedicate more time to activities aligned with growing and protecting their companies."
The survey results were based on responses from 602 financial leaders from companies across the country with annual revenues of $24 million to $2 billion.
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