RISK MANAGEMENT

Playing it safe

Hot topics like AI and ESG haven’t taken audit committees’ focus away from cybersecurity and risk management, according to a March report from Deloitte and the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ).

Nearly 7 in 10 respondents said cybersecurity was one of their top three priorities over the next 12 months, and 3 in 10 ranked it their No. 1 priority. The second-biggest focus was on enterprise risk management; 48% put it in their top three. Similar shares of respondents said their committees addressed each of those topics quarterly.

While audit committees are examining more than they used to, they’re still focused on cybersecurity and “are zeroed in on” enterprise risk programs, Vanessa Teitelbaum, senior director at CAQ, said in a press release announcing the report, which noted that AI and ESG “[received] comparably less attention.”

Cybersecurity has been a top priority in years past, the report said, but it’s been even more top of mind for audit committees since December, when the Securities and Exchange Commission began requiring companies to disclose material cybersecurity incidents.

For more on audit committee priorities, click here.—GD

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Profit or bust

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ECONOMY

Ramping up

Think back to September 2022. It was a while ago, so we’ll help you get in that frame of mind: Roger Federer is playing his last pro tennis match. Lee Jung-jae accepts the Best Actor Emmy for his role in Squid Game. The name George Santos means nothing to you.

We harken back to that September because it was the last time manufacturing activity expanded until this March, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), which shared the happy news that growth had returned as factories booked more orders and increased production.

The jump in orders showed that consumers are buying and businesses are investing, Bloomberg reported, noting that analysts had not expected factories to rebound just yet.

Behind the numbers. ISM’s monthly survey of purchasing and supply executives tracks changes in new orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries, and inventories to produce a composite measure of how much manufacturing activity is growing or shrinking. The Manufacturing PMI increased 2.5 percentage points from February to March, hitting 50.3%—just above the 50% threshold that signals the sector is growing.

For more on the bump in manufacturing, click here.—GD

STRATEGY

The growth CFO

Chikako Tyler is EVP and CFO of California Bank & Trust, an affiliate of Zions Bancorporation. Each Zions division operates independently, according to Tyler, meaning that each of its seven regional banks’ leadership teams set their own objectives and strategy. Tyler plays a key role—alongside Eric Ellingsen, CEO of California Bank & Trust—in setting the bank’s strategy.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What do you bring to the table as CFO when you’re helping lead that growth strategy?

If I look back at 15 years ago when I first started my career, we just didn’t have as much data to work with. But now there’s just tons and tons of data that you can work with. I try and sift through all of the data to say, “Look, here’s all the data, but what you need to do is aggregate and synthesize this information into how [it aligns] with our strategy.” We aren’t interested in being everything to everybody. We’re not big enough for that.

We’re very sharply focused on what our strategy, mission, and values are, and making sure that we have lots and lots of information to understand how we optimize every dollar of expense to drive further revenues for us.

Click here for more on driving growth.—AZ

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