Good morning. CFOs are weathering financial shifts in in the present day’s ever-changing enterprise setting.
Are finance chiefs merely adapting to this endless unpredictability? “Uncertainty has become the new norm,” Steve Gallucci, world and U.S. chief of Deloitte’s CFO Program, mentioned throughout our dialogue of the agency’s Q3 2025 CFO Indicators report launched this morning. Gallucci emphasised that it’s crucial for CFOs to foster methods and mechanisms designed to handle persistent variability—a actuality that’s unlikely to vary quickly.
In accordance with the report, the CFO confidence rating got here in at 5.7, barely up from final quarter’s 5.4 studying. In North America, solely 19% of CFOs mentioned the financial system is sweet now, however 34% consider it’s going to enhance inside a 12 months.
Though some coverage choices, similar to these round commerce, stay unsettled, Gallucci famous there’s now a bit extra readability relating to some main financial drivers. For instance, CFOs have a greater sense of the path of rates of interest.
The Federal Reserve made its first rate of interest lower of 2025 in September, the primary discount since December, and the potential stays for added cuts earlier than year-end.
Whereas a geopolitical shock is all the time attainable, most finance chiefs stay extra optimistic about their very own organizations’ monetary prospects, whilst they’re cautious concerning the broader macroeconomic panorama, Gallucci defined. In North America, 90% of finance chiefs mentioned their corporations’ monetary prospects are a lot better or higher than three months in the past—up from 48% in Q2.
Nevertheless, CFOs have named expertise, whether or not in hiring, retention, or talent gaps, as their prime inner danger. Upskilling and reskilling the workforce is essential, Gallucci mentioned, as organizations construct for the longer term with sturdy tech capabilities and workers who’re tech savvy—each the expertise they hope to retain and the brand new recruits they goal to draw in a aggressive market. Concerning finance expertise particularly, the trade faces a expertise scarcity disaster as thousands and thousands of child boomer accountants put together for retirement, making it crucial to draw extra Gen Z professionals to the sector, Fortune reported.
Exterior dangers—inflation, rates of interest, and cybersecurity—stay prime issues for CFOs. As corporations make investments extra in exponential applied sciences, together with generative and agentic AI, give attention to cybersecurity stays heightened. Cyber threats haven’t diminished, and CFOs are as vigilant as ever, Gallucci famous.
Deloitte’s survey contains 200 shopper CFOs from private and non-private organizations within the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, every with no less than $1 billion in annual income.
One other discovering is danger urge for food is understandably subdued. Practically two-thirds of CFOs don’t consider now is an effective time to take larger dangers, similar to vital enterprise expansions, M&A, or launching new merchandise. CFOs within the monetary companies trade are much more cautious. About 77% of the respondents in that sector don’t assume it’s a superb time to imagine further danger.
Up to now in 2025, the North American M&A outlook mirrors the worldwide pattern: deal quantity is down in comparison with prior years, however general deal worth has remained regular and even elevated attributable to a larger variety of megadeals and strategic acquisitions.
Deloitte’s survey discovered that 46% of CFOs assume U.S. fairness markets are overvalued, whereas 34% mentioned they’re undervalued, and 21% have been impartial—highlighting a divided outlook. “There’s certainly a continued focus on capital structure, capital allocation, and shareholder value,” Gallucci mentioned.
Finance chiefs are embracing agility, investing in expertise and know-how, and staying disciplined in managing danger and alternative to take care of an uncertainty that’s turn into all too acquainted.
Leaderboard
Venkat Ramanan was appointed CFO of Immatics N.V. (Nasdaq: IMTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm, efficient instantly. Ramanan has over 25 years of expertise. He joins Immatics from Anthos Therapeutics, a Novartis firm, the place he served as CFO. He’ll succeed Immatics’ present CFO, Arnd Christ. Beforehand, Ramanan was CFO at Turnstone Biologics, the place he led the corporate’s IPO. Earlier, he was SVP of finance at Seagen.
Invoice Kayser was appointed president and CFO of Iterative Well being, a well being care know-how and companies firm. Kayser brings over twenty years of expertise in well being care finance, technique, and management, most not too long ago serving as CFO of GI Alliance, an impartial gastroenterology apply entity, acquired by Cardinal in 2025. Earlier than GI Alliance, Kayser was CFO of Prospero Well being (acquired by Optum) and VP of company technique and M&A at McKesson.
Large Deal
World skilled companies agency Aon plc has launched the 2025 version of its World Danger Administration Survey. Now in its nineteenth 12 months, the survey tracks probably the most urgent dangers for enterprise decision-makers.
Geopolitical volatility surged 12 locations because the earlier survey in 2023, breaking into the highest 10 world dangers for the primary time within the survey’s historical past. This rise, together with trade-related dangers, displays instability throughout areas, impacting provide chains, regulatory environments, and monetary efficiency, in accordance with Aon.
Simply 14% of respondents observe their publicity to the highest 10 dangers, with cyber assault or knowledge breach taking the highest spot. Solely 19% use analytics to judge the worth of their insurance coverage applications. The findings are primarily based on responses from almost 3,000 danger managers, C-suite leaders, and executives in 63 nations.
Aon’s 2025 survey additionally offers a forward-looking perspective on the dangers enterprise leaders count on to be most crucial by 2028. Cyber danger stays the highest future concern, whereas AI and local weather change have entered the highest 10, reflecting the accelerating influence of know-how and excessive climate on world enterprise, in accordance with the findings.
Going deeper
“Investors dumped U.S. assets overnight in favor of gold, Bitcoin, and foreign stocks as government shutdown leaves Wall Street ‘flying blind’” is a Fortune report by Jim Edwards.
From the report: “S&P 500 futures moved sharply down at about 2 a.m. ET this morning after the U.S. federal government went into another shutdown. The key difference for markets this time around—there have been about 20 shutdowns since 1976—is that the Bureau of Labor Statistics won’t be publishing the upcoming jobless claims report or the Consumer Price Index (inflation). This means investors will be in the dark for a while, and explains why S&P futures are down 0.55% prior to the opening bell in New York while markets in Asia and Europe are strongly up this morning.” You’ll be able to learn the whole report right here.
Overheard
“The question is, how do we bring fun back to a routine? And that’s exactly why you need to evoke some emotion with the brand.”
—Greenback Shave Membership CEO Larry Bodner advised Fortune in an interview following the ribbon-cutting ceremony on the firm’s new headquarters in Durham, N.C., earlier this month. Greenback Shave Membership is much from its mid-2010s peak. Unilever, after paying a document $1 billion for the corporate, offloaded a majority stake to private-equity agency Nexus Capital Administration in 2023 for an undisclosed sum. Bodner was optimistic however candid as he spoke of “bringing the model again,” Fortune reported.
