FINANCE IN THE YEAR OF THE RAT
By Mike Chambers

The rat, in Chinese astrology, is the bringer of material wealth. With the subprime crisis roiling world markets and the United States teetering at the brink of recession, how much wealth will come to Asia this year is anyone’s guess. But where there’s uncertainty, there’s an opportunity for financial executives with strategic acumen.

That, at least, is the prediction of the region’s headhunters. According to financial recruiting firm Ambition, 2008 will be a year when many companies in Asia put CFOs into general manager and CEO positions. “The CFO role has gone through a lot of profile raising lately, due in part to increased regulatory concerns and risk,”
says Guy Day, Ambition’s managing director for Asia. “The broadened CFO role brings new experiences, beyond traditional finance, that are making [CFOs]
better suited for MD or CEO jobs.”

This may also be the year to study for the CPA exam. Ambition’s annual “Market Trends and Salaries Report” stresses that Asian finance executives are better off holding a CPA or other accounting certification rather than a business degree. “CFOs need a deeper understanding of their organization’s full accounting situation, and in Asia they are more likely to have MBAs and soft skills, like investor relations, than technical skills,” explains Day. “So earning advanced accounting accreditation is becoming a prerequisite for many roles.”

One trend may favor expatriate managers over locals. Day indicates that the move toward “localization”—hiring local candidates even if they are less qualified than an expat—of a couple years ago is fading. Larger companies, particularly MNCs, are bringing people from headquarters to fill regional and group CFO roles. “There are lots of examples where companies have brought in internal CFOs from the U.S., Australia, or Europe. Investment banks are very fond of this as it also gives their managers more global experience, while improving typically weak controls for their Asia branches.”