CFO Series 2011 - Organised by Dun & Bradsheet, India

On 10th February, 2011, Dun & Bradsheet (DNB) invited me to give a speech on Managing Growth & Risk in the current economic scenario. The CFO series is a multicity conference across India (in the major metros) organiised by DNB in association with ANT trust. This is one of the easiest topic to speak in today's world, but very difficult to practice or implement.

The meeting started on time and Ms.Preeta (Head  - Learning Solutions) of DNB welcomed the gathering of CFO & Head of Finance. He introduced the speakers, as and when their turn came.

I was the first one to go and luckily I sent my presentation materials to the DNB team and they loaded the same, which made my job easy. Actually, I forgot to take the pen drive, which had the file.

I started the speech, as usual, with some pictures in my presentation material. I covered the following areas during my speech.

• Where are we (India) in terms of the economy (Inflation, Interest rates, Forex reserve). The CFOs have to play in this ground and steer their companies in the growth path.
• The current CFO's role, which is not confined to Finance and Accounts, but beyond that. A CFO should be a catalyst in an organisation. He should be a business person and get involved in key decisions.
• The key drivers for growth - Strategy, Market Leader, Differentiators, Financial prudence, focusing on core business, careful when you diversify.
• Challenges in managing the growth.
• What are the possible risks? My punch line was "The biggest risk is not knowing the risk" Scott Adams cartoon came in handy for this topic.

I summed up the topics discussed with the key take-aways.

Mr. K R Girish (Partner – Tax and Regulatory Services and National Head – Litigation Practice, KPMG) presented the Tax reforms in India and covered the salient features of Direct Tax Code (DTC) & GST. Some of the DTC proposals were really scary, especially the GAAR & CFC. We need to wait and watch what is going to happen from 1-Apr-2012.

Mr. Itzik Amiel Attorney-at-law & Director International Business Development, ANT Group said, “India led, is leading and will lead the world for a new positive era of growth using its creativity, innovation and simplicity also in the financial and tax matters”.  His presentation on the tax benefits on being in Holland was really an eye-opener for me.

Mr. Narasimha Prasad, Zonal Manager – Employee Benefits, Metlife India Insurance Company Ltd said, “It is getting difficult for the common man to cope up with the rising prices hence there is a need for cautious macroeconomic policies to ensure that early action is taken in crucial areas. He presented the Employee Benefits offered by MetLife and solutions through Employee Benefits

Mr. Balusu Markandeswara. Chief Financial Officer, CARE Hospitals, presented the financial model for the healthiness industry and the expectations from the investor.

Though there was a panel session for the questions, the finance leaders asked the questions after each presentation.

The event ended with a note of thanks to the participants and the presenters. The lunch session was useful and helped the participants to network.

I forgot to take my camera and so no photos. If I get some photos from the organizers, I will publish the same.

Cheers,

Gopal