Melanie Mailly-Demont, a speaker at the marcus evans CFO Summit XXV Fall 2012, on how CFOs can add more value to their organization. Interview with: Melanie Mailly-Demont, Chief Financial Officer, Infilco Degremont

1. What it Takes to be a Better CFO
a good understanding of the business, company is translated properly on the
otherwise they will fail. This sounds market, that people who make decisions
easy, but it is not. Finance executives have the right indicators to guide those
have to mix with people from other decisions.
functions, to understand what their
challenges and targets are. Many CFOs are just trying to be good at
accounting or analyzing financial data,
To be a good CFO requires one to be when they can bring much more value
much more than a CFO. than that.
What risk mitigation tips could you
give?
Interview with: Melanie Mailly- It is not the CFO’s job to be nice, so
To be
Demont, Chief Financial Officer, CFOs should not be afraid of opening
Infilco Degremont their mouth when they see a risk. That
is the best way to mitigate risk.
a good
Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) should That means that sometimes they need
not be afraid to ask questions to the to ask questions to the experts in the
experts in the field, advises Melanie business at the risk of sounding stupid
Mailly-Demont, Chief Financial Officer, or naïve, but they have enough
CFO
Infilco Degremont. “It is part of the experience to offer solutions to even the
CFO’s role to bring a fresh perspective. experts, who might take certain things
They need to be much more than what for granted. They have to approach
their CFO role entails,” she adds. issues fairly, but at the same time share
their concerns.
A speaker at the marcus evans CFO
Summit XXV Fall 2012, in Las Vegas,
Nevada, November 8-10, Mailly-Demont
gives us her take on how CFOs can add
How could CFOs
shareholder value?
improve
requires
true value to their organization.
What skills does a CFO need to
The first step for increasing shareholder
value comes from measuring it. They
cannot improve it if they cannot
one to
be much
bring to an organization today? measure it. That is how CFOs can
contribute.
CFOs today are less technical than they
used to be. They still need to know the By being a naïve person in the
more
techniques and accounting rules, but organization, who wants to understand
their behaviors and ethical values play a the basic processes that the experts no
more important role. They have to be longer question. It is the CFO’s fresh
leaders and solution providers, which perspective that will add value to the
than a
means they must have a good organization.
understanding of the business.
Any final thoughts?
Being good accountants and financial
CFO
analysts is simply not enough anymore. CFOs have a growing role to play.
They should proactively find solutions to Today’s measurements are mostly
different issues. financial, but they also have to mean
something.
How could they better control
costs? One cannot just value a company by the
value of its share. It is also the CFO’s
The first thing that is required for this is role to ensure that the value of the

2. About the CFO Summit XXV Fall 2012
The Finance Network - marcus
This unique forum will take place at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa, Las Vegas,
evans Summits group delivers
Nevada, November 8-10, 2012. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition
peer-to-peer information on
or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought
strategic matters, professional
leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event.
trends and breakthrough
The Summit includes presentations on revenue enhancement, enterprise risk
innovations.
management, the evolving role of the CFO and the challenges of globalization.
www.cfosummits.com
Please note that the Summit is a Contact
closed business event and the
number of participants strictly Sarin Kouyoumdjian-Gurunlian, Press Manager, marcus evans, Summits
limited. Division
Tel: + 357 22 849 313
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com
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About marcus evans Summits
marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss
strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to
individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings.
For more information, please visit: www.marcusevans.com
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To view the web version of this interview, please click here: www.cfosummits.com/MelanieMaillyDemont