Dive Brief:
- Women accounted for just 22.9% of CFOs appointed globally in the third quarter, down from 25% in the year-earlier period, according to Russell Reynolds Associates, a New York City-based executive search and leadership advisory firm.
- The downshift in new female CFOs came as the share of public companies globally who named a new executive, man or woman, to the CFO seat ticked up to 15% from 14%, according to Russell Reynolds Q1-Q3 2026 Global CFO Turnover Index.
- The new female CFO cohort varies across regions and industries this year through September compared to the year earlier. For example, women’s share of appointments fell to 12% this year from 28% in the year-earlier period in the Asia-Pacific region, while in the Americas it ticked up to 21% from 18%. Meanwhile, financial companies saw a big drop in the number of female CFOs named, while technology saw a big jump.
Dive Insight:
A backslide of women in corporate America was highlighted last year in a report from McKinsey, the consulting group, and Lean in, a women’s advocacy group. It stated that only half of companies surveyed were prioritizing advancing women’s careers and described a “several-year trend in declining commitment to gender diversity.”
Changes in women’s leadership levels have also drawn scrutiny in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision outlawing affirmative action and the Trump Administration’s 2025 executive order directing heads of federal agencies to target diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which prompted many companies toroll back DEI programs, ESG Dive sister publication CFO Dive reported.
Overall, women did see a net gain in CFO seats as 52 were appointed, while 22 stepped down in the first nine months of this year, according to RRA. Among the new female CFOs are: Cecile Guegan who succeeded former CFO Dave Denton at pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, and Konnie Haynes-Welsh, previously ConocoPhillips’ controller and VP of finance, replaced Andy O’Brien who became president and CEO in September.
Those departing include digital payments processor Toast CFO and President Elena Gomez set to be succeeded by Michael Senno, who has served as Toast’s senior vice president of finance, CFO Dive sister publication Payments Dive reported. Meanwhile, the first woman to serve as HSBC’s CFO, Pam Kaur, will be stepping down before the Britain’s largest bank’s annual meeting, according to Banking Dive.
The RRA’s findings of a slippage in female CFO numbers align with the results of a similar survey that tracked H1 trends in the Fortune 500 and S&P 500 from executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates. While it found that the share of women CFOs inched up to 17% in the first six months of this year from 16.5% in the year-earlier period, the figure is still down from a high of 18.5% hit in 2023, according to the report, CFO Dive previously reported.
The Global CFO Turnover Index analyzes the rate that CFOs are hired and depart public firms represented by a range of stock indices including the S&P 500, the FTSE 100 and the HANG SENG.
