Insights

CFO Forum 2022

Oakley Capital

30.06.22

1 min read

At Oakley Capital, we consider the CFOs of our portfolio companies critical partners in our goal to create long-term, sustainable value.

We recently gathered finance leaders from across our portfolio, meeting in London to debate key issues, share experiences and network.

CFO Forum panel discussion — Oakley Capital CFO Forum 2022 – Panel Q&A

From executing M&A effectively, to identifying- and pulling- the key levers to accelerate growth, to leveraging ESG, our CFO Forum is a key part of our Portfolio Company programme, empowering and supporting our finance leaders to deliver on their strategic goals.

Panel Q&A: Marvin Lange

IU Group CFO Marvin Lange is also responsible for HR, which he sees as the single-most under-reported function in a company.

You can create value by improving employee lifetime value and unlocking the potential of your staff. This is critical when you are a high-growth business and need to scale up fast. We do this by industrialising the hiring process, running our recruitment function like a sales team with appropriate targets and incentives. We shorten the hire time, we onboard new starters faster, and we increase performance by training. After all, with 10,000 corporate partners we are specialists in helping professionals to upskill! Lastly, we incentivise employees to retain them and stay longer with IU Group. We also embrace data-driven performance management across the cycle, from entrance tests for interviewees to OKRS (‘objectives and key results, a collaborative goal-setting methodology), six month reviews and pulse checks.

Marvin Lange

CFO — IU Group

Panel Q&A: Ash Kashyap

Ash Kashyap has 20 years’ experience of successful M&A under his belt, and has completed 60+ bolt-on acquisitions as CFO of Dexters, London’s leading estate agent, including the company’s transformative acquisition of digital lettings agency Howsy.

Understand the founder’s motivation- why are they selling their business and what do they care about? If you can address their key concerns- what will happen to their employees, landlords, to the business they have spent years creating- and show you will be a good custodian, that will help seal the deal. Oakley’s support has been critical, in terms of lending us buying power, challenging us to look at M&A opportunities outside of our normal comfort zone and then offering their tech expertise: at first glance, Howsy threatened to disrupt our entire people-first, bricks and mortar business model. Folding it into Dexters is helping to future-proof the business- critical insight that the investment team provided. Buying is the easy bit. Integration and regular review is key to success. Introduce a loyalty bonus for key staff; get buy-in for future plans and strategic vision; tackle cultural differences up front.

Ash Kashyap

CFO — Dexters

Panel Q&A: Henning Rönneberg

Ensuring that senior management have the right data and KPIs at their fingertips and in a timely manner is crucial to underpinning strategic decision making. Henning Rönneberg is CFO of ParshipMeet Group, former Oakley Capital portfolio company (3.6x MM return) and one of the leading international players in Dating and Video.

Monthly reporting packs might seem tedious, but they are very important: they can be used to align within your management team, to get clarity on priorities and key messages, they are a major investor relations instrument, and they will be a key source of information during the exit process when disclosed during due diligence. Keep the structure of your board package and KPI presentation consistent – it allows Board members to process the information easily. And keep in mind to focus on the operational update, outlook, strategy and projects.

Henning Rönneberg

CFO — ParshipMeet Group

Panel Q&A: Aga Siemiginowska

Oakley considers ESG as a critical tool to mitigate risk and underpin sustainable value creation across our investment portfolio. Oakley’s Head of Sustainability, Aga Siemiginowska, sees our CFOs as key allies in delivering our ESG priorities.