Canadian finance executives are taking an aggressive stance on business growth, according to the most recent American Express/CFO Research Global Business & Spending Monitor, a survey of 541 senior finance executives from the U.S., Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Australia.
The survey found that Canada is among the most determined when setting growth targets, with 73% of Canada’s senior finance executives seeking more aggressive growth for their business in 2012—just shy of their counterparts in the growth economies of India (75%) and Argentina (85%).
“Canadians are renowned for their non-aggressive nature, and until recent years the same was true for Canadian businesses,” said Paul Parisi, vice-president and general manager, global corporate payments, American Express Canada. “Canadian companies are revealing a new toughness in pursuing business growth more aggressively than many of their global colleagues.”
Canadian senior finance executives are also the highest globally (31%) to report an aggressive approach to spending and investment over the next year—a sharp contrast to most senior finance executives around the world who collectively are taking a more conservative approach. About half of all survey respondents from around the world (49%) expect their company to take a modest approach to spending and investment to support top-line growth, followed by 35% who expect their companies to control spending tightly.
“This trend is likely a reflection of the cash-preservation strategy we have seen among Canadian CFOs in the past year,” said Parisi. “With many companies looking to stimulate growth, Canadian finance executives have plans to dip into their companies’ cash stockpiles.”
In terms of when finance executives expect the global economy will gather strength, Canada sits just above the global average (46%), with 50% of Canadian CFOs expecting the Canadian economy to return to robust economic growth this year.
Respondents in the U.S. report a more extended growth horizon, with 75% of executives anticipating economic growth to gain traction at some point after the close of the fourth quarter.