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Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
SEI's Sean Denham pivots from accounting partner to CFO
This story was originally published on To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily newsletter. Sean Denham never intended to leave his role as senior partner at Grant Thornton. In fact, when the head of HR at financial services firm SEI first approached him about a CFO job, Denham declined. However, after meeting with company board members and discussing it further with CEO Ryan Hicke, he soon warmed to the idea. Reflecting on the 'last act of his career,' Denham, 52, decided to take a chance and accept the role. 'I took a bit of a leap of faith,' says Denham, 'and I have absolutely no regrets.' He officially joined SEI as CFO in March 2024 and added COO to his title in February of this year. Through his prior jobs at Grant Thornton, Ernst & Young and EisnerAmper predecessor Amper, Politziner & Mattia, Denham had the chance to peer under the hood of several large, publicly traded clients, including SEI. But he had never worked directly for a public company. He had also never worked as a CFO. In an interview with Denham talks about making the transition from private to public, how he balances operational duties with financial ones and his approach to navigating an increasingly uncertain global economy. First CFO position: March 2024 Notable previous employers: Grant Thornton Ernst & Young Amper, Politziner & Mattia This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity. SEAN DENHAM: I held a lot of meaningful roles at Grant Thornton over the years, and to be honest, I was never looking to leave. When SEI's former CFO, Dennis McGonigle, announced his retirement, I tried to help them find a replacement. SEI is a significant client for Grant Thornton, so we wanted to be helpful. I sent over probably 20 or 30 resumes. Eventually, though, the head of HR said, 'Well, Sean, what about you?' I said, 'No, thank you.' But the CEO of SEI, whom I knew from outside board service, was still interested. He suggested I meet with SEI's board members. So, after meeting them and talking it over with my family, the position became more intriguing. I'm 52 years old, and I was starting to think about the last act of my career. I knew [SEI CEO] Ryan very well, and I knew SEI very well. These opportunities don't come along too often, so I took a bit of a leap and decided to make the change. It developed me as a professional. To see how not just one company works, but hundreds. I got to see what things worked well for some companies, and what things became barriers for others. There are also lots of things I took from my time as a senior partner. Moving lock-step with other partners was truly meaningful to me, and has helped me work better with other leaders. It's taken time. I wouldn't want to say culture shock necessarily, but it's just totally different from anything I've done in my career. It took me probably a good nine months to really start feeling comfortable in the chair. As CFO, I have public filing requirements. I'm talking to investors and analysts. These are things I had never done before. Balance can be tough, but I view these two positions as an integrated role. Under the CEO, we're doing a lot of things to evolve the company. We're moving from a vertical strategy to a horizontal strategy, for instance. We're also rethinking capital allocation. I've spent a lot of time bringing focus and attention to how we can maximize the return on capital. So, when I think about capital allocation, I believe both the CFO role and the COO role tie in nicely there. Maybe not for all organizations, but certainly for ours, the two roles mesh almost seamlessly. Tariffs don't affect our industry directly, but there are some indirect ways they could affect us. When you think about tariff-induced market pullbacks, for instance, some of our revenue is driven directly from market appreciation or depreciation. In late March and early April, we were doing a lot of scenario planning. We're steadfast in scenario planning. Ultimately, we're taking control of the things we can control. Do we have plans for storms? Yes, but we're focusing on what we can control. I appreciate the work the AICPA and some state societies of CPAs have done over the last few years. They've been very active in thinking about ways to keep students interested in public accounting. The reality is that automation is here to stay, and it's only going to advance. Some companies, including Grant Thornton, have done a nice job of ensuring young folks understand the why of everything we're doing in accounting. Some basic tasks can be automated, but employees still need to understand the groundwork behind everything we do. Recommended Reading Why Trintech's CFO still values his CPA license after 30 years Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why Nike Stock Raced Ahead Today
The company earned a post-earnings recommendation upgrade from an analyst. For him, it's now a buy with 15% potential upside. 10 stocks we like better than Nike › Athletic apparel and footwear star Nike (NYSE: NKE) notched a stock market victory for its investors on Tuesday with a more than 3% increase in share price. That was due in no small part to an analyst upgrade, accompanied by some rather bullish commentary. Nike's lift was in contrast to the performance of the S&P 500 index, which slumped by 0.1% on the day. Well before market open, John Staszak of Argus changed his Nike recommendation to buy (from his previous neutral) at a price target of $85 per share. That anticipates upside of more than 15% on the stock's most recent closing price. Staszak is convinced that Nike's present turnaround plan is having positive effects, according to reports, and it should help the company recover. The analyst wrote in his new note on Nike that it had success clearing its inventory in the second half of its fiscal 2025, and its current product lineup is up to date and bringing in customers. In Staszak's view, with these tailwinds at its back, Nike should continue to be a powerful force in the always-competitive athleticwear space. He waxed bullish in particular about its strength in high-end athletic footwear. The latter, he believes, is well supported by effective marketing and the many athlete endorsements it's managed to collect. Nike stock has been on quite a tear since the company published its fiscal fourth-quarter 2025 results last Thursday after market close. Revenue and headline net income were both down on a year-over-year basis, but they beat analyst expectations. Despite that, to me, those declines are concerning, and I'm not yet as convinced as Staszak that Nike is undoubtedly on the road to recovery. I'd be more hesitant to buy the stock than he is. Before you buy stock in Nike, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nike wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $722,181!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $968,402!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,069% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 177% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025 Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Nike Stock Raced Ahead Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EU Central Bank Commits to Distributed Ledger Technology Settlement Work
The European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council has approved research efforts that will use central bank money to settle distributed ledger technology (DLT) transactions, as the body looks to make its payment systems more efficient. One short term approach is called "Pontes" which will link DLT platforms with Eurosystem TARGET services that ensure the flow of cash and securities across Europe. A pilot will be launched by the third quarter of 2026. A more long term solution called "Appia" will facilitate global operations and analyze DLT-based solutions, the post said on Tuesday. "The decision is in line with the Eurosystem's commitment to supporting innovation without compromising on safety and efficiency in financial market infrastructures," the release said. The ECB has been exploring how to utilize DLT technology to boost payments settlement, something which central banks across the world have been looking at. It conducted exploratory work on wholesale central bank money settlement between May and November 2024. A report on the results of this work was also published on Tuesday that identified DLT having benefits such as reducing costs and countering credit and settlement risks.
