World's Largest Networking Group of Senior Financial Executives

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The Financial Executives Networking Group (The FENG)

Connect

Build meaningful relationships with 25,000+ CFOs, Controllers, and Treasurers (and other top financial executives) across all industries.

Learn

Access expert tactical insights through peer networking, editorials, and thought leadership content from financial leaders sharing real-world experience.

Grow

Attend one of 400+ annual events hosted by 80+ U.S. and International Chapters, plus 40+ Special Interest Groups; access Job Leads, Career/Job Clubs, peer referrals, and insider opportunities.

Give Back

Share your knowledge and experience by guiding and mentoring other members. Take on a chapter, club, or committee leadership role. Donate to our 501(c)(3) to support our operations.

Upcoming Events

Connect with peers, learn from industry leaders, and stay engaged. View the full event calendar.

Three Conversations Every Trusted Advisor Should Be Having with a Growing Business Owner (That No One Else Is Having)

Tue, Oct 13, 7:30 PM - EST

Three Conversations Every Trusted Advisor Should Be Having with a Growing Business Owner (That No One Else Is Having)
Register Now
The Hidden Cost of a Bad Culture: What It’s Really Costing Your Bottom Line

Wed, Oct 14, 3:00 PM - EST

The Hidden Cost of a Bad Culture: What It’s Really Costing Your Bottom Line
Register Now
The Future of Legal: How AI-Native Law Firms Are Changing the Traditional Legal Model

Wed, Oct 14, 5:00 PM - EST

The Future of Legal: How AI-Native Law Firms Are Changing the Traditional Legal Model
Register Now
Latin America 2027 - Where to Find Growth

Thu, Oct 15, 5:00 PM - EST

Latin America 2027 - Where to Find Growth
Register Now

Read, Listen, and Watch

The Financial Executives Journal (FEJ), The Financial Executives Edge (FEE) Podcast, and our YouTube Channel (@TheFENGorg) provide a continuous stream of practical, peer-driven thought leadership for today’s financial executive.

About Us
Double-Edged-Shield

SPOTLIGHT: AI and Cybersecurity

The Financial Executives Journal

Cybersecurity is evolving faster than ever, powered by artificial intelligence. AI is transforming how organizations detect threats, predict vulnerabilities, and respond in real time—turning cybersecurity from a reactive necessity into a strategic business advantage.

I invite forward-thinking leaders, AI innovators, and cybersecurity experts to share insights on how AI is reshaping the security landscape, driving enterprise resilience, and unlocking new growth opportunities.

Read the Spotlight Articles
Ep-11-The-Illusion-of-Control-Wide-720x480

PODCAST: The Illusion of Control: Cybersecurity, AI and the Risks Beneath the Surface

The Financial Executives Edge

The conversation around cybersecurity and AI is often dominated by visible threats: ransomware, phishing attacks, data breaches, and the race to deploy more advanced tools. But some of the most significant risks organizations face today are not the ones making headlines. They are the hidden structural weaknesses quietly building beneath the surface of modern enterprises.

In this episode, we explore cybersecurity through a lens that is often overlooked: the growing disconnects between where organizations believe risk exists and where exposure is actually building.

Listen to the Podcast
World-Class CFO

Top 5 Lessons to Become a World Class CFO & Beyond

Unlock Leadership, Influence & Career Acceleration

Are you operating like a top-tier CFO or just keeping up? What separates world-class CFOs from the rest? What skills will elevate you to the next level of leadership and influence? And what’s holding you back that you don’t even realize?

Many financial executives hit a plateau because they rely on the same skills that got them here. But as the saying goes: “What got you here won’t get you there.” In this exclusive FENG session, Julie Jackle, Founder & CEO of Growth Axis, will share the 5 key lessons she’s learned from 17 years of coaching elite CFOs and CEOs. 

Watch on YouTube

Career Management Editorials

And you thought it was the Hokey Pokey

So, what’s it all about? The “it” in the sentence above is The FENG. The FENG is many things. Is it about job leads? Is it about webinars? Is it about Chapter and Special Interest Group meetings? Well, one thing I can tell you is it’s not about the Hokey Pokey. I got the note below from one of our members in Connecticut. I think it pretty much sums up what we’re about. ++ Good morning, Matt. I hope that you and your family are well. There is a lot to be said about not letting worry overwhelm you. Someone once said to me that almost all the things we worry about will never come to pass, and that’s mostly true. However, two months ago I was told I was going to be laid off at year-end if we couldn’t generate more revenue. Our agency is struggling, and we must cut costs if things don’t improve, I was told. I am in my mid-60s and, for a variety of reasons, I must work well into the foreseeable future. So, I began an intense networking effort on three fronts: contact any client where I still have a relationship (dormant or active), every referral source I’ve ever spoken to, and anyone else with whom I’ve had a professional relationship during my forty year career, including FENG members. I am determined to either generate enough revenue to make it impossible for my firm to part ways with me, find a new job, or lay enough track to have some clients and other commercial relationships to generate an income if I go it alone. Thus far, I’ve been modestly successful and each contact I make serves any of those three goals. Amazing -- now where do you suppose I learned that? And why am I telling you this? Because I could never have been prepared for this situation without your guidance and the fellowship of The FENG community. I joined ten years ago, after getting the job I may now lose, at the suggestion of a good friend who said, “you never know if you’ll need the help down the road.” Well, now I do but I also feel I’ve already been helped. I’m often connecting with new FENG members to encourage them, give ideas for their networking efforts and make introductions when I can. Ironically, the time has now come for me to take my own advice. I am so grateful to be a graduate of the best “school” there is, where I learned it all. Thank you, and please feel free to share my experience if you think it will help others. ++ Not much I can add. I think this member has said it all. Regards, Matt
Oct 13, 2026

Hidden customer objections

It is a sad fact of interviewing that often times those sitting on the other side of the table hesitate asking questions that you would gladly answer. The kinds of questions I am talking about are things that might be grounds for a lawsuit because they skirt the edge of age discrimination or one of the other laws out there to “protect us.” While it is your decision whether or not to answer questions you know are illegal, the real problem with questions of this nature is that when they are the “elephant sitting in the room,” very little real communication takes place between you and the interviewer unless you get them out of the way. If you had a cast on your arm I don’t think you would hesitate to explain how it happened. It is an obvious situation that demands an explanation. In much the same way, why you left your last job, while not an illegal question, is always hanging out there. Although the answer to that question typically provides a future employer with very little useful information, until it is asked and answered, it gets in the way. Another question that often goes unasked is “Why would you want this job when it pays so much less than you were earning previously?” (The idea that you need to feed your family apparently has never crossed the interviewer’s mind.) Each of us in our own way comes to an interview situation with baggage. You can’t get to be a senior financial executive without picking up a few scars along the way. The question you always need to be asking yourself is which ones might be important to your interviewer to the degree that they are working to frame their totally useless questions during the whole time that you are trying to impart useful information. As we know from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, an appropriate thought to keep in mind when answering questions is: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Any answer you give needs to be brief. If you tend to rattle on about why you left your last company, there may be more to the situation than you are willing to tell me. If you go on and on about how money isn’t important to you, I just may question if you are being truthful with yourself. The goal is to get YOUR story out in answer to the question you think they should ask and in answer to the question as you would like it asked. If you let them drive the “debate” you are more likely to lose in some way. Think like your interviewer and come up with the questions in your own mind that they will hesitate to ask and find a way to either answer them in your opening statement or find some way to work them into the conversation. Things like: “I had to do so much traveling in my last job that it really wasn’t worth the huge salary I was earning. I literally had no life. I don’t mind being at the office, but in that job I was out of town even on the weekends. I enjoyed the job and the people, but it was very hard on the family.” Like our 90-second announcements, this tool can be applied to your cover letters and just about any significant communication you may have with potential employers. While answering a question they really don’t want answered can be a concern, use your best judgment in identifying the ones that are never asked. You just may set the stage for a big win. Regards, Matt
Oct 8, 2026

The hobgoblin of consistency

As many of you know, I have a variety of backgrounds. I was not only in the publishing business for 10 years, I was also in the advertising business for 9 years. Communication, or the assumption that it has taken place, is at the core of most of the problems in this world. (Okay, there are probably others, but that would take away from the points I am going to try to make tonight.)
Oct 7, 2026

Member Testimonials

After being unexpectedly let go from a senior financial leadership role at age 40, Steve found himself navigating a job search he had never prepared for. Without a roadmap, he struggled — until he joined The FENG. Through peer-level support, disciplined networking, and proven career strategies, Steve rebuilt his confidence and approach. Within six months, he landed the best role of his career. Today, he continues to support The FENG so other financial executives can find clarity, connection, and their next great opportunity.

Steve Cary, Inside Out Partners

Marty joined The FENG in 2015 after a prolonged period of financial instability and layoffs at his company finally resulted in his own job loss. Introduced to the organization by a co-worker, he used FENG’s guidance to navigate periods of transition, taking on temporary assignments he may have otherwise overlooked. Through the newsletters and practical job-search discipline he learned, Marty stayed engaged even after landing a role that lasted seven years.
Years later, when his next employer began facing financial trouble, Marty began preparing early — using FENG’s resume approach. That preparation paid off: a recruiter found him, driven by the depth of his full career history, not just recent roles. He secured a new leadership position and started within weeks. Marty credits The FENG for helping him stay ready, visible, and strategically positioned throughout his career.

Marty Kierzek, Director of Finance, Axelent, Inc.

After spending more than two decades building a stable executive career with a global energy company, Steve’s role was eliminated following a major corporate merger at age 46. Suddenly in transition, he joined The FENG and fully committed to the process — attending chapter meetings, refining his resume, and applying disciplined networking strategies from the nightly newsletters.
After nearly a year of searching, Steve discovered a role through a FENG newsletter listing that was not posted anywhere else. He secured the position and went on to spend 16 years with the company, achieving greater professional and financial success than he thought possible. Even in retirement, Steve continues to support The FENG, crediting the organization with changing the trajectory of his career.

Karen Justice, Managing Partner

Membership Benefits:

  • Trusted Job Leads
  • Presentations, Panel Discussions
  • Career/Job Clubs
  • Mentoring and Résumé Reviews
  • Elevate thought leadership through The Financial Executives Journal
  • Elite-Level Executive Networking

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Built by Financial Executives, for Financial Executives

two financial executives telling war stories to each other

The Power of Networking. The Power of Friendships.

Born from one executive’s simple idea, The Financial Executives Networking Group began in 1991 as a small circle of twelve finance leaders who believed in one uncommon principle: generosity first. In the early years, Matt Bud joined the group and soon took on a leadership role, helping nurture the philosophy that would guide its growth into a worldwide community of more than 25,000 senior-level professionals — all still connected by the same spirit that launched it.
At The FENG, our mission is simple and human: to support one another through every chapter of a financial career — working, searching, transitioning, consulting, and even into retirement. We are a community built on lifelong networking, knowledge-sharing, and the understanding that no executive should navigate their career alone.
And at the heart of it all is reciprocity. We have a shared expectation that every member gives as much as they receive. This ethos has guided our community from day one and continues to shape who we are today: a network of leaders lifting one another up, one connection at a time.

Our Story

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