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It’s only the midpoint of the year, but finance chiefs have already had plenty to deal with — from knowns they had been navigating before, such as AI, to unknowns like the war in Iran, which threw new uncertainties into their planning. As we enter the second half, here’s a look at the key issues CFOs will be grappling with in the coming months.

Looking at Nike’s choice for CFO — Pfizer’s Dave Denton — I found myself wondering: How much industry expertise does a chief financial officer need these days? The latest edition of Bloomberg’s CFO Briefing explores this question.

Time flies! January marks my third anniversary at Bloomberg in New York. While that may seem like a blink of an eye at a company where many colleagues stay for 10, 20 or even 30 years, it’s been a very meaningful chapter for me.

During my time here, I first managed a team of reporters, editors and strategists in New York and Toronto covering credit and structured finance. More recently, I had the opportunity to launch CFO Briefing and grow it into a franchise, with events in major financial hubs around the world as well as regular TV and radio segments.

I’m very grateful for the support I have received — especially now that I am on maternity leave. I plan to return in June.

Happy New Year! As CFO Briefing kicks off 2026, finance chiefs discuss the themes of the year ahead. Spoiler alert: They’ll sound familiar to you. After last year’s shocks, turns and surprises, my sense is that the coming 12 months could turn out to be a little calmer (even though the first week of the year seems to suggest otherwise). There are many potential scenarios for CFOs, ranging from trade and tariffs to the economy, interest rates, AI and dealmaking.

For our last edition of the year, I spoke to Magnum’s finance chief Abhijit Bhattacharya about the ice cream company’s carve-out from Unilever and its plans to boost capex and growth in 2026. The The Magnum Ice Cream Co., as the new entity is known, started trading as a separate company earlier this month. It plans to increase revenue by 3% to 5% next year, a little faster than the overall market. Being a standalone company allows Magnum to allocate more resources toward capital expenditures, have a more targeted salesforce and focus on product innovation, said Bhattacharya, who previously served as the finance chief of health technology firm Philips.

2025 is on track to become one of the best for global M&A since at least 1995, with deal values expected to hit $4.8 trillion, up 36% from the prior year. Finance chiefs I spoke with expect that momentum to continue. Here’s why.

The growing income divide is prompting executives to think about pricing and product mix. Plus, Itau Unibanco’s Gabriel Moura on the Brazilian economy, rates and the upcoming elections.

Just 10 years ago, London ranked among the top five stock markets around the world to take a company public. Fast forward to today, and London has become an afterthought for many executives, CFOs say. Plus: IAG’s Nicholas Cadbury talks about his capital allocation strategy, managing maintenance costs and the motivation behind the company’s pursuit of TAP.

Finance chiefs talk about their role in shaping core changes at their businesses. Plus, UBS’s Todd Tuckner on integrating Credit Suisse, Swiss tariffs and capital requirements.

Public benefit corporations give executives significant leeway to balance the goals of shareholders, other stakeholders and what they perceive to be the greater good. Plus, Hengan’s CFO on why Chinese consumers want higher-quality diapers.