CFO Studio Magazine - Curt Allen, CFO, Subaru

2015 PLANNING W hat does 2015 hold in store for some major U.S. companies? As 2014 drew to a close, CFO Studio magazine asked the executives who have appeared in our cover stories to share with our readers an economic forecast for their own organizations and industries. On these pages you’ll find comments by six CFOs —Brian Friedman of the Jets, Mark Guinan of Quest Diagnostics, Harald Henn of Mercedes-Benz, David Huber of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, David Marberger of Godiva Chocolatier, and Fran Shammo of Verizon — as well as Irv Rothman, CEO of HP Financial Systems. We can assume these executives are pretty good prognosticators, as the companies they lead have all performed well under their guidance. The Macro Economy “I think things will continue to improve,” says Brian Friedman, CFO, New York Jets. “Consumer confidence is slowly rebounding, so I have a generally positive outlook for 2015. I think 2015 is going to hold its gains and maybe even move a little bit to the positive.” Harald Henn, vice president and CFO of Mercedes-Benz USA, is watching interest rates, which will affect automobile sales. But “with the very low gas prices, the market can offset a lot,” he says. “The last couple of months gas prices came down 20 percent, and if the interest rate goes ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FINANCE LEADERS FORECAST STEADY GROWTH AND OFFER CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM BY JULIE BARKER 12 WWW.CFOSTUDIO.COM 1st QUARTER 2015