Nearly 3 in 4 new S&P 500 CFOs are first-timers
There was plenty of movement across CFO posts in the S&P 500 to start 2026, and companies were willing to hand the job to people who had never held the title before.
S&P 500 companies matched a seven-year high for first-quarter CFO appointments, with 33 companies naming new finance chiefs, according to Russell Reynolds Associates’ Global CFO Turnover Index. Of those appointments, 24 went to first-time CFOs, putting the share of newcomers to the role at 73%.
That marks a sharp reversal from the same period last year. In Q1 2025, 18 of the 33 incoming S&P 500 CFOs, or 55%, were first-timers. The percentage climbed back toward levels seen earlier in the decade, including 72% in Q1 2024 and 79% in Q1 2023.
Those first-time CFOs were also part of a broader preference for familiar faces. Globally, companies were much more evenly divided, with 47 internal appointments and 42 external hires among the 89 new CFOs tracked by Russell Reynolds.
The S&P 500 numbers show large U.S. companies are increasingly comfortable giving the CFO seat to executives who know business operations well but have not necessarily run a finance organization from the top before. The data shows a clear shift from Q1 2025, when just 58% of S&P 500 CFO appointments were internal.
CFO turnover stays elevated
The movement comes as turnover among S&P 500 finance chiefs remains high. The 33 incoming CFOs during Q1 represented 6.6% of the S&P 500.
That matched Q1 2025 for the highest first-quarter appointment total in Russell Reynolds’ data going back to 2019. The index recorded 29 S&P 500 appointments in Q1 2024, 19 in Q1 2023 and 23 in Q1 2022.
Globally, 89 of the 1,822 companies tracked appointed a new CFO during the quarter, equal to 4.9% of the group. That was down slightly from 95 appointments, or 5.2%, during Q1 2025.
Departures remained elevated among large U.S. companies, too. Twenty-seven S&P 500 CFOs left their roles during the first quarter, representing 5.4% of the index. That was down slightly from 28 departures, or 5.6%, a year earlier. Globally, 68 CFOs departed, compared with 89 in Q1 2025.
The S&P 500 CFOs who left had also spent less time in the seat. Average tenure among departing S&P 500 CFOs fell to 5.8 years in Q1, down from 7.2 years in the same quarter of 2025. It was the lowest first-quarter figure for the S&P 500 in the dataset, which stretches back to 2019.
Among the 27 S&P 500 CFOs who departed during Q1, almost two-thirds (18) retired or moved into board roles. Nine moved into a new role, and globally, 60% of outgoing CFOs retired or moved to boards, while 40% took another role.
Healthcare sees the highest turnover rate
CFO movement was not evenly spread across industries. Healthcare, where rising costs are colliding with growing pressure on cash and working capital, had the highest rate of incoming CFOs during the quarter.
Healthcare companies had the highest rate of incoming CFOs during the quarter, with seven appointments among 106 companies, or 6.6%. Industrials followed at 5.1%, while financial services had a 4.8% appointment rate. Consumer companies were at 4.7%, and technology had the lowest rate at 3.8%.
The turnover comes as parts of the healthcare sector face growing pressure on cash and working capital, making the CFO’s job particularly challenging. North American pharmaceutical companies, the lifeblood of the healthcare system in the region, saw their cash conversion cycle increase by 17 days in 2025, rising from 169 days to 186 days, according to separate data from The Hackett Group.
The inventory demand of healthcare was the biggest contributor to that deterioration. Pharma DIO increased by nearly 16 days to 252 days, while DSO increased by more than five days to 76 days. DPO improved by about four days to 141 days, but that was not enough to offset the additional cash tied up in inventory and receivables.
Industrials accounted for the largest number of CFO appointments in absolute terms with 37, followed by financial services with 22. Consumer companies appointed 15 CFOs, while technology companies appointed eight.
