979: The Changing Stripes of Finance Leadership | Chermaine Hu, CFO, Episode Six

At the very beginning of our talk with CFO Chermaine Hu, she revealed an irony about the CFO title that we rarely get to expose. To wit: The very title toward which any executive has invested so many illustrious career years conveys ownership of what might seem to be a less than illustrious role—or at least one requiring little future endeavor. “I have always struggled with the CFO title,” explains Hu, who notes that the moniker captures only a fraction of what most CFOs actually do. Hu’s unexpected comments seemed to be appropriate openers for an executive who doesn’t mind—and in fact prefers—being different from the rest of the pack. Or at least this is just one of several takeaways that we garner from Hu’s early career years. In fact, it turns out that Hu had an independent streak even before she entered the world of finance. Back in 1998, as she was approaching graduation from the University of Cambridge—job offer from Morgan Stanley already in hand—she decided to take job during Easter break serving ice cream at a local McDonald’s. Recalls Hu: “I felt that I needed some real-world experience.” Hu’s ice cream stint—while seemingly incongruous with her blooming future as an investment banker (including 14 years with Morgan Stanley)—was just one in a number of surprise chapters found in the narrative of Hu’s past that expose a curious mind and a dedication to continuous learning. One bookmark in her journey, Hu tells us, still rests between the pages recounting the time that she was blindsided by a “missed promotion” during her investment banking years. Not uncharacteristically, though, Hu was wise enough to allow greater reflection to expose a silver lining. “You need to have setbacks in life,” she admits, revealing her deep understanding of the growth that comes from facing challenges head-on.