Confero Summer 2015: Issue 11 | Page 18

an excerpt from managing financial risk in retirement &benefits programs A report prepared by CFO Research in collaboration with Prudential Financial, Inc. IN FEBRUARY 2014, CFO RESEARCH— in conjunction with Prudential Financial, Inc.— surveyed senior finance executives from arange of midsize and large U.S. companies (“2014 survey”). CFO Research and Prudential have carried out similar studies for the past five years, allowing us to track long-term trends in the evolution of retirement and benefits strategies. CFO Research gathered a total of 182 complete survey responses from senior finance executives working in a broad crosssection of company segments. Adapting Offerings to a Changing Benefits Environment Finance executives continue to view benefits offerings as an important part of human capital management, with approximately three-quarters of respondents agreeing that employee satisfaction with benefits is important for their companies’ success (76%), and that employee benefits are critical to attracting and retaining employees (77%). However, the steadily increasing cost of benefits programs remains a concern for finance executives, and they continue to seek the most value for their benefit expense. Controlling the employer’s cost for company provided healthcare benefits remains the number-one benefits 16 | Summer 2015 priority, selected by 54% of respondents. At the same time, in 7&V6