How does your experience as a CFO give you an edge as an Operating Partner?
I don’t think you can be a Finance Operating Partner unless you’ve been a CFO – it’s as simple as that. It’s not about having an edge – it’s essential. If you haven’t sat in that seat over a long period of time, in multiple contexts, you can’t take on the role.
That experience comes into its own particularly in the early days, as portfolio companies start their PE journey. I often act as an interlocuter between the deal team and the portfolio company and to help accelerate the journey from A to B, to move them up that curve much quicker. You bring the experience and say, “Here’s a playbook. These are the first 100 day things we’ve got to do. Here’s how I can help – I’ve done this before and I can show you.” That said, sometimes, they don’t need you at all – and that’s fine too. In those cases, it might just be about building the relationship between the CFO and the PE house. Helping bridge that gap early on can make a real difference.
At what stage of the deal cycle do you get stuck in most frequently? Where do you deliver most impact – and why?
I can get involved at any stage – pre-deal all the way to exit. But typically, it’s in the early days. That’s where the experience matters most – getting things moving quickly, setting expectations, aligning with the investment thesis. That might mean helping build board packs, aligning post-transaction workstreams, sitting with the auditors, looking at cash flow, reporting gaps, assessing the maturity of the finance function, or just working out whether the plan makes sense for where they are.
And then there’s the ad hoc stuff. Maybe there’s a working capital issue, a lender discussion, a recruitment challenge. Sometimes you’re brought in just to give a view. “What do you think? Can you help us with this?” That’s the job.
Is there a type of portfolio business you find you work with more often?
It tends to be founder-led businesses that are going through that first transition into PE. They’ve typically been incredibly successful. The balance sheets are strong. The businesses are well run. But now they’ve got a PE fund invested, a value creation plan in front of them, lenders involved – and the pace changes.
Suddenly they’ve got a clearly defined five-year roadmap. Things move fast. They’re being asked to report in ways they never had to before. And that’s where I come in – helping to professionalise finance, make sure the team’s aligned, and support the transition.
It’s not because the people aren’t good – far from it. It’s just a different game. You’re not running a small business anymore, you’re managing investor expectations, lender reporting, board cadence, and a defined exit strategy.
How did you approach stepping into the OP role from the CFO one?
There wasn’t a playbook. When I started my current role, H.I.G. already had data and tech Operating Partners, but not a finance one. Since then, we’ve built out the team – we’ve now got procurement, commercial excellence, cyber and we’re adding supply chain. It’s grown into a proper functional model.
When you’ve done the CFO role for coming on 40 years – and you’ve been around PE for 30 of those – you realise just how much experience you can draw on. Even if I haven’t seen something directly, I’m usually one phone call away from someone who has. So you don’t realise how much you know until you’re in this role. It’s not about being prescriptive – we don’t have a single way of doing things – but you lean on your past, your network, your judgment. And that goes a long way.
What do you think is driving the rise of the CFO Operating Partner in private equity?
Value creation is operational now. It’s not about financial engineering – it’s about execution – and that means funds need people who have been there and done that, with real-world, functional expertise.
Consultants are great: I’ve worked with many. But they’re expensive, and they’re not always close to the detail. An internal Operating Partner can act faster, build trust faster and keep things moving. You’re a first responder. You can get involved immediately – whether it’s reporting, a cash issue or a people challenge.
And you’ve got continuity. You’ve built relationships. You’re embedded in the fund. That makes a difference when you’re trying to drive change.
What does collaboration look like with other Operating Partners and function-specific specialists?
We’ve built out a strong OP team: finance, data, cyber, procurement and commercial. We speak every day – and cross-pollinate ideas, share lessons, support each other.
It works because we’ve all got experience. We respect each other’s functional knowledge. There’s overlap, sure – but it’s complementary. If I spot a data issue, I bring in the data guy. If it’s a supply chain thing, I bring in procurement. We all know our lanes, and we work well together. It’s a model that’s effective.
What does your remit typically look like across operations, transformation and leadership support?
It’s broad. I’d describe it as being a bridge between the investment team and the portfolio. Because I’ve sat in the CFO seat, I can translate both ways. The portfolio company sees someone who understands their world. CFOs tend to be happy to work together because they know I get it.
On the other side, I can speak to the investment team and explain what’s going on in the portco, in language they’ll understand. For example, I can say, “they’ve only got capacity for five of the ten things you want. And this one thing you think is easy? It’s going to take weeks.” That two-way communication is crucial. It helps manage expectations, set priorities, and reduce noise.
I’ll also get into the weeds when needed – reviewing the quality of finance functions, supporting CFO hires, mentoring first-timers, building out reporting, assessing technical issues. Sometimes I’m just there as a sounding board. But that matters too.
What do high-performing CFOs in PE-backed businesses have in common?
Speed. The speed of decision-making is everything in PE. Let’s say you’ve got a five year cycle – the first six months are post-transaction and the last year is exit. That gives you three years to drive value. If you don’t understand that pace, you’ll struggle.
You also have to be commercial, not just technical. It almost doesn’t matter how good your accounting is – if you can’t hold your own with lenders, drive M&A or tell the financial story of the business clearly, it’s a problem.
Communication is a big one. The board pack can’t be 100 pages of “it’s all in there.” You have to tell the story. Bring clarity, insight and narrative. And you need to know your numbers cold, but also be fluent in analytics. If you can’t challenge assumptions in a model or don’t know your way around BI tools, that shows.
And lastly, resilience. You’ll be challenged daily. The scrutiny is constant. If you can’t hold your nerve while leading a team through change, it won’t work.
Has the CFO role in PE become more like a PLC CFO than we might think?
There are some surface similarities, but here’s the difference: in a PLC, you report to shareholders. In PE, you work with them. That means more scrutiny, more interaction and a lot more pressure – but also a much greater ability to drive impact. You’re not reporting into a void, you’re having real conversations every day with people who are fully invested in the outcome.
In a PLC, you round up. In PE, they’ll ask what’s behind the £50k variance. That’s the level of detail. It’s not for everyone. But if you get it right – it’s incredibly rewarding.
And finally, what’s the biggest mistake you see CFOs make in PE?
Not recalibrating. If you come from a corporate background and think you can take your time or defer decisions to a committee next month – you’ll likely be in trouble.
You need to switch gears. Everything ties back to the investment thesis. Every decision is about value creation. You’ve got to be aligned, agile and willing to operate at pace. If you don’t make that mindset shift quickly, private equity will be a huge challenge.
Finatal has placed James into multiple PE-backed businesses, supported him with finance hires and carve-out project teams, as well as working with him at H.I.G. for various portfolio companies. He was interviewed by Joe Parrish (Associate Partner) and Chloe Pearce (Marketing Director) in April 2025.