J. Michael Bruff, CFO of Envision Healthcare and a veteran finance and operating executive, joins us to discuss the core attributes of effective CFOs. We discuss internal controls, Michael’s broad functional and operational experience, and the importance of a deep understanding of how financial statements work together to drive lasting value. Michael shares insights from his time at Varian Medical Systems, where the company shifted its capital allocation priorities from buybacks to life-saving R&D, ultimately quadrupling its compounded revenue growth rate and nearly doubling its share price in just three years. The conversation covers how value-based incentive and allocation frameworks lead to agile and disciplined decision-making. This episode offers practical guidance for leaders seeking to improve capital allocation, strategic clarity, and value creation.

Valuation and corporate finance heavyweight, Professor Aswath Damodaran, joins us to discuss what truly drives value creation. Damodaran challenges conventional wisdom around return on invested capital, cost of capital, and incentive metrics, explaining why accounting-based measures often mislead managers and investors. He explores the importance of connecting corporate narratives and numbers, treating R&D and brand-building as real investments, and recognizing bias and overconfidence in forecasts—especially in capital allocation and M&A. While he is openly skeptical of EVA due to its susceptibility to being gamed, this critique highlights the need for more robust and innovative approaches to measuring value creation. The conversation also covers corporate life cycles, why most companies struggle to earn returns above their cost of capital, and Damodaran’s perspective on the AI investment boom.

Fortuna partners Greg Milano and Marwaan Karame explore how an ownership culture fuels long-term shareholder returns in the final instalment of a five-part series on economic-profit-based value management. The discussion centers around an updated take on economic profit that shows a stronger relationship to shareholder returns, known as Residual Cash Earnings (RCE). By focusing on RCE, companies gain better insights into where value is created or destroyed, enabling smarter resource allocation and incentive compensation. The episode explains how this value management approach fosters five key traits of an ownership culture, as illustrated through real world case studies featuring corporate clients. This conversation offers valuable lessons for executives, investors, and business leaders aiming to enhance decision-making and build a true ownership culture within their organizations.