Message to our supporters.

• Author: Boyadjis, George

Message to our supporters,

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. This is the mantra that has guided what Financial Executives Research Foundation does for the finance profession and for members of Financial Executives International (FEI). As the 64-year-old research affiliate of FEI, FERF's mission is to advance the profession and practices of financial management through research and education.

with the changes in the U.S. economy, and the financial crisis, it has been a tumultuous year, to say the least. More specific to finance and accounting, fair value has become a major issue for our businesses. This year we also witnessed initiatives that will have impact on the future of finance: regulatory committees on the audit profession and financial reporting improvements and proposals on a U.S. move to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and to adopt extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL).

However, with change comes the promise of learning from the past and present to improve work done in the future. So, FERF continues to collaborate with FEI members and the profession every step of the way--as your facilitator to help you learn from each other to enhance what you do at your companies.

In order to do this, we established five major goals for fiscal 2008. First, we set out to increase delivery of unique, member-focused content for FEI members. Our 26 research reports were vetted with our research committee--comprised of members representing public companies, private companies, FEI chapters and technical committees and academia--to ensure that our publications are relevant, timely and practical.

Our work is then distributed back to you--the broader membership--not only via our electronic publications, e-mail newsletters and our website but also at member meetings and events. Many of our studies, such as our audit fee survey and compensation survey, received both national and local press coverage. FERF has also expanded distribution and our studies are now distributed via 7 different distribution channels, including Bloomberg Professional and Amazon. This broad and diverse distribution ensures that our member "teachings" are always accessible.

Next, FERF sought to expand our focus on information technology. In addition to providing distance learning CPE for reading our research reports, we track the number of report downloads to determine what is most useful to you. Based on the popularity of our surveys and quarterly regulatory updates, we've added more online benchmarking tools and checklists. For example, our Paycheck (sm) service, a collaboration with FEI career services, gives financial executives the ability to benchmark their compensation with their peers across the U.S. Meanwhile, our financial statement disclosure database--based on a review of 150 annual reports--includes thousands of disclosure examples in 19 key financial reporting areas, such as fair value, pensions, and income taxes.

Since more members network virtually, FERF enhanced our Financial Executives List Exchange online Q&A service so that responses are posted to our website archive on a real-time basis. The online database can be accessed at any time along with other responses we may receive through the FEI Linked-in networking group.

All this is not possible, however, without the many voluntary contributions that support our work. Our development committee was focused on expanding FERF fundraising toward becoming a fully self-sustaining organization. New and improved campaigns to promote the value of contributing to FERF have resulted in increased generosity from corporations and chapters. Of particular note is the increase in the number of individual donors, which rose 400% from 300 to 1,500 contributors due primarily to the $25 donation line on the FEI dues statement. By collaborating with FEI, FERF also built the FEI Hall of Fame into a major FEI brand building event and fundraising event for FERF by honoring the two most recent inductees and their contributions to the finance profession. From all these efforts and more, we are proud to report that we are now in our 4th consecutive year with a balanced budget.

We would like to thank our fellow FERF trustees and FEI officers and directors for their leadership during the past year. Special acknowledgement to vice chairs Marie Hollein and Marsha Hunt for chairing their respective committees. Finally, we would like to thank vice chair David Braden for stepping up as chair of FERF for 2008-2009. His diligence in ensuring for you that our research is practical will be invaluable as we refine our strategy this year and in the future.

Thanks also to the staff, including Vice President of Research and Operations Cheryl Graziano, Director of Financial Services Lorna Raagas, and Director of Research and Corporate Secretary Bill Sinnett. We are glad to report that our growth has allowed adding new staff, Gloria Lamoureux and Tom Thompson, so that we can continue improving our products and sen/ices.

Above all, FERF is thankful to all the FEI members and individual, corporate and chapter donors who support our research in so many ways. Our work for FEI members and the financial profession is only possible because of you.

Fiscal Year 2008 Board of Trustees Financial Executives Research Foundation, Inc

CHAIR

George Boyadjis

Milo Belle Consultants, LLC

Practice Lead--Healthcare and Emerging Growth

VICE CHAIR

David B. Braden

Assistant VP and Assistant Treasurer

Cargill, Incorporated

VICE CHAIR

Marie N. Hollein

Director, Financial Risk Management

KPMG

VICE CHAIR

Marsha L. Hunt

Vice President and Controller

Cummins Inc.

PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

James J. Abel

President and CEO

Financial Executives International

VICE PRESIDENT *

Cheryl Graziano

Vice President - Research and Operations,

Financial Executive Research Foundation

CORPORATE SECRETARY *

William M. Sinnett

Director of Research

Financial Executives Research Foundation

TREASURER *

Paul W. Chase

Vice President & Chief Financial Officer,

Financial Executives International

* Officer but not Trustee

TRUSTEES

Dr. Raj Aggarwal

Sullivan Professor of Int'l Business and Finance

Dean, College of Business Administration

University of Akron

Scott M. Boggs

Director

Cascade Natural Gas Corporation

William A. DeMilt

Kim K. Gazzola

Joan E. Netzel

Group Vice President

Audit Relationship Manager

SunTrust Banks, Inc.

Robert R. Scherba

Senior Vice President, Finance & People

Williams International

Michael A. Simons

Chief Financial Officer

Blauer Manufacturing Co.

Norman N. Strauss

Ernst & Young Executive Professor in Residence

Baruch College

Robert R. Walker

Anthony L. White

EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEE

FEI Vice Chair

Joseph G. DiLorenzo

Managing Officer

Plymouth Rock Studios

FERF WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND THANK THE FOLLOWING SUPPORTERS FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2008.

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PLATINUM MAJOR GIFT $50,000

Exxon Mobil Corporation

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SILVER MAJOR GIFT $20,000

General Electric Company

PLATINUM PRESIDENT'S CIRCLE $15,000

The Coca-Cola Company

GOLD PRESIDENT'S CIRCLE $10,000-$14,999

Abbott Laboratories, Inc.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

SILVER PRESIDENT'S CIRCLE $5,000-$9,999

Aluminum Company of America

American International Group, Inc.

Cisco Systems

Comcast Corp.

Corning Incorporated

Credit Suisse

Cummins, Inc.

CVS Corporation

Dow Chemical Company

Duke Energy Corporation

E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company

El Paso Corporation

Eli Lilly and Company

General Motors Corporation

H. S. Grace & Company, Inc.

Halliburton Company

Hewlett-Packard Company

IBM Corporation

Infogix, Inc.

Johnson & Johnson

Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Medtronic, Inc

Motorola, Inc.

Pfizer Inc.

Procter & Gamble Co.

Siemens AG

Sony Corp. of America

Tenneco

The Chrysler Foundation

Time Warner Inc

Tyco International (US) Inc

United Technologies Corporation

GOLD LEADERSHIP $2,500-$4,999

Chevron

Colony Capital LLC

Eaton Corporation

Intel Corporation

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.

Interpublic Group of Companies, Incorporated

McCormick & Company, Inc.

PPG Industries, Incorporated

Precision Castparts Corp.

PricewaterhouseCoopers

SmartPros Ltd.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.

The Hershey Company

Wal-mart Stores, Incorporated

SILVER LEADERSHIP $1,000-$2,499

A&E Television Networks

Aetna, Inc.

American Financial Group, Inc.

Barness Group, Inc.

Brown & Brown, Inc.

Cargill Incorporated

CCC Group, Inc.

Computer Sciences Corporation

Computer Services, Inc.

ConocoPhillips

Davey Tree Expert Company

EdwardJones

Energen Corporation

Essex Investment Management Co., Inc.

Florida Power & Light Company

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

General Mills, Inc.

Givaudan

Granite Construction Inc.

Hubbell Incorporated

Hunter Douglas, Inc

Hutchinson Technology Incorporated

KeyCorp

LaBranche & Co. Inc.

Lifetouch Inc.

Louisville Bedding Company

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.

Please note: Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the donor lists in this annual report. We apologize for any error or omission...