Retail Behemoth Macy’s CFO Karen Hoguet Tops America’s Best-Performing Chief Financial Officers List

Karen Hoguet, the chief financial officer of the retail behemoth Macy’s Inc. has been named America’s top CFO of the year by the Wall Street Journal’s CFO Journal.

Journal put out its “America’s 20 top-performing finance chiefs of S&P 500 companies” list for 2014, only 4 were women.

Other female CFOs of S&P500 companies on the list are Gilead Sciences’s Robin L. Washington, No. 6 on the list; Anne H. Lloyd, CFO of Martin Marietta Materials, No. 18; and MasterCard’s Martina Hund-Mejean, No. 20 in its ranking.

Karen Hoguet [Photo: Macy’s, Inc. (formerly known as Federated Department Stores, Inc.)

Ms. Hoguet, a Harvard Business School graduate, has helped drive Macy’s performance past those of its competitors in the S&P 500 index with a tight focused approach to risk taking and revenue generation.

This has done wonders for the fortune of the retailer, throughout 2014, Macy’s has outpaced the competition.

America’s largest department store Macy’s cranked out 39% growth in return on invested capital (ROIC) over the past 3 years.

The retailer also returned $5.3 billion to its shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks.

For the past 17-year period since October 31, 1997, she has led the finance team at the company through major acquisitions, an online retail revolution, the Great Recession and an uneven economic recovery, Kimberly S. Johnson noted.

Ms. Hoguet joined Macy’s in 1982 from the Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm, and served in a range of financial management capacities, including senior vice president for planning and treasurer of the corporation.

In addition, she is also a member of the Boards of Directors of The Chubb Corporation and Nielsen N.V.

Hoguet graduated from Walnut Hills High School, received her undergraduate education at Brown University and got her MBA from Harvard Business School.

The 4 Female CFOs on the list of America’s 20 top performing finance chiefs of S&P 500 companies:

1. Karen M. Hoguet, chief financial officer of Macy’s, Inc.

6. Robin L. Washington, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Gilead Sciences, Inc.

18. Anne H. Lloyd, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President for Martin Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.

20. Martina Hund-Mejean, chief financial officer for MasterCard Incorporated.