Last month, Carl Carande assumed the new role as KPMG's Vice Chair of Advisory. He takes over the role from Lynne Doughtie, who is now KPMG's U.S. Chairman and CEO. Carande had been serving as KPMG's National Managing Partner alongside Doughtie, which should help ensure the transition is a smooth one, he says. Carande takes over an Advisory business that contributed more than $9 billion to KPMG's $25 billion in revenue in FY 2014. Consulting Magazine sat down recently with Carande, about a month after he had assumed his new role on July. 1.
Consulting: It's been almost a month in your new role. How has the transition been going and what's the current state of Advisory at KPMG?
Carande: Advisory has great momentum. I'm taking over a business that has been operating at a very high level. It has a senior leadership team, and I've been very fortunate to have been able to work with them for the last several years. We have great talent, we've been hiring very aggressively and we've been growing our internal team. We are really strong on the people front—from leadership through staff to new hires.
From a client perspective, I don't think our client portfolio has ever been stronger, especially in the sectors where we are really focused—financial services, healthcare, federal, state and local. We have great momentum and our financial performance has been fantastic. This year, we're going to have the largest Partner promote class we've ever had. We've been increasing our experienced hires, which, I think validates our story since we're able to get top talent to switch firms and join us. We'll hire close to 3,000 people this year.
And business is booming: we're going to grow close to 20 percent this year, and we're looking at a pipeline that's going to be up 2x over this time last year. Advisory is in a great state.
Consulting: What are some of your immediate goals as you take over the role?
Carande: First of all, I'm connecting with all of our people to discuss our continued strategy and ensure our continued success. But I also want to hear from our people about what we should be doing to make sure KPMG stays a great place to work. Also, were coming to the end of our fiscal year, so I'm right in the midst of refreshing our three-year strategy and growth plan. I'm also focused on our investments, and we've made several of them both organic and inorganic and we're doing everything we can to make sure they integrate well. I'm also continuing to look for other investment opportunities.
It's a very busy time, and I'm also very involved with our clients. I want to make sure that I'm keeping up with them and understanding their priorities so that I can be sure KPMG is staying relevant and properly positioned to meet their demands.
Consulting: You mentioned a nearly 20 percent growth rate. Is that growth rate sustainable as you sit down to map out the three-year plan?
Carande: I believe it to be sustainable. When I look at the large investments we've made in hiring experienced talent and I look at the dozen or so acquisitions we've made, and then I look at the environment we're in, and the complexity of the challenges our clients are facing, I'm very bullish, and I see no reason why those growth rates wouldn't stay in that same range. Some of those investments we've made, by the way, will take a little while to integrate, which I think puts us in an even better position down the road.
We've also made a big investment in what we call "Advisory University" to drive continued skill generation and advancement with our people. That will continue to be a huge priority for us; without the right people and the right training and development, we won't be able to drive those growth rates.
Consulting: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for Advisory?
Carande: One of our biggest opportunities is to be able to work with our clients from strategy through execution. We have to make sure we have a fully integrated offering that leverages all the multi-disciplinary components of KPMG and multi-disciplinary components of the Advisory group for clients.
Our clients in a lot of our key industries—financial services, healthcare, energy—are facing continued regulatory challenges that will put greater pressure on their operating models. As a result, we think there's great opportunity to assist our clients as they go through those often difficult transformations.
And we also see big opportunity around operational excellence. While growth is still the top priority for our clients, operational excellence is critical as we look at the global, geo-political challenges that impact supply chains and impact the ability to have efficient operations. In addition, we have the ability to bring in tax resources for clients when appropriate. All of that, I think, provides great opportunity for KPMG to add value. And, I think our ability to be able to tailor solutions by sector when appropriate also adds additional value for our clients.
Like I said, I'm bullish; I certainly don't think there's any shortage of opportunity. Our ability to focus on the most relevant areas and make sure we're the clear choice for clients because of our depth, our capabilities and our commitment to drive value will ultimately help us achieve our growth goals.
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