New Survey Finds Overall Confidence in Business Prospects Among CFOs Despite Challenges and Economic ConcernsCFOs Increase Cyber-security Budgets as 21% Experience Cyber-attack in Past Six Months MORRISTOWN, N.J. and NEW YORK, N.Y. - Chief Financial Officers entered 2015 with improved optimism towards the U.S. economy and their businesses, despite mounting concerns toward the global economy, revealed results of the most recent quarterly survey conducted by Financial Executives International (FEI) and Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business. While their employment and wage outlook remains positive, CFOs are fairly concerned about economic issues such as healthcare costs and government regulation, and see challenges to their businesses stemming from competition and the looming threat of a cyber-attack.The "CFO Outlook Survey," which polls CFOs of public and private businesses in the U.S. on their economic and business confidence and expectations, found that CFOs are seemingly more confident now than they were when the previous survey was conducted. The survey’s quarterly optimism index for the U.S. economy jumped more than five points to 70.71 (from 65.26), which represents a 14 percent increase from where it stood a year ago (62.0). The optimism index for U.S. CFOs’ businesses increased to 73.11 (from 70.41 in September). Adding to their overall business confidence, respondents on average are anticipating a sizeable growth in net earnings (13%) over the next 12 months. Another encouraging sign among U.S. CFOs is their ability to maintain their current workforces, as 80 percent said they were not forced to reduce headcount over the past 12 months. Furthermore, 65 percent of respondents said that the wage levels they are paying are on the rise compared with CFOs polled the same time last year. “Increasingly optimistic U.S. CFOs appear poised to increase wage rates,” said Linda Allen, Professor of Economics and Finance for the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College. “U.S. businesses are relatively flush with cash and are positioning themselves to meet global challenges (such as oil price declines, China’s slowdown and cyber-security threats), as well as uncertainties in the U.S. regarding interest rate increases anticipated during 2015.”Despite their increased confidence, CFOs revealed that they still have a number of challenges and concerns for the year ahead. The survey revealed...