Being the CFO of an early-stage, PE-backed company means balancing a lot of spinning plates while juggling several chainsaws as you walk a tightrope over an alligator pit. Additional pressure is mounting this year, though, with less capital to go around, an almost record-breaking number of deals and exits in 2025, and sponsors concerned their portco CFOs may not be hitting the mark.

But a recent report from private equity CFO consultancy Accordion offers insights into how these CFOs can balance demands, push growth, and deliver to sponsors all at once.

The report, co-authored by Accordion CFO Jon Apter and Charlesbank talent operating partner Elizabeth Noyes, combines their own insights with data from Accordion’s 2025 State of the PE Sponsor & CFO Relationship survey.

Combining their takeaways, Apter and Noyes wrote, “When you build the company you are becoming, buy back your time, operate above the close, scale through talent and treat numbers as a strategic asset, your influence expands.”

For more on the different skill sets CFOs need, read on.—DL

AI technology can be incorporated into “every part” of dealmaking, or so we’re told.

But, as one astute viewer pointed out in a recent CFO Brew webinar, organizations are likely inundated with shiny AI tools that promise to revolutionize their M&A strategy. CFOs can help their companies avoid becoming victims of purchasing the wrong tools, and consequently wasting precious resources, with the right approach, experts told CFO Brew.

“One of the biggest mistakes that companies make, and I’m sure we are victim to this exact same mistake here at Pega, is you focus too much on activity and you don’t focus on outcomes,” Ken Stillwell, CFO and COO of workflow software platform Pega, said.

While it’s fine to experiment a bit with the technology, “if you really want to look at anchoring AI tools, you should first start with, what is the outcome that you want to change,” Stillwell continued. As others recently confided to Morning Brew, companies are (hopefully) moving on from the “tokenmaxxing” craze.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people are starting with the tool…and it’s almost like ‘I’m going to try to figure out how AI can help me,’” he said. “You’re not going to have a great feeling of reward from what you get if you don’t really know what problem you’re trying to solve.”

Keep reading for more AI pitfalls to avoid.—AZ

We’re halfway there, and as a wise man from New Jersey once said, we’re livin’ on a prayer.

Here at the midpoint of the year, it’s worth taking a look back at the biggest winners and losers of 2026 thus far—and looking ahead at what the rest of the year may bring.

Let’s start with the good news: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each clinched their best first half of a year since 2024, but the true winners were the Dow, which climbed 8.85% in the last six months for its best start to a year since 2021, and the Russell 2000, which soared 21.1%, its best first half since 1991.

The Russell 2000, which focuses on small-cap stocks, rose as the AI trade broadened from the Mag 7 into smaller chipmakers and semiconductor equipment manufacturers like Aehr Test Systems (up 472% YTD) and Ichor Holdings (up 430% YTD). Meanwhile, the Dow rallied as investors rotated out of big tech and into the sort of safer, more conservative stock picks the Dow specializes in.

Don’t let the market’s recent pivot away from tech fool you, however: The AI trade still reigns supreme, even if the names at the top of the leaderboard have changed over the years.

For a closer look at AI and what lies ahead in the second half, read on at Brew Markets.—MR