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The CEO Imperative series
Disruption never sleeps. And corporate transformation should never stand still. According to our January 2025 EY-Parthenon CEO Outlook Survey, the most confident CEOs recognize this. They have finely tuned their risk radars to understand what is most likely to challenge their business models – and are prepared to act boldly to bypass any bumps in the road.
The most confident executives also understand that true transformation is multifaceted. It is a combination of organic and inorganic actions – and M&A is likely to be a transformation accelerant in 2025. In a highly competitive environment, unlocking value from deals becomes more of an imperative. The most confident CEOs see that clearly, with seven out of 10 signaling a strong M&A appetite for the next 12 months, while only 17% of the least confident business leaders have the same ambitions.
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Seven in 10 of Singapore CEOs covered in the survey feel optimistic about the global outlook for the coming year. Yet, when it comes to addressing industry disruption, they do not consider themselves ahead of the curve in effectively handling the external forces at play.
Today’s business leaders are acutely aware of the prospects and risks associated with the disruptive forces shaping the commercial landscape. A combination of pragmatic optimism and a fear of being left behind is expected to drive investment and activity over the coming months. Singapore firms face greater pressure from global geopolitical challenges given their business exposure to jurisdictions around the world. At the same time, emerging technologies, such as generative AI, have brought the war for talent closer to their doorsteps. Hence, CEOs need to move from being reactive to proactive to get ahead and capitalize on the disruptive forces at play.
Most of the surveyed CEOs in Singapore are planning some form of transaction over the next 12 months — via M&A (48%), divestments or IPOs (40%), or a strategic partnership with a third party (33%).
Notably, intangibles such as technology, customers and brand names can become attractive M&A propositions in the information age today as they are value accretive without overloading the balance sheet. However, companies need to be mindful of the disconnect between portfolio and necessary M&A actions, the lack of effective metrics to measure how business units contribute to strategy and total shareholder return, and the difficulty in comparing against industry performance benchmarks for transactions involving intangibles.
At the same time, the top disruptive issue that will collectively shape CEO activity over the coming year is changing regulations. This is followed by the elevated cost of capital, changing customer needs, the altering global economic and geopolitical environment, access to talent, and emerging technology.
As Singapore is a trade-reliant economy, it is hardly surprising that evolving regulations is a top concern. Hence, any perceived tightening of regulations, especially those affecting cross-border trades, can have a material impact on Singapore enterprises. Therefore, scenario planning and supply chain risk management will be key. Changing customer needs is also concerning as customers today are constantly bombarded with information and choice, so companies need to continually innovate and differentiate themselves to remain appealing.
This section includes contributions from Sriram Changali, EY-Parthenon Asean Value Creation Leader and Andre Toh, EY Asean and Asia-Pacific Valuation, Modeling & Economics Leader.
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The CEO Confidence Index measures executives’ outlook on the macroeconomic environment and company performance, which is part of the EY-Parthenon CEO Outlook Survey series. Higher Index values indicate a more positive sentiment regarding the future state of the economy and their businesses. The latest Global CEO Confidence Index shows a modest three-point increase since September 2024, indicating strengthening CEOs' optimism about the next 12 months. CEOs are not yet overly bullish about the future, but improvements in growth expectations, access to talent, and investment opportunities are driving this increase.
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