_edited.png)
Download the 2026 Market Compensation Report FREE Through November 1
Behavioral intelligence built from 40 years of placements.
Leadership problems rarely begin with a resignation, a missed target or a difficult board meeting. Built on 40 years of departure pattern data, TalentFuel helps organizations recognize those changes through a monthly intelligence publication available to any subscriber or customized briefings specific to their executives.
Powered by Cochran, Cochran & Yale — 40 years of executive placement intelligence | For customized intelligence subscriptions, request access →
40
Years of pattern data
87%
Four-year retention rate
400+
Executives placed and tracked
9-14
Months of advance warning
Your leaders may still be doing the job. But are they still building the future?
The earliest signs of disengagement can appear 12–18 months before they reach the numbers. The question you ask today could change what happens six months from now.
After 40 years of placing executives, watching leadership teams evolve and learning from the searches organizations never expected to need, we have seen how expensive that delay can become.
TalentFuel was built from those lessons so you can recognize the pattern before you are forced to react to the outcome.
Signal 1 — Earliest Indicator
Communication frequency drops
Appears 9–14 months before departure. The CFO becomes reactive rather than proactive. Operating partners read it as “measured.” It isn’t.
01
Signal 2
Board packages go analytically thin
Numbers stay accurate. The narrative disappears. Operating partners notice something feels off but attribute it to a busy quarter. That feeling is diagnostic.
02
Signal 3
Working capital flatlines at month 18
A PE-capable CFO drives measurable DSO and cash conversion improvement in the first 18 months. Flatness is a capability signal, not a market signal.
03
Four more documented signals
The full departure pattern system
Each with a detection window, an operating partner interpretation guide, and a calibrated retention response. Delivered the first Tuesday of every month.
+4
.png)
The right intelligence for the decision in front of you.
Knowing something has changed is only the beginning. TalentFuel gives leaders the market context, behavioral intelligence and experienced support to understand what is happening and decide what to do next.
Start with the intelligence you need now.
MARKET COMPENSATION REPORT
Know what the role is really worth.
Understand what organizations are paying financial leaders across revenue levels and ownership structures. Use current market intelligence to evaluate compensation, recognize potential retention risks and prepare for more informed conversations about the role you are asking someone to lead.
Available free through November 1.
PRODUCT 01
INSIGHTS + EPI
See what is changing before the outcome is decided.
Recognize changes in leadership behavior before they become departures or performance problems. Receive shared or organization-specific intelligence, including retention guidance, the Retention Risk Audit and Management Assessment, to understand the signals and determine what to do next.
PRODUCT 02
ELEVATE | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Turn insight into a plan for growth.
Move from understanding leadership to developing it. Elevate combines ongoing intelligence, assessment and personalized development planning to help individual leaders and teams recognize where they are, strengthen the behaviors that matter and build intentionally toward what comes next.
PRODUCT 03
COMPASS | EXECUTIVE COACHING
Lead through what
comes next.
Navigate complex decisions with confidential guidance grounded in real leadership experience. Compass helps executives understand what is happening around them, recognize how their behavior is shaping the organization and move forward with greater clarity, confidence and intention.
PRODUCT 04
RETENTION INTELLIGENCE SUBSCRIPTION
See the risk before the resignation.
Begin with the Retention Risk Audit, then receive monthly intervention intelligence calibrated to the specific signals it identifies. Quarterly re-audits measure what is changing, creating one continuous retention system for diagnosis, action and progress tracking.
PRODUCT 05
2026 MARKET COMPENSATION REPORT
You cannot retain exceptional leaders with an average understanding of the market.
Compensation is not simply a number attached to a title. It reflects the pressure of the role, the pace of the organization, the ownership structure and what the leader is expected to make possible. A PE-backed company may pay 35–80% more in total cash than a comparable privately held company at the same revenue level, making company size only one part of the compensation story.
The 2026 TalentFuel Financial Leadership Compensation Report gives you a clearer view of what companies are actually paying across revenue levels and ownership structures, so you can make decisions around the role you are truly asking someone to lead.
INSIDE THE REPORT:
● CFO base salary across eight revenue tiers ($5M–$1B+)
● Total compensation by five ownership structures
● PE equity structure worked examples with real dollar outcomes
● 12 geographic salary adjustment tables
● 83(b) election guide for PE-backed executives
_edited.png)