Cyber-security is a key concern of CEOs and boards of large US corporations; there are two kinds of companies: those that have been attacked before and those that will be attacked again.

A panel at this morning’s National Association of Corporate Directors meeting in Boston, including the CEOs of Citizens Bank US, medical device giant Covidien and Liberty Mutual Insurance, all agreed that cyber risk is growing and inevitable; Boards are paying more attention to assuring enterprise security, and some companies hire outside hackers in an effort to break into their own systems, thus identifying weaknesses.

What else do the chairs and CEOs of our largest New England corporations have on their minds as we swing into the Fall season? 

Growth in the US will be moderate and all are looking at emerging markets.  Everyone is looking internationally, particularly where there is an emerging middle class.

Finding the balance between short term performance and long-term growth remains a problem, given varied constituencies within shareholding base—do you cater to the day traders or the institutional long-term investors?  The answer seems to be: a little of both.

Over-regulation (read: Dodd Frank) in the US is a continuing depressant on growth here; no one even mentioned Europe, Syria, even the budget. 

Finally, everyone is now focused on shareholder engagement, not just at proxy season but as a full-time commitment; one wonders whether “say on pay” has any impact on this heightened awareness of shareholder relations.