The idea that started it all.
French & Wattle was born from a conviction shared by two inspiring senior leaders: that Finance organisations could be built and run far better — and that doing so required people who had led complex Finance functions from the inside, not just advised from the outside.
Serena Tolley and Etienne Marot each spent the better part of their careers inside one of the world's largest global banking institutions — leading large teams, delivering complex change programmes, and redesigning Finance functions at scale. Together, their experience spans Finance operations, financial reporting, risk, regulation, systems architecture, and transformational change across major financial centres in Australia, France, India, Hong Kong, and London.
When they left, they brought with them something that no advisory model can easily replicate: the knowledge of what it actually takes to build a high-performing Finance function — from the people and culture to the technology and governance frameworks that hold it together.
"Make Finance organisations more efficient, more controlled, and more effective — by aligning people, processes and systems to deliver measurable performance."
Our offer is insight and advice grounded in tangible experience inside complex organisations. We don't just write strategies — we support full implementation, because we know that's where the real value is created.
