When it comes to preparing for the future, U.S. businesses are acting with caution, according to the newly released TD Bank Corporate Finance Survey, with more than half of survey respondents preparing for an economic downturn. However, 83% of participants still have a positive outlook on the economy.

The survey examined more than 300 CFOs, treasurers and other financial professionals’ perspectives on the economy, business environment, geopolitical trends and growth plans to better understand challenges and opportunities in the market.

The top actions respondents are taking to prepare for a downturn are:

• Developing investment strategies (49%),
• Cutting back expenses (39%)
• Working on reducing debt levels (34%)
• Monitoring cash flow (34%)

Among those preparing for a downturn, those who are optimistic about the U.S. economy in the long term are more likely to develop an investment strategy, with 58% preparing to invest compared to 36% of pessimistic finance professionals.

“CFOs, treasurers and financial decision-makers should monitor economic uncertainty,” said Stephen Foley, head of Corporate Banking at TD Bank. “With headwinds on the horizon in the form of changing tariffs and trade policies and potential inflationary pressures, finance professionals should act now and work with a financial partner to determine viable debt and cash flow plans.”

Executives do feel positive about the health of their own business. Ninety-four percent report they are optimistic about the future and consider the health of their business “excellent” or “good”. Despite their confident outlook, finance professionals acknowledge that geopolitical factors will impact their business this year.

The top factors that will impact their financial decision-making are:

• Tariffs and trade policies (35%)
• Interest rates (34%)
• Consumer confidence (34%).

Finance executives acknowledge the challenges of tariffs and trade policies more than non-executives: 42% believe it will impact their financial decision-making this year compared with 22% of non-finance executives.

When assessing their business priorities for the next year, finance professionals are focused on growth and innovation. According to the survey, the top two business priorities next year are investment in technology and innovation (45%) and expansion into new markets (44%). More specifically, finance professionals report their business plans this year include technological upgrades (39%), launching new products (39%) and leveraging disruptive technology (35%).

“Among finance professionals the mindset is growth and optimism,” said Foley. “As they determine their strategies to achieve growth in a strong economy, they’ll still need to allocate capital to invest back into their business. Financial decision-makers now find themselves contending with a competitive business environment where a consistent model for achieving growth is paramount.”

A whitepaper, “Guarded Optimism Prevails as Executives Chart the Future,” provides more details and analysis on the findings here.

Research company Maru/Matchbox conducted the survey among a nationally representative sample of executive financial decision makers. The online fieldwork occurred between May 1st and May 8th, 2019. In total, 300 completes were gathered in the U.S. Margin of Error on a random sample of this size is +/- 5.66%.