Chief financial officers at the largest firms in the UK have the highest appetite for risk now than at any time in the past seven years, according to a third-quarter 2014 survey by Deloitte.

Chief financial officers at the largest firms in the UK have the highest appetite for risk now than at any time in the past seven years, according to a third-quarter 2014 survey by Deloitte.

The survey, which gauged the views of 118 chief financial officers of FTSE 350 and other large private UK companies, suggests that risk appetite is being supported by a rebound in the US economy, UK growth and easy access to finance.

Some 72 per cent of CFOs say now is a good time to take risk onto their balance sheets, up from 65 per cent in the second quarter of this and three times the level (23 per cent a year earlier).

However, their perceptions of economic and financial uncertainty rose in the third quarter for the first time in two years. Some 56 per cent said the level of financial and economic uncertainty facing their business was above normal, high or very high, up from 49 per cent in Q2 2014. Scotland’s independence referendum [18 September] seems to have been a dominant factor.

Sentiment about the euro area has deteriorated markedly, with a net percentage of -39 per cent seeing improving prospects for the region, down from +54 per cent in Q1 2014. Confidence in emerging markets continued to decline, with a net balance seeing an improvement of -13 per cent. By contrast CFOs are upbeat on prospects for the UK, a net balance of +85 per cent reported improved growth prospects.