MENA Investment Banking Review First Nine Months 2022

02-11-2022 | treasuryXL | Refinitiv | LinkedIn |

Refinitiv Deals Intelligence brings you the MENA Investment Banking performance review, covering First Nine Months 2022.
Access this report for Investment Banking fees, volumes, and league tables across M&A, Equity Capital Markets, and Debt Capital Markets. Examine deal flows, top deals, most active nations, and most active sectors.

 


Report Highlights

INVESTMENT BANKING FEES 
An estimated US$1.1 billion worth of investment banking fees were generated in the Middle East & North Africa during the first nine months of 2022, 5% more than the same period in 2021 and the highest first nine-month total since 2008.  Almost half of this year’s fees were generated during the first three months of the year, with quarterly fees declining in the following two quarters.  Fees totalled US$186.4 million during the third quarter of 2022, the lowest quarterly total in the region in six years.
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
The value of announced M&A transactions with any MENA involvement reached US$69.7 billion during the first nine months of 2022, 17% less than the value recorded during the same period in 2021.  Despite the decline in value, the number of deal announcements in the region increased 5% from last year to the highest first nine-month total since our records began in 1980.
EQUITY CAPITAL MARKETS
MENA equity and equity-related issuance totalled US$15.3 billion during the first nine months of 2022, the highest first nine-month total since 2008.  Proceeds raised by companies in the region increased 166% compared to the first nine months of 2021, while the number of issues increased 110%.
DEBT CAPITAL MARKETS
MENA debt issuance totalled US$18.3 billion during the first nine months of 2022, down 80% from the value recorded during the same period in 2021 and the lowest first nine-month total since 2011.  The number of issues declined 68% from last year at this time.

Download the report


Interview | 8 questions for Konstantin Khorev, Seasoned Treasury Professional

01-11-2022 | treasuryXL | Konstantin Khorev | LinkedIn |

 

Meet our newest expert for the treasuryXL community, Konstantin Khorev.

Konstantin has 18+ years of experience in corporate treasury, gained in various environments: from public companies with +100BUSD turnover, to PE and privately owned companies, as well as at a prominent treasury consulting firm.

Being exposed to a wide range of different challenges and projects, Konstantin has built a strong expertise in the full spectrum of treasury and risk activities and in cross-functional collaboration and treasury partnership with business operations, tax, accounting, audit, and internal control.

Konstantin holds a Ph.D. degree in financial mathematics and is a CFA charter holder since 2009.

 

We asked Konstantin 8 questions, let’s go!

INTERVIEW

 


1. How did your treasury journey start?

In 2005 I changed my career path from investment management to corporate finance with a leading oil major. Couple of years later, being already a professional with several years of experience in related areas, I decided to join the treasury department within the same company. I made my decision mainly because of a great team and a lot of challenging projects there – we basically were requested to bring best practices into treasury function in multinational corporation with +100BUSD turnover. The first project was setting up an international multicurrency cash pool structure.

2. What do you like about working in Treasury?

Cross-functional collaboration (business, accounting, FP&A, tax), possibility to implement projects that make structural changes, e.g. in how company manages cash and financial risks, make payments, automate processes, etc.

3. What is your Treasury Expertise and what expertise gives you a boost of energy?

Change and project management, setting up a function from scratch or bringing best treasury practices, with special personal interest in the area of automation and data analysis. Having my first background in mathematics and computer science I also like to develop my own IT solutions (python, VBA, SAP scripting) that can solve certain automation or data problems and thus bridge a gap between client’s needs and available market solutions. Observing the professional growth of team members, I am coaching or used to coach is also a big source of excitement to me.

4. What has been your best experience in your treasury career until today?

I would say I can not highlight one single project. I enjoy and I am proud of every moment when I see the change realized, or cost-reduction/value-added created.

5. What has been your biggest challenge in treasury?

Setting up supply chain financing in a country where our team and company have been among pioneers implementing the product. Apart from tax, legal, accounting challenges related to the jurisdiction, as well as bank negotiation it required a lot of effort to explain the benefits and persuade all the stakeholders (from CFO to supply managers and suppliers). The ultimate result was more than rewarding: win-win solution both for the company decreasing working capital needs by 50% and for the suppliers getting access to much cheaper (and sometimes even unavailable at all) bank financing.

6. What’s the most important lesson that you’ve learned as a treasurer?

Invest time explaining what treasury is about and why certain things are crucial for internal counterparties.

7. How have you seen the role of Corporate Treasury evolve over the years?

Playing bigger and bigger role as a business partner to other functions. Embedding more opportunities that are provided by IT solutions.

8. What developments do you expect in corporate treasury in the near and further future?

Automation and machine learning to play more role in daily and later strategical treasury operations. Distributed Ledger Technology (blockchain is an example) still to show its full potential. Fintech companies substituting banks in more areas and having bigger market size.

 

Want to connect with Konstantin? Click here

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Kendra Keydeniers

Director Community & Partners, treasuryXL

How important is it for you that someone has a well-known Treasury degree?

31-10-2022 | treasuryXL LinkedIn |

The fifth edition in which we discuss the latest poll, is available for your reading. We show how treasurers voted to express their opinions on a current issue, and several of our treasury experts will talk about their perspectives.

We thank our experts Konstantin Khorev,  Arnoud Doornbos and François De Witte for sharing their valuable views on this topic in this edition.

How important is it for you that someone has a well-known Treasury degree?

There are plenty of education and training courses in treasury, with the aim of obtaining treasury certificates. We wanted to explore how important you think this is, in the job market or for other things. There was a very good participation in the poll, resulting in a record 113 votes. Thank you everyone for actively participating, and join us in voting for the poll that is currently live and let’s try break the record votes right away!

Question: How important is it for you that someone has a well-known Treasury degree? On the job market or for other things?

How do treasures think of a treasury degree?

We see a considerable spread of votes. A large proportion of treasurers value expertise more than a degree. On the other hand, a large proportion considers a treasury degree minimally of high importance. Some of our treasuryXL experts from different backgrounds explained their views on the subject.

View of treasuryXL experts

Konstantin Khorev

Konstantin voted for the option that a treasury degree is a guarantee of quality.

” Specific, treasury-focused education certainly makes sense.”

From the perspective of a recruitment manager who has conducted a number of interviews, I find that a standard academic programme does not focus enough on the topics relevant to the treasury function.

For example, I note that too many candidates for treasury positions find it difficult to understand or don’t know FX forward pricing (relationship between interest rate differential, spot and forward pricing), or don’t understand the difference/relationship between net income and cash flows, etc.

And, of course, these are only general topics; other topics – like cash pooling or hedge accounting are just not part of the regular curriculum. Therefore, specific, treasury-focused education certainly makes sense.


Arnoud Doornbos

Arnoud voted for the option that a treasury degree is just one of the key aspects.

” There are also elements that you can never learn from a book”

A treasury degree is a great start to a career in treasury. But after having interviewed many candidates in my life, I am also convinced that practice is also a very good learning opportunity. There are also elements that you can never learn from a book. You must have done that. But a treasury degree is a nice theoretical framework to start with.

In treasury you have to think in terms of cash flows and risks. In addition, you still need some understanding of financing, how to price it in relation to the risk that the bank runs on your company.

I don’t have a treasury degree myself, but I am completely self-made man. After 25 years in dealing rooms of banks and then 9 years as a treasury consultant, I think I have seen all facets of the profession.


François de Witte

François voted for the option that a treasury degree is a guarantee of quality.

” It is key to ensure that both the candidates and the current treasury staff keep their treasury knowledge updated”

Within Finance, Treasury is a fast-moving activity, which requires in addition to the soft skills a lot of technical skills and competencies. We are in the war for talent, and we experience more and more staff rotation. Hence it is key to ensure that both the candidates and the current treasury staff keep their treasury knowledge updated.

Several programs have been developed, the most well known being the ACT Certificate in Treasury Fundamentals. In the Netherlands NIVE also organizes the QCM (Qualified Cash manager) and QT (Qualified Treasurer) training. In Luxembourg, ATEL organizes with the House of Training the Certificate in International Treasury Management and Corporate Finance, with a Fundamentals version and an Advanced version.

Some treasury associations partnering with universities to provide treasury certification. In France, the AFTE has teamed up with the university of Paris Sorbonne, the university of Rennes and the University of Lille to develop a full master program in Treasury Management.

We also have in the Netherlands the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam who organizes the postgraduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance program combining two finance disciplines which largely overlap and are inextricably connected: Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. It has now been running for more than 20 years.

Beside this we have a lot of other treasury trainings organized by organizations such as Van Groningen, Finsiders Academy, Orchard Finance, etc. However, they do not offer a certification.

In an ever more sophisticating environment, and in view of the increased regulations, it is for me key to look at certified trainings to build a solid background in a Treasury Management field. It enables to meet other talented treasurers and teachers. In addition, thanks to the certification, based upon an examination and/or end paper, you can get a additional quality label, which can be very useful in your career.

In this respect, I wish to share my personal experience in a completely different area. I am currently looking for Board Mandates and realized that there also a certification can be useful. Hence I have started the Guberna programme to become a Guberna Certified Director.

In the event that due to circumstances, you cannot follow certified trainings, you can also get a certification thanks to the Treasurer Test developed by treasuryXL.

Optimising cash and liquidity through currency management

31-10-2022 | treasuryXL | Kantox | LinkedIn |

Can you improve cash and liquidity management with the help of more effective currency management? The answer is: yes, you can! In this article, we see how currency management and cash management are, in effect, joined at the hip.


Five important touchpoints

There are at least five crucial, yet sometimes unduly neglected, touchpoints between FX risk management and cash or liquidity management. Let me briefly set the stage first. Then I will discuss their interactions.

(1) Swapping. Adjusting the company’s hedging position to the cash settlement of the underlying commercial exposure requires a lot of swapping.

(2) Collateral. In a world of shifting interest rates, treasurers need solutions that allow them to optimise collateral management.

(3) Working capital management. Solutions to improve working capital and liquidity are rarely mentioned in the context of FX risk management. Yet, they exist!

(4) Netting. Netting allows companies to generate savings in trading costs and in terms of the cash balances needed to satisfy collateral requirements.

(5) Cash flow forecasting. According to a recent survey by HSBC, more than half of treasurers worldwide say that cash flow forecasting is the most important task in treasury.

How and when currency management meets liquidity management

Take the case of a hedging program designed to protect the FX budget rate. It includes stop-loss orders to protect the FX rate used in pricing or a ‘worst-case scenario’ FX rate. It can also include profit-taking orders to lock in more favourable exchange rates.

As long as the stop-loss orders are not hit, hedge execution is postponed. This means that the cash required for collateral requirements can be set aside at a later date. It also means that treasurers have more time to improve their cash flow forecasts.

And it’s not over yet! Hedging incoming firm sales/purchase orders or invoices leads to very precise currency hedging. This means that purchasing managers are in a position to buy confidently in the currency of their suppliers. These, in turn, will be more inclined to grant extended paying terms.

With the perfect end-to-end traceability that comes with automated programs, managers can safely aggregate exposures without fear of losing the benefits of data granularity. This can create more netting opportunities, again reducing the need to set aside cash in terms of collateral.

Finally, swapping can be easily automated.

And voilà!

Feedback effects

That’s how effective FX risk management ends up improving liquidity management. Note that the process feeds on itself. Let me give you an example. Because swap automation releases valuable treasury resources, treasurers can take advantage of the benefits of using more currencies. Automated swap execution, therefore, improves not only the cash management part of the FX workflow but also —indirectly— working capital management.

That’s what I call a win-win situation!

Brush up on your treasury knowledge? Get our eBook: What is Treasury?

27-10-2022 | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

How can you fast brush up on your treasury expertise, Treasurers, CFOs, Cash Managers, Controllers, and other Finance Addicts? Or how would you describe “What Treasury is” to family and friends? Well, there is an easy solution for it. Download our free eBook here: What is Treasury?

This eBook compiled by treasury describers all aspects of the treasury function. This comprehensive book covers relevant topics such as Treasury, Corporate Finance, Cash Management, Risk Management, Working Capital Management.

This eBook was prepared by treasuryXL based on the most useful best practices offered by Treasury professionals throughout the previous years. We compiled the most crucial information for you and wrote clear, concise articles about the key topics in the World of Treasury.

We took a deeper dive into each of the above-mentioned treasury functions and highlight:

  • The purpose of each named Treasury function (What is?)
  • What specialists do
  • Examples of Activities
  • Summary of Frequently Asked Questions and answers
  • Conclusion

How to receive the eBook ‘What is Treasury’ for Free?

We simply giveaway two presents for you! By signing up for our newsletter you will automatically receive the following in your inbox:

  1. On Fridays, our Coffee Break weekly newsletter will land in your inbox. In this weekly newsletter, we will highlight the whole week full of the latest treasury news within our community.
  2. The 41 pages eBook, What is Treasury?

 

Subscribe, Join, Download and Relax.

Welcome to our community and have fun reading!

 

 

Director, Community & Partners at treasuryXL

 

 

Understanding the Importance of Working Capital for Treasury

27-10-2022 | treasuryXL | TIS | LinkedIn |

Working capital is a critical consideration for any business – particularly in an uncertain economic environment. If a company’s working capital is not managed effectively, the company may struggle to meet its obligations, secure the right level of funding, or invest in growth. But for many companies, gaining full visibility over working capital is often a difficult task – especially given how it is an activity that spans many different parts of the business.

Going a step further, recent economic and geopolitical events from the past couple of years have presented even more challenges to working capital management. In fact, PwC’s Working Capital Study 21/22 found that net working capital days reached a five-year high in 2020, “driven by the shock and uncertainty of the COVID 19 pandemic.” More recently, the 2022 AFP Strategic Role of Treasury Survey identified working capital improvements as one of the two most challenging tasks faced by treasury professionals today.

In order to manage working capital effectively, companies first need to understand it – you can’t manage what you can’t measure, as the saying goes. With this in mind, let’s dive a bit deeper into the core dynamics of working capital and the subsequent implications for treasury and finance.

What is Working Capital Anyway?

Simply put, working capital is the cash that businesses can use to meet their day-to-day financial obligations, such as for paying rent, employee salaries, and supplier invoices. Calculated as the difference between a firm’s current assets and its current liabilities, a strong working capital position is essential to the smooth running of any company. For this reason, working capital is often described as the lifeblood of a business.

Working capital can be measured using a variety of metrics. The following concepts are key when it comes to understanding the component parts of the working capital cycle:

 

 

  1. Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) measures how long it takes a company to collect cash from customers and clients (i.e. accounts receivable).
  2. Days Payables Outstanding (DPO) measures how long the company takes to pay its suppliers (i.e. accounts payable).
  3. Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO) measures how quickly the company sells its inventory.
  4. Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) measures how long the company takes to convert the cash spent on raw materials into sales. This is calculated as follows: CCC = DSO + DIO – DPO.

As a rule of thumb, the shorter a company’s cash conversion cycle, the more efficiently it is using its working capital – although typical cash conversion cycle times can vary considerably between different industries, world regions, and company sizes. Any company’s cash conversion cycle can also be adjusted by optimizing one or more of the above components: companies can speed up customer collections, delay/expedite payments to suppliers, and/or alter the timeframe that cash is tied up in inventory.


You might also like: What is Working Capital Management, examples of typical acitivties and frequently asked questions; Explained by treasuryXL experts


How Does Working Capital Impact Treasury & Finance?

Treasury and finance teams have an important role to play in optimizing their company’s working capital.  Working capital is critical to a company’s financial health: if the business doesn’t have enough cash readily available, it may struggle to pay its obligations on time. It may also seek more external financing than is really needed or may lack the funds needed to invest in innovation or business growth.

In order to effectively manage these cash inflows and outflows, treasury must not only have an accurate and timely view of their “current” working capital status, but they must also have a grip on future cash flows as well. This means that treasury must be proactive in developing cash forecasts that reflect anticipated changes in working capital, including deviations in supplier invoicing or payment behavior, as well as changes to the level of planned spend by procurement and other internal departments.

By working with other departments such as procurement, AP, and AR, the treasury team is well placed to drive improvements to the cash conversion cycle and unlock the company’s working capital. Because treasury typically seeks to maintain global visibility and control over cash positions, payments activity, and general financial workflows, they are in the perfect position to evaluate and influence high-level working capital decisions. For this reason, treasury is sometimes referred to as the “steward” of working capital internally.

However, there are a variety of hurdles that can negatively impact treasury’s view of, and control over, working capital.

 

Challenges in Managing Working Capital

While the importance of effective working capital management is clear, there are a number of reasons why this can be a challenge:

 

 

Disparate Data Sources: By its nature, managing working capital means optimizing activities that span different departments within the organization, including accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR) and procurement, as well as treasury and finance. Working capital needs to be managed holistically, with access to data from these different parts of the business – but this can be constrained by siloes and disparate systems and data sources.

Lack of Alignment & Communication: Effective working capital management can be held back by a lack of awareness or competing priorities across different parts of the business. Because there are a range of departments that need to be on the same page in order to drive working capital optimization, it can be difficult to align the KPIs and drivers of each department to achieve a cohesive strategy. For this reason, a strong focus on working capital is needed from senior management in order to ensure a consistent approach across the organization.

Global Operational Complexity: Payment practices, vendor or customer behavior, and internal business models can vary considerably across different countries and regions, which can make it difficult to manage working capital consistently at a global level.

Supply Chain Relationships: The relationship a company maintains with its vendors and suppliers within the supply chain can have a massive impact on working capital. For example, companies frequently adjust their working capital position by either reducing or extending the time they take to pay invoices to suppliers. However, these strategies can have an adverse impact on vendor relationships, especially if companies choose to delay payment as long as possible. As such, working capital strategies that focus on altering vendor invoicing or payment terms should always be treated carefully.

 

How Does TIS Help Treasury Manage Working Capital?

In order to drive improvements to working capital, treasury teams first need full visibility over their company’s global cash, payments, and invoicing activity. As noted above, obtaining this data in an accurate and timely manner presents a major challenge for most companies, as does the task of effectively analyzing and leveraging it.

In order to simplify these tasks for treasury, TIS recently launched a new solution, TIS Working Capital Insights, which provides companies with 360-degree visibility over their core working capital metrics and KPIs.

 

 

With this suite of capabilities, organizations can seamlessly integrate their ERPs and corresponding AP and AR data with our solution in order to review payment terms and behavior for vendors and customers, analyze invoice and billing activity, and measure all elements related to their net working capital status and cash conversion cycle.

As TIS enables clients to aggregate and classify their data, users can evaluate their metrics globally or granularly according to specific entities, regions, or customers and suppliers. Users can also leverage TIS’ visual dashboards for intuitive reporting and refine their analyses by any timeframe to view activity and cash flows through customizable and flexible parameters.

By leveraging these tools in conjunction with TIS’ other liquidity and payment management solutions, organizations can access all data and information related to their global cash balances, payment statuses, and broader working capital operations for the entire company. The result is total visibility and control over working capital, and a much easier workflow for identifying the best strategies to optimize it.

For more information about TIS Working Capital solutions, download the full factsheet or request to speak with one of our experts!


Live Panel Discussion: Treasury Trends for 2023

25-10-2022 | treasuryXL | Nomentia | LinkedIn |

 

Join us on our live panel discussion about treasury trends for 2023. Together with Nomentia we invited industry experts who will have an open discussion on the things you need to consider as a treasurer in the year 2023. There’s the possibility to ask questions as well.

 

 

Some of the topics we’ll cover:

  • Market and FX Risk management in current times of uncertainty.
  • Top treasury technologies to consider for 2023.
  • Will APIs deliver their promises?
  • Building the bridge between Ecommerce and treasury.
  • The rapidly changing role of treasury to facilitate business success
  • Treasury technology visions beyond 2023.p

 

November 17 | 11 am CET | 45 minutes

Panel discussion members:

Pieter de Kiewit, Owner of Treasurer Search (Moderator)
Patrick Kunz, Independent Treasury Expert (Panel member)
Niki van Zanten, Independent Treasury Expert (Panel member)
Huub Wevers, Head of Sales at Nomentia (Panel member)

 

 


 

 

 

Crisis After Crisis, Treasury Steps into the Advisor Role

24-10-2022 | treasuryXL | Kyriba | LinkedIn |

From the 2008 global financial crisis to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, treasury departments have served as strategic advisors regarding capital structure, liquidity and finance operations. Without the guidance and leadership of treasury management in these critical moments, many organizations would not have survived. But it begs the question—what can companies do on an ongoing basis to best position themselves for when the next crisis happens?

By Andrew Deichler
Content Manager, Strategic Marketing

Source

The Company Vaccine

Treasury is often viewed as a bit of a niche area. Even though virtually every company has some semblance of a treasury department and the function has been around for a long time, many departments outside of finance don’t really know what treasury does. That’s essential for understanding the value of the function.

But as Lee-Ann Perkins, CTP, FCT, assistant treasurer for Specialized Bicycle Components, explained, they suddenly have a wake-up call when a crisis occurs. “During COVID and the financial crisis, treasury became that department that had a chance to shine,” she said. “I think, myself and other treasury folks, used that opportunity to really raise the profile of the treasury department.”

In the case of the pandemic specifically, companies relied on treasury to immediately get them into a better liquidity position and procure PPP loans if needed. “Treasury was the department that ran with those projects,” Perkins said. “We have the relationships with the banks, and we understand the importance of covering liquidity and covering covenants.”

Much of what treasury does is forward-looking—constantly future-proofing the organization. And in crises like the pandemic or the current supply chain shortage where cash is paramount, the C-suite looks to treasury to make sure the company can withstand future shocks. “I think, along with the heads of accounting, finance and tax, treasury has become known as our own department that can provide useful answers to the C-suite,” Perkins said. “During COVID, I made this analogy that the treasury department should really be the ‘prevention’ department. We want to be the vaccine that’s out there to prevent you from needing the medicine in the first place.”

But for the vaccine analogy to really be accurate, shouldn’t treasury already have that voice as an advisor? There will always be another crisis around the corner, but if companies are already listening closely to what treasury has to say, they might be able to weather those events much more efficiently than if they were asking for treasury’s advice at the last minute.

Building Strategic Relationships

Perhaps the most important relationship a treasurer can have in an organization is with the CFO. The CFO is typically the one that represents finance (and treasury by extension) in meetings with the CEO and the board. But if a treasurer has a good relationship with the CFO, that CFO may bring the treasurer into those conversations, explained Jim Gilligan, former assistant treasurer for Evergy and currently senior vice president of MFR Securities. “If you have a CFO that recognizes the strategic value of treasury in those executive discussions, then that goes a long way towards becoming a strategic partner,” he said.

The treasurer’s personality and skill set are also important factors in this regard; treasurers shouldn’t just hope the CFO notices them. “If you have a personality that allows you to interject yourself in those sorts of strategic discussions, then that could help to get you a seat at table,” Gilligan added. “If you’re not that type of personality or your CFO does not necessarily recognize that specific skill set, then you’ve got to find a way to get yourself noticed.”

Getting noticed by the CFO and senior leadership isn’t easy. Treasury professionals can establish themselves by adding value in other areas of the business that they may not typically have much interaction with. For example, payment processing is handled through customer service at many companies. Customer service representatives may not be aware of some of the new payment rails and capabilities that have cropped up in recent years, like real-time payments. By getting involved and helping customer service adopt some of these new payment methods, treasury can show a lot of value, Gilligan explained.

Treasury can also better establish itself by developing relationships with the operational teams and inserting itself in the annual budget process, explained John Dourdis, CTP, a corporate treasurer most recently with Conair. “Say, ‘I want to be part of that.’ Because I think that gets a lot of attention with regard to CEOs and COOs,” he said. “That’s important to give yourself that visibility that treasury isn’t always going to have.”

Dourdis noted that, whatever the company’s business might be, treasury is not going be top of mind for operations. But operations and the C-suite might look to treasury sooner if it inserts itself in the budget process. And that can lead to treasury being involved in other areas, like the forecast update process.

Treasury would also be wise to get involved in 12-18-month strategic cash flow forecasting. CFOs have been prioritizing this area in recent years but have mostly relied on FP&A to do so, while leaving treasury to handle short-term forecasts. Treasury departments should reach out to FP&A to see how they can help in the process. With treasury’s overall proven track record of developing accurate forecasts, both FP&A and the CFO may welcome their input.

Treasury departments can also help companies with large debt burdens as interest rates begin to rise. With the era of inexpensive debt coming to a close, organizations could face strict enforcement of loan covenants. Treasury’s knowledge of covenant compliance and forecasting should help immensely in this regard; a bank may agree to amend a loan and add new covenants if financial projections are strong.

Strategy and Technology

Technology can play a key role in helping the treasury department establish itself further. With the latest treasury management software, team members can spend less time doing manual work and more time contributing strategically.

Easton Dickson, vice president and global treasurer for Bain & Co., believes that technology can improve the situation drastically. He has observed treasury teams spending copious amounts of time reacting to daily operations. And with a company as big as Bain that operates in over 40 countries, that means that any day of the week, treasury may have to resolve a mini-crisis in any part of the world, while maintaining its ongoing M&A activities, due diligence, etc.

“Operationally you’re bogged down,” he said. “And so, I think whatever we can do to streamline and automate processes will make it so much easier because it’s freeing up time.”

Those times of crisis typically shine a light on areas where companies need to sharpen their edges. “Maybe you’re underinvesting in technology and relying too heavily on manual processes,” explained Dana Laidhold, treasurer for Nasdaq. “You realize, now we need to move faster, and we’ve got tons and tons of people running manual processes that could be automated.”

But often in those chaotic moments, it can be too late to course correct. A treasury department that suddenly needs to provide liquidity positions to senior leadership on a weekly or even daily basis is going to be sufficiently challenged if they are relying solely on Excel. And at that point, there’s also no bandwidth to begin a treasury management system implementation project.

“I hope finance leaders have learned, having gone through the Great Recession and the pandemic, that it’s really important to think ahead,” Laidhold said. “It’s so much harder to backpedal than it is to build smartly along the way.”

It’s therefore incumbent on the treasury team to communicate to senior leadership what insights it needs to deliver and the right technology that can make that information more accessible and accurate. Treasury should vocalize the problems that it may need to solve in the future and whether it will need greater capabilities to do so.

Laidhold hypothesized that there might be a question that doesn’t need to be answered currently, but somewhere down the line it could become important. And there’s a type of analysis that treasury would need to do, but it doesn’t have the data or technology to do it yet. “So how do we plan today to be in the position to be able to do that? I think it’s myopic to assume that whatever situation you’re in now you’re going to be in forever,” she said.

Taking Action

The treasury department needs to be proactive if it wants to be seen as a strategic partner outside of times of crisis. That means adding value wherever possible, establishing strong relationships with senior leadership and other departments, and making the business case for technology that will improve its efficiency. Crises are happening more rapidly. Companies will be in much better shape for the next one if treasury is already at the table, providing necessary insights.

Learn More:

  1. AFP Treasury in Practice Guide: Treasury Opportunities in Strategic Cash Forecasting
  2. eBook: Perfecting the Cash Forecast


Interview | 8 questions for Sugandha Singhal, Vice President – Head Treasury at SRF Limited

24-10-2022 | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

 

We are so happy to embrace Sughanda Singhal as one of our newest treasuryXL experts for the community.

Sugandha is a Treasury Professional with diverse experience in Treasury, Strategic Planning, MIS, and Business analytics. She is passionate about breaking down complex problems and solving them using system-oriented thinking. With strong focus on process improvement, she has lead transformation of the treasury function both in terms of cost-effectiveness and process agility. A firm believer that real change in society must start at individual level she channelizes her spare time in volunteering for the cause.

Sugandha is also the highly commended winner of Adam Smith Asia Award for ‘Best working capital management solution’, winner of ‘Finance Transformation Initiative award of the year’ with C2FO and ‘Out of box thinker Award’ by SRF Limited.

 

Sugandha’s impressive career is an example for many. What is her secret? What drives her to perform at such a high level every day?

Well,…. let’s find out!

 

We asked Sugandha 8 questions, let’s go!

INTERVIEW

 


1. You have an impressive career in Treasury coming all the way up where you are right now. What is your secret?

The secret of success is not just one single mantra but a combination of smart habits. I realized very early that in treasury you spend most of your working hours networking and executing. Back home being a mother to two lovely teenage girls, I have always been hard-pressed for time. Thus changed my early morning routine to dedicate an hour to planning my work. I started setting up weekly learning goals to be completed flexibly during the week. Another important change was developing independent opinion through research rather than being influenced by what others say. These small habits practiced over the years helped me achieve my targets successfully.

2. The last two years must have been incredible for you, winning great awards for example. We are curious about what makes you most proud in your career?

While yes, I have been fortunate to lead certain critical projects that were recognized widely. When I think of what makes me proud it’s not any one project or an award but the journey I have taken as a woman and especially as a mother. I feel proud when I see youngsters, especially girls getting inspired by my journey and motivated to become leaders themselves. Being in a position where one can more effectively encourage and empower young women and girls to become leaders is an accomplishment that matters.

3. What do you like about working in Treasury?

We are living in very exciting times when digital transformation is still unfolding and is providing a wealth of learning opportunities. What I love about my current role is the fact that I have this unique opportunity to shape the future of the Treasury function and how it interacts with other processes/people in the business. It’s the everyday challenges and fast-paced work that excites me about my role.

4. What is your Treasury Expertise and what expertise gives you a boost of energy?

While I had the opportunity to lead multiple aspects of corporate treasury like borrowing, investment, policy formulation, working capital management, risk management, hedging, etc. what excites me the most is transforming the working capital landscape through business process re-engineering and digitalization.

5. What has been your biggest challenge in treasury?

The biggest challenge in treasury has been managing people while driving change.  On one hand, you have new technology, new compliances, new solutions that you need to implement, and on the other hand you have internal teams resisting change. This means while you are busy implementing the project through data architecture, solution design, onboarding suppliers & customers, etc. you are also leading a cultural change within the organization. To succeed, one needs to ensure the wider adoption of a digital mindset and overcome resistance to change through upskilling and communication.

6. What’s the most important lesson that you’ve learned as a treasurer?

The two most important lessons that I have learned as a Treasurer are first, the only constant in our profession is change, and second, people are the anchor helping you sail through this sea of change. While we all know that change is inevitable and that people are the key, somehow, it’s often easily forgotten. In my experience, if you know the right person at the right time, half the task is done. I feel what has made a difference in my career is networking and relationship building.

7. How have you seen the role of Corporate Treasury evolve over the years?

I would say over the last few years the role has not just evolved but has completely transformed from being transactional to being strategic. Internally, in the past, treasury was all about ensuring fund availability, dealing with trade products, hedging, and managing excess funds. Today we are seen as the strategic partner to businesses who actively provide solution sales, re-engineer business processes, and act as an advisor to top management. Externally, the environment in which we operate has transformed, we now see very high volatility, significantly increased speed of information sharing, digitalization, enhanced compliances, and ESG focus that has made corporate treasury more agile and tech-oriented than what it was a few years back.

8. What developments do you expect in corporate treasury in the near and further future?

In the future, corporate treasury will become pivotal in driving the corporate sustainability initiatives. With corporates formalizing their ESG pledges, the treasury department will be expected to apply the ESG lens on everything from raising capital and investing surplus cash to supply chain finance. Secondly, the treasury team will become more and more connected to core business activities such as sales or procurement focusing on meeting fast-changing expectations/requirements of both customers as well as suppliers. Lastly, technological disruption will continue in ways beyond what we can imagine today, and treasury teams will be expected to be the front leaders in driving this transformation.

 

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Thanks for reading!

 

 

Kendra Keydeniers

Director Community & Partners, treasuryXL

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