Partner Interview | Manipulating market-leading data to navigate volatility

11-05-2021 | treasuryXL | Refinitiv |

As a leading financial markets data provider, Refinitiv is an essential partner for corporate treasurers. Refinitiv’s global, multi-asset and multi-jurisdiction view of risk, credit and economic data enable treasury teams to drive stability by managing the global and interconnected nature of risk today.

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In this interview, we take a look at how Refinitiv’s corporate treasury customers used Refinitiv data and apps to remain agile and proactive in one of the most volatile years ever. We also consider what data is likely to be needed as we recover from the pandemic and companies seek growth.

An introduction to:

Andrew Hollins

Director of Corporate Treasury Proposition, Refinitiv, an LSEG business

Rasyid Kwee

Proposition Sales Specialist for Enterprise Solutions, Refinitiv, an LSEG business.

INTERVIEW

1. From your data, what can be identified about the behaviors and activities of corporate treasurers during the onset of the pandemic?

Using the data we have available, we’ve been able to discern three broad phases of corporate treasury response and action throughout the pandemic. The period March through to May 2020 represents Phase 1, which for many Corporates could be termed the ‘Survival Phase’. During this first phase, we witnessed pronounced patterns of activity amongst our Corporate Treasury clients.

Firstly there was a strong focus on analysing and reviewing the Credit Risk of suppliers, clients and also corporate’s own credit risk. Treasurers wanted to know if their customers would be able to pay for the goods and/or services they are supplying, and if their suppliers were still going to deliver supplies, raw materials, component parts, goods, etc.

We also saw a spike in usage of Company Fundamental Data (app for company financial analysis, for financial statements and valuation metrics for over 90,000 companies listed on 169 exchanges in 150 countries), especially so for balance sheets, income statements, key ratios and Cashflow data. Furthermore, there was an increased appetite for Private Company data, which almost certainly reflected a desire to review the health of the extended supply chain, a trend which has continued.

Finally, there was an increase in usage of Sector-specific Economic Indicator data, up 30% globally from Feb – Mar 2020 (this app allows users to search for any Economic Indicator, chart the history, export to Excel and view associated press releases). An increase was also seen in the use of Peer Analysis data (allows for the comparison of a company against its peers across a multitude of measures and variables), reflecting a demand for wider sectoral intelligence, as well as insight into how related companies were performing in such a stressed environment. Conversely, we also saw a decline in demand for ESG related apps and data, as well as data and apps relating to Libor transition. Libor transition in particular had been a high priority area for most corporate treasurers, but the economic shock brought on by Covid-19 pushed these onto the back burner during the ‘Survival Phase’.

2. What are the Data and App usage highlights from Phase 1?

Globally, Credit Default Swap (CDS) data usage grew 115% in EMEA and Americas between February and March 2020. Asia showed a 155% rise in usage of this data during the same period. (The CDS Dashboard app provides comprehensive Streaming price coverage on major global Index and single name CDS from major market maker).
In the Netherlands (February to March 2020), there was an 83% rise in usage by Corporate Treasurer’s use of credit and credit risk data, specifically;
- 68% rise in use of Debt Structure data (both for oneself and for one’s peers)
- 67% rise in Starmine Credit Risk data (Starmine Credit Risk models utilize industry-specific accounting ratios, equity market valuations and text mining models to produce a 1-100 score of an company’s credit risk).
During the same period we also saw significant increases in usage of company fundamental and private company data. At the same time there was a clear drop in consumption of ESG data.
- - 81% rise in Company Fundamental data
  - 33% rise in Private Company data
  - 45% drop in use of ESG data

Looking at year on year data for the Netherlands for March 2020 and March 2021, we saw a 50% rise in CDS data; 50% rise in Debt Structure Data; 66% rise in Industry sector data; 113% rise in use of peer analysis apps.
Furthermore;
- Private Company Data and Analytics grew by 31% between February to March 2020, receding during the summer months but then grew >100% from October 2020 into Q1 2021.

3. As the pandemic progressed, how did the behaviors and activities of corporate treasurer’s change?

Moving on from ‘Phase 1’ (above) and heading into ‘Phase 2’, which we can place from mid Q2 through to Q3 and call the ‘Cash Phase’, many companies focused on cash preservation and extending their cashflow runway as far as possible. Companies focused on maximising all sources of liquidity, in some cases working with suppliers to extend payment schedules and expedite receivables as far as possible. Companies also drew down reserves and utilised credit facilities. We also saw Bond Issuance accelerate significantly especially in Q3.

4. What are the Data and App usage highlights from Phase 2?

In the Netherlands, from June to October 2020, we saw a notable pick-up in usage of Issuance and Credit-related data and analytics:

A 40% rise in usage of the New Issues Monitor – (app providing a comprehensive library of new issues covered by Thomson Reuters and supporting IFR).
A more than 250% jump in usage of Starmine Credit Risk analytics and data
A 25% rise in usage of the Fixed Income All Quotes app

At the same time, there were also further significant changes in usage of apps and data related to the financial health of the supply chain and the corporate ecosystem in general:

Income Statement: Up 116%
Balance Sheet: Up 72%%
Key Ratios: Up 160%
Cashflow: Up 175%

5. How do you see the behaviors and activities of corporate treasurers changing as we move into a recovery mode from the pandemic?

If we identify Phase 3 as the ‘Recovery Phase’, which focuses on positioning and planning for a return to normality, or at least a new normal, our usage data suggests that many companies continue to focus on bond issuance and refinancing in order to take advantage of current lower yields. It’s notable that issuance of US$ denominated debt by non-US companies has been particularly strong in the first quarter of 2021.

There are distinct trends apparent in the usage data for our issuance-related Data and Analytics apps, in particular:

DCM Pricer – usage is up 21% from November 2020 to March 2021 (a custom bond calculator designed to build new bond issues and price them for the primary market)
Debt Structure app – usage is up 20% between November 2020 and March 2021
New Issues Monitor – usage is up 52% from November 2020 to March 2021 (New Issues Monitor provides a comprehensive library of new issues covered by Thomson Reuters and supporting IFR).

As countries navigate out of the pandemic, we can also see that ESG is firmly back on the agenda, with usage of our ESG apps and data rising strongly as we move deeper into 2021. For much of the pandemic period many companies focused on survival, but a rapidly developing global sustainability landscape is contributing to a significant shift towards adopting and ESG standards and behaviours across the corporate sphere.

Globally, ESG Data and Analytics Usage has grown 93% between Dec 2020 and March 2021, higher than the pre-Covid-19 peak.

Across EMEA, this was up 78% in the same period.
In the Netherlands, although below the global and EMEA percentages, ESG Data and Analytics usage was still up 35% in the same period.

Looking beyond Covid-19, conversations with our corporate treasurer clients have revealed an appetite for greater visibility and predictability when it comes to cash and liquidity management. Aligned to this, is a desire for increasingly accurate forecasts and risk analysis regarding projected future cashflows. Hedge accounting and hedge effectiveness tools also feature strongly in these conversations.

Furthermore, automation to support more robust and frequent analysis and reporting, as well as a comprehensive enterprise-wide view of cashflow, risk and liquidity, are also areas of growing interest which are going to feature more in the post-pandemic landscape.

Finally, ESG data consumption has recovered and is now above pre-Covid-19 peaks. This trend is likely to continue on its upward trajectory, becoming systemically more prevalent than it was pre-pandemic, given the rapidly evolving regulatory and demand led factors which are driving an ever-greater focus on sustainability. We recently hosted an event with the Association of Corporate Treasurers on treasury ESG roles and responsibilities which you can watch on-demand here.

6. How can corporate treasurers gain access to Refinitiv’s market-leading data and navigate current and future volatility?

Serving more than 40,000 institutions in approximately 190 countries, Refinitiv provides advanced data and technology to help corporate treasury teams make critical decisions with confidence. Our corporate treasury solutions help deliver accurate and relevant data, tools and analytics that can be accessed easily and intuitively – advancing your end-to-end workflows and ensuring seamless integration with your entire treasury management eco-system.

To find out more, speak with our experts by completing your details here.

Liquidity Benefits From Dynamic Discounting in Supply Chain Financing

10-05-2021 | treasuryXL | Kyriba |

It might not always be obvious where business can learn lessons from somewhere like yacht racing, particularly in more specialist fields like Supply Chain Finance and Dynamic Discounting. But there are often uncanny parallels from this sport and finance, when both seek to deploy serious sums of money and leading-edge technology to deliver the marginal gains that can mean the difference between winning and losing.

I thought this was particularly evident in the recent America’s Cup yacht racing challenges in New Zealand. Those AC75 mono-hull super yachts that raced around the bays off Auckland often travelled at a logic-defying 40-50 knots, twice as fast as the winds that powered them and seemingly in defiance of both gravity and conventional sailing speed barriers.

Liquidity Made Good

The key to having one AC75 go faster than an almost identical competitor is the ability to analyse masses of data points in real-time to make the required adjustments to sails, rudders, weights and foils in order to attack the optimum route to the finish at maximum speed. It’s a concept called Velocity Made Good, with VMG now the go-to acronym that defines winners in America’s Cup racing. Perfecting VMG was the reason the New Zealand boat successfully beat its global challengers – again.

I was particularly struck by how this VMG-led transformation of yacht racing, now cascading down from the pinnacle of the sport to the club level, is not dissimilar to how a focus on technology-led cash and liquidity management is liberating corporate balance sheets. We could even refer to it as Liquidity Made Good, where, by the way, velocity also matters.

New Level Playing Field

The deployment of more powerful technologies can improve decision-making, release resources from previously opaque silos and supply chains, and deliver new competitive advantage. Historically this was only available to those high-tech firms and financial institutions with deep pockets, just like the owners of America’s Cup yachts, because of the almost prohibitive cost of computing power, data storage and analytics.

But cloud-based software platforms, the blossoming of data analytics, ubiquitous access to near-unlimited data storage and the power of connectivity-as-a-service now ensures, like in yachting, that these benefits filter down from the elite to level the playing field.

Greater Flexibility, Visibility

In particular, the once sleepy backwaters of trade finance are now waking up to new opportunities to maximise cash resources in ways that not only strengthen supplier relationships, but also enhance Corporate Social Responsibility credentials. Early Payment Discounting has been around trade finance for many years. But persistent, ultra-low interest rates and expectations of greater flexibility now demand more creative solutions from Treasurers. Answers to which technology can now help to provide.

Dynamic Discounting

Within the broader field of Supply Chain Finance, firms can now use technology to transform early payment schemes into Dynamic Discounting. These can be deployed as an integral part of wider working capital management, where better visibility can optimise liquidity and improve profitability. It might seem just a simple method of paying invoices earlier, particularly for businesses with surplus cash that can benefit both parties involved. But how it is managed becomes critical to the outcome.

Win-Win Solution

For Dynamic Discounting to succeed, it needs to be sufficiently flexible (dynamic) as to how and when suppliers are paid, with payments made prior to due dates at a discount to original invoice values calculated on a sliding scale. This means that the earlier the buyer pays a supplier, the greater the discount. The discount is therefore “dynamic” in relation to the number of days until the invoice due date and avoids the previous “cliff edge” difference between simply either having a discount or not.

Most importantly, suppliers get continuously paid earlier, which improves their liquidity position and which could then allow them to pay their own suppliers earlier, invest more in their business or alternatively just do more business with the buyer.

Funding Flexibility

For a cash-rich buyer operating in a low interest environment, the benefit is obvious. Rather than leaving liquidity in a low-interest account, it can pay large invoices early to receive additional discounts and strengthen profitability. For instance, if a buyer receives a 2% discount for paying a 90-day-net invoice after 30 days, it can invest the amount for 60 days and receive a return. This is the equivalent of a just over 10% annual return on capital that would far outweigh any loss of interest.

The buyer is fully in control of how this program is run, determining how much funding capital to set aside and adjusting that capital as seasonal liquidity fluctuates. Any seasonal liquidity issues could then also be managed by pairing the dynamic discounting program with a traditional SCF program. This would also allow the flexibility for third-party funding to fill any gaps that emerged due to potential, or periodic, lower cash balances available for the original arrangement.

Besides earning a return on excess cash, Dynamic Discounting can also reduce supply chain risks (in that financially more stable suppliers mean reduced supplier risk) and then strengthen supplier relationships. Conversely, on the supplier side it improves cash flow and provides early payment options, both of which save time, puts cash into accounts sooner and increases liquidity visibility. Benefits everywhere!

CSR Benefits – Risk Free Returns

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but there are other compensating benefits to offset the initial costs of implementing a modern Dynamic Discounting plan, not least of which can be a significant increase in ROI on otherwise dormant cash without increased risk. After all, you are only effectively paying existing suppliers early, who you have to pay anyway, free of any additional counterparty risk.

And, as I mentioned earlier, today’s much more keenly scrutinised CSR credentials can also be significantly burnished by the support provided to often much-smaller suppliers down the food chain. That can then be more widely communicated directly to CSR scoring tables which, in turn, recognise responsible buyers and suppliers.

So, to get the maximum benefit of the wind in your sails and the best performance from your assets, make sure you use the right technology to strengthen decision making. After that, understanding the challenge, minimising the risks and reaping the mutual rewards of Dynamic Discounting will enable much smoother sailing and help you optimise your liquidity!

Webinar Reminder | April 28 | “Bitcoin. Is this the New Reality in Corporate Treasury or is it a Hoax?”

| 27-04-2021 | VU Amsterdam |

Have you signed up for the webinar for tomorrow? Here is your reminder call, enjoy!

This Webinar is offered to you by the postgraduate programme Treasury Management & Corporate Finance at the School of Business and Economics.

Webinar Treasury Management in short

Date:     Wednesday 28 April 2021
Time:     19.00 – 20.30 hrs.
Costs:    Free-of-charge

Bitcoins are in the news. Opinions vary a lot in between “the new global currency standard” and “difficult to understand in practice and governance”. Corporate Treasurers need at least to have a start of an opinion. We see Tesla and other big corporates currently buying crypto currencies. What are opinions among corporate treasury professionals? Is investing surplus cash in crypto currencies the new reality in corporate treasury or is it a hoax?

Tristan Verhagen, a student in our TM&CF programme, will introduce the topic at this webinar. Tristan will share his provoking ideas about investing surplus cash in Bitcoin. Is this the New Reality in Treasury or a Hoax? Tristan wrote an academic paper on this subject and this has added value in terms of a new insight for the treasury professional and is very useful for experts as well as laymen to be updated on the issue.

Description Academic Paper

As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important for (institutional) investors and (corporate) treasurers to understand the effects of central bank and government intervention. Especially in the context of Bitcoin and the unique attributes it possesses. The role of central banks and governments in stabilizing the economy and the realization of economic growth in the aftermath of crises is becoming ever more important. Currently central banks and governments are “all in” to cushion the effect(s) of the current crisis. The response is considered to be bigger and broader than it was for the great financial crisis. Interest rates are historically low and central bank balance sheets have expanded considerably. This led to a significant increase in the money supply, which sparked a debate among economists about the implications for inflation.

When central banks and governments worldwide enact in ‘quantitative easing’ and increase the money supply, the associated fiat currencies depreciate in value. In contrast, Bitcoin experiences a ‘quantitative tightening’ (or reduction) of new supply as halving events programmatically decrease the number of new Bitcoin entering circulation regardless the demand for the asset. This feature is native to the digital protocol and possibly makes it the ultimate ‘store of value’ asset. During times of economic uncertainty and in a world where ‘software is eating the world’ more and more (institutional) investors and (corporate) treasurers are becoming convinced of the potential of Bitcoin. The paper/discussion aims to investigate to what extent this is justified.

Speakers

Tristan Verhagen MSc MSRE graduated in Strategic Management from Tilburg University. Real estate is the cornerstone of his career. He has worked for various real estate investors and is now Director Finance & Control at Eigen Haard. A few years ago, he fell through the Bitcoin rabbit hole and since then his views on money and monetary policy have changed significantly. He is open to the idea that Bitcoin’s unique properties will in the future lead to it becoming an important (macro) asset and therefore suitable for a large group of investors (e.g. insurance companies and pension funds).

Strong ideas are worth to have strong opposition, so we have two panel members to challenge the vision of the keynote speaker.

Wilko Bolt is a Senior Economist in the Economics and Research department at De Nederlandsche Bank in Amsterdam and Professor of Payment Systems at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His current research focuses on the payment economics, digital currencies, two-sided markets theory and antitrust implications. He has published in journals such as American Economic Review, European Economic Review, Economic Theory, International Journal of Industrial Organization, International Journal of Central Banking and Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. Bolt was awarded the Hennipman Prize by the Dutch Royal Economic Association in 2007 for his research.

Joan Schutte joined ASML back in 2014 as VP & Corporate Treasurer and is responsible for Treasury, Corporate Finance and Insurances globally. From 2010 to 2014 Joan was Director Treasury for VimpelCom (Veon) in Amsterdam. Before that, he worked 12 years for US based Sara Lee Corporation in various Treasury roles in Curaçao, Singapore and Chicago and as Finance Director for the global procurement function in Utrecht. Joan started his career in Treasury in Belgium for CSM NV and Campbell Soup Company. Joan holds a MSc in Economics from the University of Amsterdam. He serves on the Board of the Dutch Association of Corporate Treasurers (DACT) and has served on the Board of the Association of Corporate Treasurers Singapore (ACTS).

The webinar is moderated by Pieter de Kiewit, he is treasury aficionado, recruitment consultant and owner of Treasurer Search. Together with his team, Pieter finds candidates for interim assignments and permanent positions in corporate treasury. Pieter holds an MSc. in Organizational Science (Technische Bedrijfskunde, Universiteit Twente) and has over 25 years experience in international recruitment. In many ways he contributes to the treasury community by connecting people and companies. He supports educators, for example as a member of the management board of the RT programme of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. On a regular basis he blogs, presents and moderates with the purpose to make treasury known by a bigger audience and facilitate experts to deepen their knowledge.

For whom?

We specifically invite our alumni of the PGO Treasury Management & Corporate Finance and those interested to join the programme and DACT members. Of course, those professionally involved in the subject, TreasuryXL – followers, are also very welcome to join. A truly inclusive (corporate) treasury community!

How to Prepare for a New Era of Real-time Banking and Payment Services

20-04-2021 | treasuryXL | Kyriba |

An active liquidity network allows companies to avoid multiple costs and delays by globally managing liquidity across their subsidiaries. With 500 banks involved and over 40,000 payment formats to use, this is already a reality for over 2,000 Kyriba clients.

I am often asked, what is an “Active Liquidity Network”? Actually it’s the very foundation of the Kyriba platform, but let me use a simple example to illustrate what it is and the difference it makes.

Technology is providing us with so many great options for everyday life activities. Take the humble takeaway. Not so long ago you’d call up, your order would be placed in a manual ordering system, food would be prepared and then it would be delivered. Today the takeaway experience can be very different. You will order on a mobile device or with a delivery service or by voice or Messenger. The delivery service tells the kitchen what food to prepare, conducts all the billing and organises the food to be couriered to you. While the cooking of the food is still manual, everything else is managed by cloud-based technologies, and you have lots of options, each with their own take on how to make your takeaway experience better, faster, cheaper.

The same thing is happening within businesses. SaaS technology enables your corporate teams to work more autonomously with a resource-planning package that is more bespoke to their task. The original ERP is being unbundled and focused on aggregating accounting entries from various other systems. These bring great benefits to your company’s ability to compete in the marketplace, making you better, faster and cheaper. But given that many of these tools are able to instruct or make payments, this introduces a hazardous landscape for currently accepted liquidity management and control practices.

The problem is further exaggerated by the global expansion that has taken place in the last 20 – 30 years. Technology isn’t just providing more options for how a corporate plans its resources. It’s also providing better, cheaper, faster options for how payments are made and received. Each approach has its own pros and cons. The upshot is that there are many more providers today conducting more payments in more innovative ways, but this innovation, while opening up new choices, also makes the payments landscape more complex.

All this hasn’t stopped an explosion in electronic payment volumes. This is an unstoppable trend that demands a more robust way of controlling and managing payments in and out of business of any size, just as a restaurant receiving 1,000 takeaway orders a night will need to move away from servicing orders on pen and paper. The risks, the costs, and the lack of speed and optimisation are all too great.

The challenge you face

Now, let’s look at a corporate example to illustrate the challenge. Let’s assume a multinational group has a subsidiary in Birmingham, in the UK, which needs to make payments for goods and services to suppliers in Romania and Turkey. The subsidiary has its operating bank account with TSB and is using the bank’s SMB portal to manage cash and make payments. Its ERP system is connected with the bank’s portal for automatic payment file upload. At the same time, the company has subsidiaries in Romania and Turkey that also have a similar setup with their local banks. It all looks good and well-automated everywhere.

But to actually make a payment to a Turkish or Romanian supplier, the Birmingham-based subsidiary’s treasurer has to go through the following steps: approve a foreign currency payment; agree to the exchange rate offered by the bank, which is given without reference to a spread of interbank rates; wait for one or two days for the other FX rate to settle; wait one or two days more for the payment to be cleared by TSB via Swift and the corresponding bank network; wait some more until the supplier confirms they have received the funds and made a shipment; and finally reconcile it all manually with the ERP system.

As a result, the subsidiary incurs the FX spread, swap rates on every payment up to 100 basis points, and interbank transfer fees for every payment of £20. There are also three further delays before the funds reach the beneficiary accounts and manual reconciliation of the ERP. And that happens with every payment for every subsidiary every day!

It’s a pity that the Birmingham-based company doesn’t know that group company subsidiaries in Romania and Turkey have plenty of lei and lire in their local bank accounts. Or that they are connected to their domestic clearing systems providing same day or in real-time clearing and automating confirmation, or no fee at all. Or that there was a better, faster, cheaper payment option the corporate could easily connect to.

How an Active Liquidity Network works?

Let’s look at a different way of doing this. Imagine that the group chooses Kyriba and gets on board the Kyriba global SaaS platform. All of its subsidiaries – including those in the UK, Romania and Turkey as well as headquarters – and all of those subsidiaries’ ERP systems – are then connected to Kyriba for payment, invoicing, and cash flow upload as well as for GL entry reconciliation. Over 2,000 customers and 65,000 legal entities are live today. Kyriba offers automated bank connectivity via secure SFTP and now bank API with more than 500 banks worldwide and growing. And our bank format libraries have more than 40,000 formats and variances supporting payment originations from more than 100 countries in payment delivery to more than 130 countries. Using Kyriba, the payments submitted by the UK subsidiary will be automatically converted to the relevant domestic clearing formats and submitted to those banks the same day.

What difference does that make? With the Kyriba platform the group can internalise and optimise its payment flows. It can see cash balances and cash forecasts across all currencies and bank accounts in real time. A treasury team using Kyriba Cash Forecasting and Kyriba In-house Banking Module can net the outflows by currency and use the market to square off or net the currency positions. As soon as the payments are acknowledged by the banks in real-time or (worst case) next morning, the confirmations and automated dual entries can be imported into the UK subsidiary’s ERP for automated reconciliation.

Better still, the company can use offers like Kyriba Pay, powered by partners like NatWest, that offer competitive and transparent FX spreads with no hidden fees attached. They can choose to use the liquidity they have in lei, lire or other currencies to make the payments without FX conversions at all. That means no interbank fees, globally optimising the effects of exposures and costs, and making same-day payments to 130 countries with automatic dual reconciliation.

That’s what we mean by an Active Liquidity Network. Ours is already the largest in the world, and growing by about 30% annually. It is the foundation of the Kyriba platform that enables our Treasury payment factory risk management and supply chain finance applications, as well as many other value-added services. We are already processing 17 million transactions on behalf of our customers on an average day. We will continue to innovate our existing propositions.

The world’s connectivity is moving to open API. We are pursuing that in three ways.

First, Bank API Connectivity: we have completed pilots with two global banks already, and will be delivering many more in 2021. Secondly, ERP API Connectivity, leading to ERP connect on marketplace, and thirdly Kyriba Open API, to turn the Kyriba active liquidity network into an open API platform for customers, partners and fintechs. This is what we call the Kyriba Active Liquidity Network.

It is here right now and you have a choice to make. Deal on your own with the growing size and complexity of managing liquidity at global scale on time, with speed, accuracy and efficiency . . . or join the 2,000 corporations who are doing it by leveraging the Kyriba platform, and really drive the value of your business.

8 questions for Treasury Expert Philip who won the award for 2020 Best Fintech Solution

19-04-2021 | Philip Costa Hibberd | treasuryXL

With over 12 years of experience in the financial industry with the last four years in treasury consulting, Philip has recently launched his own consulting activity, Automation Boutique, specialized in (robotic) process automation for Treasury, Risk and Finance.

“I have been coding for fun since I was a kid. This skill has been very useful throughout my career but has become my trademark in Treasury.”

He recently developed the tool that was awarded the “2020 Best Fintech Solution – Adam Smith award” by Treasury Today magazine. He now tries to focus on what he has always enjoyed the most during his career: solving problems at the intersection between ‘numbers’, ‘people’ and ‘technology’.

We are delighted to share the interview with Philip. Let’s dive into his treasury journey where he answers 8 questions…

1. How did your treasury journey start?

As for many of us, it started somewhat by accident. After working in other areas of finance for many years, a few ethical questions started nagging me. Add a sabbatical, some romance, and a few lucky phone calls and I found myself joining the great corporate treasury team at Zanders (a consultancy firm specialized in Treasury, Risk and Finance).

2. What do you like the most about working in Treasury?

I love the diversity of challenges. You are dealing with the financial heart of the company and need to make sure that the right amount of blood reaches every cell. This necessarily means dealing with different kinds of issues, topics and people. This keeps Treasury fun and in constant evolution!

3. What is your Treasury Expertise?

I have been working as a consultant on very different Treasury projects, from interim roles to system implementations. I guess I am what you would call a generalist, but with a knack for using technology and social skills to solve problems. I have been coding for fun since I was a kid. This skill has been very useful throughout my career but has become my trademark in Treasury.

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

Going back to the cardiovascular metaphor for Treasury, the best experience was probably when I was called by a client to solve an urgent clot which was at risk of causing severe damage. An apparently simple data migration exercise turned out to be much more complex than anticipated and was at risk of causing severe delays to a multimillion project. The solution involved a robot, a laptop being flown up and down Europe, a wedding and unreliable hotel wi-fi. Surprisingly, instead of being the ingredients for a bad joke, this led to a happy client and to an award-winning solution.

5. What has been your biggest challenge in treasury?

My biggest challenge in Treasury was witnessing the clash of American, Dutch, Indian, Japanese and many more cultures during a global SAP implementation (going live during a pandemic). Holding three nationalities and being exposed to different cultures from an early age didn’t help me as much as I would have hoped. I would encourage anyone working with different cultures to read Erin Meyer’s book “The Culture Map”. It will be helpful.

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

No one is rational and analytical all the time, not even experienced treasury professionals. Good communication is more important than perfect data and models, especially during a crisis. Without it you will lead or be led by emotion and will certainly miss the best course of action. When fear creeps in your own monkey mind, don’t be afraid to have a good conversation with it. Assess how big the actual threat is compared to the shadow being cast by your amygdala.

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

Corporate Treasury has come a long way from its more transactional origins and – as expected – is taking more of an advisory and strategic role within organizations. The boundaries with other specialized professions have faded (risk management and FP&A just to name a few) and I think that this is a good thing. Skilled professionals should be employed to solve interesting problems and come up with great ideas. The best problems and ideas are usually found at the intersection between disciplines and it’s only natural that we tend to all meet there more and more often.

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

For the near future I expect the focus on the hot topics of the moment to continue: cash visibility, cash flow forecasting, operational efficiency etc.

For the further future, I won’t adventure on guessing exactly what hot topics the next crisis will bring. I will instead share my best guess on the evolution on the corporate treasurer as a person.

My guess is that she or he will be less of a specialist and more of a generalist. The ideal corporate treasurer will be ‘renaissance polymath’ if you will. Our rapidly changing environment makes it more difficult to remain a (useful) specialist for long. Technology also tends to favour the generalist by democratizing specialist’s skills. There will certainly always be room for very specialized knowledge, but the risk of learning too much about too little in a dynamic environment, is that after a while you risk knowing everything about nothing.

Philip Costa Hibberd

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4 questions for the Cash and Currency Manager at Boskalis

| 13-04-2021 | by treasuryXL | Kendra Keydeniers

Without a doubt you have seen the giant container ship ‘Ever Given’ blocking the Suez canal from March 23 till March 29, 2021. One week later we were very close to an unprecedented oil spill by a rudderless cargo ship, nevertheless this story got a happy ending. Boskalis, the leading global dredging and offshore contractor and maritime services provider, saved the world twice in nine days.

Back in 2019 we interviewed the Cash & Currency Manager at Boskalis, Steven de Klein. We took this momentum to look back and see when his career in treasury started and why he decided to start with the Register Treasurer program.

Steven de Klein decided to take a deeper dive into the world of treasury and started the Register Treasurer (RT) program in 2014. He graduated as RT in 2017. Before moving into treasury, he studied Business Economics in Nijmegen.

His first experience in treasury was a good one, “The field of treasury is much greater than most people expect” said Steven.

With its roots in the Netherlands, Boskalis has over 100 years’ experience in hydraulic engineering, coastal protection and land reclamation. The head office is located in Papendrecht and they have an extensive network of branches around the world. They operate in 90 countries and across six continents, with a versatile fleet of more than 900 vessels and floating equipment. Shares in the company have been listed on Euronext Amsterdam since 1971.

We asked Steven 4 questions about the RT program:

What for you was the main reason to start a career in treasury?

During my final year at the Radboud University in Nijmegen where I studied Business Economics, I started at a small advisory firm specialized in (corporate) financing. That was my first experience in treasury and it suited me well. Soon afterwards I joined a development & construction company that showed me that treasury was more than just financing and before you know it, you are a ‘treasurer’.
Why did you start with the RT program?

After working within the same company for a few years I noticed that my learning curve was leveling out. I started to investigate what treasury courses and programs where available and found that the RT program is without any doubt the best and most comprehensive treasury course available in The Netherlands.
How did the education help you in your career?

Not only did I gain a lot of new knowledge about treasury, but also about related topics such as macro-economics, fiscal law and (hedge) accounting. This helps to connect the dots a lot better when you’re back at your daily job. It also brought me a new network of people, good memories and I even think my current job at Royal Boskalis Westminster NV.
Are you still in touch with your peers?

Absolutely, during the 2-year program you built a strong relationship with your peers, since you do spend almost a full day per week with them. This is also one of the bigger benefits of the RT program in comparison to at-home studies.

We have more RT stories to share with you, here are the stories of Bouke, Michel, Jarno, Mathieu and Richard.

The post-graduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme combines two finance disciplines: Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. These disciplines largely overlap and are inextricably connected.

After a successful completion of all required modules, the title of Registered Treasurer (RT) is conferred by the Registered Treasurer foundation.

Kendra Keydeniers

Director, Community & Partners treasuryXL