GTreasury Announces New Partnership with Infor to Streamline Digital Treasury Workflow and Data Integrations

02-03-2022 | treasuryXL | Gtreasury | LinkedIn |

The partnership is designed to help customers visualize, analyze, and act on their cash positions with automated data integration between GTreasury and Infor

CHICAGO, Ill. – March 2, 2022 – GTreasury, a treasury and risk management platform provider, today announced its partnership with Infor, a global leader in industry-focused business cloud software solutions. The deal enables GTreasury and Infor customers to benefit from new automation and data integration between GTreasury’s digital treasury platform and Infor’s powerful cloud-based ERP platform. The integrated workflow will help eliminate the challenges of relying on various siloed systems to accomplish business-critical treasury and accounting tasks.

With this partnership, the GTreasury platform will utilize an application programming interface (API) to connect data from Infor’s cloud financials ERP solution, Financials & Supply Management. This data includes bank statements, payments (accounts receivable and accounts payable, along with bank confirmations), Positive Pay automated fraud detection, and general ledger (GL) journal entries that encompass applicable treasury management system sub-ledger entries such as cash, financial instruments, treasury payments and settlements, and hedge accounting.

The integrated data visibility and automated command across applicable balances and transactions give GTreasury and Infor customers the ability to analyze and act on cash positions quickly and confidently. Customers can also access all of the treasury, finance, accounting, and risk management products available through the GTreasury platform.

“Infor continues to build on its well-earned reputation as a modern cloud ERP platform that enables a global and diverse customer base to leverage modern technologies,” said Terry Beadle, Global Head of Corporate Development at GTreasury. “As corporate treasurers and the office of the CFO accelerate digital transformation initiatives throughout their departments, Infor and GTreasury deliver an especially compelling cloud-based solution built to add new connectivity and capabilities. We are proud to partner with Infor and look forward to more organizations discovering the efficiency and performance gains that GTreasury’s complete digital treasury ecosystem delivers.”

“We believe the automation and synergy this partnership provides will enable customers to significantly streamline their treasury and accounting operations,” said Joe Simpson, Vice President of Product Management at Infor. “Organizations will have data visibility and workflow tools to help make business-critical decisions based on their cash positions. We’re excited to provide the transformative capabilities offered by this synergistic collaboration with GTreasury, a leader in providing modern digital treasury solutions to organizations around the world, and to see how customers utilize the benefits of our powerful technologies in tandem.”

About GTreasury

GTreasury is committed to connecting treasury and digital finance operations by providing a world-class SaaS treasury and risk management system and integrated ecosystem where cash, debt, investments and exposures are seamlessly managed within the office of the CFO. GTreasury delivers intelligent insights, while connecting financial value chains and extending workflows to third-party systems, exchanges, portals and services. Headquartered in Chicago, with locations serving EMEA (London) and APAC (Sydney and Manila), GTreasury’s global community includes more than 800 customers and 30+ industries reaching 160+ countries worldwide. Visit GTreasury.com

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. We develop complete solutions for our focus industries, including industrial manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, food & beverage, automotive, aerospace & defense, and high tech. Infor’s mission-critical enterprise applications and services are designed to deliver sustainable operational advantages with security and faster time to value. We are obsessed with delivering successful business outcomes for customers. More than 65,000 organizations in 175+ countries rely on Infor’s 17,000 employees to help achieve their business goals. As a Koch company, our financial strength, ownership structure, and long-term view empower us to foster enduring, mutually beneficial relationships with our customers. Visit www.infor.com.

 

Trade Finance & rethinking digitalisation (Dutch Item)

02-03-2022 | Ger van Rosmalen | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

 

Ruim 30 jaar geleden mocht ik in een panel vertellen over Bolero. Bolero staat voor “Bill of Lading electronically” in die tijd nog een toekomstdroom. Toen werd er al gesproken over digitalisering van handelsdocumenten. Nu, ruim 30 jaar later komt er eindelijk beweging in.

Al geruime tijd zijn er regels van de Internationale Kamer van Koophandel om die digitaliseringsslag wereldwijd te begeleiden[1]. Er zijn al diverse innovatieve en vooruitstrevende bedrijven die digitalisering hebben omarmd door initiatieven en oplossingen op het gebied van elektronische handtekeningen, digitale “originele” documenten en volledig digitale Letters of Credit. Tegelijkertijd zijn banken en bedrijfsleven echter vaak nog afwachtend als het gaat om het loslaten van papieren documenten. En dat is jammer. De afgelopen jaren laten soms namelijk ook zien dat “papieren” handelsdocumenten kunnen zorgen voor vertragingen, extra kosten en daarmee ontevreden klanten.

Fouten ontstaan bijvoorbeeld door vanuit andere systemen handmatig informatie over te typen op papieren documenten. Dan is een vergissing bij het overtypen van bijv. 100 containernummers snel gemaakt, met alle gevolgen van dien.

Voordelen van digitalisering zijn dan ook:

  • Sneller (geen oponthoud zoals bij traditionele “papier-route”)
  • Voordeliger (minder afhandelingskosten)
  • Grotere kans foutloze uitvoering
  • Duurzamer dan papier

Hoe komt het dan, dat we toch vaak blijven vasthouden aan die “papierwinkel”? Dat komt onder meer door de vestigingsplaatsen van contractpartners en hun banken. Een voorbeeld: In sommige landen, vooral de “emerging markets”, zijn papieren handelsdocumenten nog vereist. Lokale wetgeving verhindert voorlopig de stap naar verdere digitalisering. Maar een groot deel van de wereld staat wel open voor digitalisering van Trade Finance. Bij een aanzienlijk deel van uw trade transacties zijn dus voordelen te behalen. Dus wat weerhoudt ons nog?

Op een bepaalde manier lijkt ons brein ingesteld op beperkingen, bedreigingen en beren op de weg. Eigenlijk niet echt vruchtbaar want het maakt ons voorzichtig, argwanend en sceptisch bij nieuwe ontwikkelingen. We voelen ons vertrouwd in onze bekende omgeving en dat maakt dat we eerder kijken naar problemen dan kansen en oplossingen. Dat vergt  “omdenken”[2]. Omdenken is een andere basishouding namelijk denken in kansen, nieuwe mogelijkheden en oplossingen. Het zorgt voor innovatie, vernieuwing en creativiteit. Dat is geen kwestie van een knop omzetten maar met nieuwe ogen kijken en met elkaar in gesprek gaan. Met elkaar open staan voor vernieuwing en enthousiasme om nieuwe mogelijkheden te gaan toepassen.

De poort tot digitalisering staat open. Begin eens met een rustig ritje op deze digitale snelweg met een beperkt aantal klanten of landen. Ik nodig u uit om te gaan ontdekken wat digitalisering u te bieden heeft en ga het gesprek graag met u aan over digitalisering. Ook blijven wij u ondersteunen bij de traditionele Letters of Credit daar waar de papieren handelsdocumenten nog wel even een rol blijven spelen. Bel (0613377921) of mail ([email protected]) voor een vrijblijvend gesprek.

 

Ger van Rosmalen

Trade Finance Specialist

 

 




[1] Supplement to the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits for Electronic Presentation (e-UCP), Uniform Rules for Collections Supplement for Electronic Presentation (e-URC), Universal Rules for Bank Payment Obligations (URBPO) en Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transactions (URDTT)

[2] De grondlegger van het omdenken Berthold Gunster heeft hierover een aantal inspirerende boeken geschreven.

Meet our Expert | 8 questions for Patrick Kunz, the Passionate Treasurer

01-03-2022 | Patrick Kunz | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

 

We are happy to interview treasuryXL expert, Patrick Kunz.

With Patrick’s impressive career within the World of Treasury, you can really say that he lives and breathes Treasury.

Patrick is performance driven. He is an open minded, outgoing, rational person who is comfortable communicating and convincing on all levels of management.

Patrick is owner of Pecunia Treasury & Finance with several independent treasury and finance consultants and founder of treasuryabonnement.nl. Furthermore he owns an online FX trading and payment platform with a connection to a big FX broker.

Patrick has worked with both international corporates from all fields of business as well as national non-profit organisations.

We recommend to visit Patrick’s LinkedIn profile to see his stunning career and activities. But first….

We asked him 8 questions, let’s go!

INTERVIEW

 


1. How did your treasury journey start?

During my study at Maastricht University I knew I wanted to work in the “world of finance” and more specifically trading or investment banking. In my 3rd year of university I got the opportunity to work as an intern for a Swiss Investment bank in Zurich which was a great first experience into wealth management and client exposure with high net worth clients. It also showed me that the client comes first, even though the client was not always right. This made me wonder if it was more fun on “the other side” at the buy side. It slightly frustrated me that a bank would not always provide the best solution.

 

After graduation I left on a trip around the world backpacking for 1,5 years. Enjoying ultimate freedom and fun before starting a career. When I came back to the Netherlands I applied for treasury roles at multinationals and landed my first job as cash & treasury manager at the German multinational Metro Group (the wholesaler, not the Dutch free newspaper). This was the start of my treasury career which until now I would never leave.

 

2. What do you like about working in Treasury?

It’s the core of a company. In the end its all about the money. Independent on what products you are selling and how you are selling them. Cash in vs Cash out. Without cash a company has a problem. Cash is king and profit is an opinion so in my opinion managing cash is very important and therefore fun. The more complex the more fun. Managing a multinational company with hundreds of bank accounts in different currencies around the global; finding the optimal treasury setup and solutions is great fun. Lastly, treasury teams are smaller compared to accounting or controlling, which make the lines shorter and the team tighter.

 

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

I started in cash management and FX trading which are great basic skills for every treasurer. My first company also had very short treasury lines and I quickly was involved in global treasury solutions, financing solutions and group companies corporate finance. When I moved on to my second role as group treasurer of a regional housing association, I also got exposure to interest rate derivatives and guarantee management. Afterwards when I started my own consultancy and interim management company 8 years ago I got to do the full spectrum of treasury. So without arrogance I can say in treasury I have done it all. The last years I am doing a lot of TMS/Payment hub implementations, which I enjoy doing. After finishing an implementation it is nice to look back and compare the old way of treasury processes and the new and see how it improved after a couple of months. Very rewarding.

 

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

Building a treasury from scratch is most rewarding and fun to do. 2 years ago I got the opportunity to build the treasury role at the Dutch born AEX company Takeaway.com. There were treasury processes in place but scattered in different departments. Also some of them were sub-optimal. My role was to bring them together and optimize them. Besides increasing the reporting and importance of treasury to management this also brought significant cash savings on bank and FX costs. A couple of months into the rule, the merger/acquisition of Just Eat was approved and the integration with the existing treasury team in London could start, making the team suddenly 400% bigger. After 5 months my work was far from finished but it was time to hand it over to the existing/new team. Looking back what was done in this short time this was one of my greatest experiences in treasury. And a great company to work for.

 

5. What has been your biggest challenge in treasury?

Nowadays: Opening a company bank account in a short timeframe without difficult KYC questions, especially for companies with difficult or complex structures. I was with a client last year, a scale-up, that moved fast in several countries in Europe. Treasury processes needed to be implemented from scratch in each country while operations was much further ahead but legal and treasury still needed to start. Working with this fixed go live we had to make sure we could receive payments from day 1 onward. In one country we were actually live on day -1 with no room for error. Stressful but successful.

As a consultant I sometimes face tight deadlines or difficult projects that need to be delivered but are dependent on other stakeholders. That is not always easy but this gives me energy to make it happen.

 

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

You can go fast on your own but you go far together. Sounds cliché but it is especially true in treasury as the treasury department is dependent on data from other departments to make it function. You cannot run risk analysis if you have no exposure data. Same for FX. Doing cash flow forecasting? You need data from procurement, AR and FP&A.

Also visibility and transparency is key. Even the other financial departments accounting and controlling sometimes see treasury as this special people that they have no idea what they are exactly doing. Make sure they understand (and vice versa) what each department does and how you can work together and what data can be shared. Also to avoid duplicating work. So leave the ivory tower and go out there and collaborate.

 

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

The speed and amount of information has increased and is increasing. Also the complexity of treasury departments. Luckily also the solutions available to manage them has improved. Next to swift solutions we now see advanced TMS solutions or payment hubs that can be implemented within a couple of months giving you full visibility. A treasurer nowadays needs some tech skills to be able to understand the information to implement the TMS or hub. Because the tool will be only be as good as it is being used; garbage in is garbage out. During the many implementations that I have done I have learned a lot about technical connections (sFTP, h2h, API), information exchange formats, XML file types, swift messages etc. This knowledge now helps me a lot in implementations and supporting the IT department determining the information needs and sources.

 

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

Instant payments are a big thing in treasury which is cool but will not necessarily bring much added value to the treasury. Instant information processing is more important especially in e-commerce. Clients expects instant service. If they pay online they expect to get the service or goods asap. Treasury can help with this by connecting their PSP’s or bank information to their systems. Not necessarily linking the payment to an invoice which is an accounting reconciliation process. More importantly linking the positive acknowledgment (the customers has paid) to the sales. Customers start demanding this more and more and treasury has to adapt to this instant world. This means more automation.

Clients also demand more payment options, some of them are not available at banks. This means that treasurers will have to move away from the traditional model of banking partners for cash management but to a more hybrid model of cash at bank, cash in transit at PSP’s, virtual credit cards, wallets etc. Maybe even crypto or CBDC deposits/balances. This will all add to the complexity of the cash and risk management.

 

Isn’t treasury the best department to be in? 😊 I already get excited saying this.

 

Get in touch with Patrick
Click here for his Expert Profile

 

Join Patrick and experts from Kyriba and Deloitte at the Panel Discussion: How Can Treasurers Overcome Today’s Security Challenges?

When? March 9
Start: 4.00 pm CET

Register here

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Kendra Keydeniers

Director Community & Partners, treasuryXL

Effective Finance & Treasury in Africa event run by EuroFinance | London

23-02-2022 | Eurofinance | treasuryXL |

 

If your company operates in Africa or is thinking about it, then join us at Effective Finance & Treasury in Africa on March 23rd in London. Now in its 9th year, this intimate event brings together more than 150 senior corporate treasury professionals from leading multinationals – all involved in markets across the continent.

With peer-to-peer learning and knowledge-sharing more important than ever before, join other treasury leaders to debate the key issues, share success stories and gain practical guidance on how to overcome your shared challenges.

From treasury technology to managing liquidity risks, financing strategies, FX, payments and more, the concise 1 day agenda will provide all the information you need to redesign your treasury operations for cost and efficiency, power innovation and support business growth.

Speakers include:

Jan Beukes, Group treasurer, MultiChoice Group Ltd

Omofolake Fawibe, Head of finance, IBS, Danone SA

Ricky Brink, Treasury professional, Siemens SA

Titus Owoeye, Head finance, Fan Milk West Africa

Gain all the tools you need to succeed in Africa in 2022 and beyond.

 

Registration is open – find out more and register now.

 

 

 

GTreasury Innovation Lab Launches with Goal of Accelerating the Development and Deployment of New Treasury Technologies

17-02-2022 | treasuryXL | Gtreasury | LinkedIn |

The new business unit is a streamlined proving ground for the transformative solutions that empower modern treasurers

CHICAGO, Ill. – February 17, 2022 – GTreasury, a treasury and risk management platform provider, today announced the launch of the GTreasury Innovation Lab. Expanding and formalizing the culture of technology innovation that GTreasury has always supported within the company, the Innovation Lab is structured to bring significant and differentiated impact to customers through brand new advances in treasury management.

The technology team at GTreasury continuously recognizes potential opportunities for treasury innovation. The company has traditionally held twice-annual hackathons to explore unique and creative ways to advance treasury technology and integrations. Now with the launch of the GTreasury Innovation Lab, each member of GTreasury’s technology team will have a dedicated cycle within the lab, gaining a purpose-built and regular outlet for putting ideas to the test. GTreasury developers also constantly absorb feedback from the customer support team, which gives them insight into the specific challenges that treasurers face. Those insights inform developers’ innovative approaches to increase the capabilities, usability, and overall efficiency of the solutions within the GTreasury platform, both for customers and GTreasury’s internal team that supports them.

“GTreasury has always been forward-looking with the technology and integration capabilities that can enable treasury and finance teams to do more and do it more efficiently,” said Ciarán O’Neill, Director – Innovation Lab, GTreasury.

“We keep one eye on where customers are right now and one eye on where they want to be. Our focus is on making sure that we’re always leveraging the latest technologies and offering future-proof solutions – it’s that philosophy that has led to pioneering creations like SmartPredictions™, our AI-fueled cash forecasting tool. The launch of the GTreasury Innovation Lab accelerates our pursuit of the innovations that it takes to develop and deliver powerful and compelling technological advances to our customers, and we’re excited to get going.”

Technologies born in the GTreasury Innovation Lab will progress through a systemic process designed to ensure the viability of a new solution. Developers at the lab first nurture initial ideas into working proof of concepts. Lab members then vote to select the solutions with the most potential to provide demonstrable day-to-day value for treasury teams. Solutions next enter a validation phase, where ideas are presented to internal stakeholders and customer representatives, including early adopters of a beta product. Validated solutions then move to a production development team to be fully built and integrated as stable enterprise-grade components of the GTreasury platform.

The GTreasury Innovation Lab already has a slate of high-potential solutions in ideation, including many in areas where the introduction of AI/ML capabilities offers tremendous potential. Initial areas for exploration include advances around BI reporting, risk analysis modules, and a reconcilement module offering more automated and accurate reconcilement between forecasted and actual treasury payments.

About GTreasury

GTreasury is committed to connecting treasury and digital finance operations by providing a world-class SaaS treasury and risk management system and integrated ecosystem where cash, debt, investments and exposures are seamlessly managed within the office of the CFO. GTreasury delivers intelligent insights, while connecting financial value chains and extending workflows to third-party systems, exchanges, portals and services. Headquartered in Chicago, with locations serving EMEA (London) and APAC (Sydney and Manila), GTreasury’s global community includes more than 800 customers and 30+ industries reaching 160+ countries worldwide.

Cash Management in the Digital Age: Redefining Visibility & Control

15-02-2022 | Ernie Humphrey | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

Access to cost-effective technology and greater data availability are redefining best practices in cash management. Many cash management pain points that were common even a few years ago are no longer causing treasury professionals headaches and sleepless nights.

On paper, effective cash management has always appeared simple. You need to have visibility and control of cash. Cash visibility means knowing current available balances, what happened and when it happened relative to all cash inflows and outflows for all bank accounts.

Cash visibility means having access to all balances and activity in your bank accounts. Historically, this has been a huge challenge. It required direct interaction with each bank to give you assess to the information you needed either through a bank portal or having the bank send you the information in a standard formatted message, an MT940 message for example. Imagine even 10 banks with a few being international banks and this task was difficult at best. I know this because I was involved in cash management at a company that had over 60 accounts in 12 different countries back in the early 2000’s. The best-case scenario for a treasury professional was to have to carry around many bank tokens and get IT resources allocated to manage any messaging from banks.

The good news is that there are now providers of cost-effective treasury management systems (TMS) that take on the challenges of gathering all information from your banks and getting relevant information to you in a timely manner in an easy-to-read dashboard. The following is a “Then vs. Now” illustration relative to the task of establishing visibility of cash in bank accounts courtesy of TIS, a leading TMS provider.

Control of cash means that informed decisions are being made relative to when and how payments are made, and cash is received. Payments and receipts are not just being scheduled and received based on the preferences of suppliers, customers, or at the convenience of accounts payable, accounts receivable, and/or treasury staff. Establishing control of cash means understanding how and why cash movements are taking place, and then optimizing the timing and types of payments and receipts (check, ACH, corporate cards)

Historically this has been challenging as accounts payable and accounts receivable were often run in silos, and there was limited visibility into what was going on and why for treasury professionals. Furthermore, accounts payable and accounts receivable were reporting up to the controller, and not up through to the Treasurer. Treasury professionals were handcuffed to a great degree in managing the cash conversion cycle.

Given more focus of investors on free cash flow and advances in technology relative to accounts payable and accounts receivable management, CFOs have given more attention to accounts payable and accounts receivable. This has meant that accounts payable and accounts receivable are no longer allowed to run in silos or viewed as purely back-office functions. At many companies, accounts payable and accounts receivable are collaborating much more with treasury professionals, and in some cases reporting up to treasury leaders.

Cloud-based accounts payable solutions are providing companies with visibility into all aspects of accounts payable, facilitating better relationships with suppliers, improving the productivity of those involved in the accounts payable process, giving companies more control of when and how they pay suppliers, and vastly improving the forecasts of payments.

Cloud-based accounts receivable solutions are providing companies with visibility into all aspects of accounts receivable, facilitating better relationships with customers, improving the productivity of those involved in the accounts receivable process, giving companies more control of when and how they get paid, and vastly improving the forecasts of receipts.

Advances in technology have turned what used to be cash management nightmares into dreams of optimizing all cash movements (how and when) which, frankly, can be a reality at companies of all sizes with the right people, processes, and systems.

Thank for reading!

 

Ernie Humphrey
Seasoned Treasury Expert
& CEO Treasury Webinars

 

Launch of the Treasurer Test 2.0, the new version of the assessment tool for Corporate Treasurers

08-02-2022 | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

 

treasuryXL announces the launch of the Treasurer Test 2.0, the new version of the assessment tool for Corporate Treasurers.

Read more

Conference “Toekomst Betalingsverkeer” 31 March 2022 Amsterdam | Discount 20%

02-02-2022 | treasuryXL | Kendra Keydeniers |

 

Euroform will host the 22nd edition of the Conference “Toekomst Betalingsverkeer” on Thursday March 31, 2022 at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam.

“Toekomst Betalingsverkeer” is a major event in the Payment Business with round table sessions, keynotes and more.

PAYMENT TRAFFIC EXPERIENCED A MASSIVE DEVELOPMENT OVER THE LAST YEAR

Payment trends accelerated during the corona pandemic. Due to the dynamic market conditions, both supply and demand changed rapidly.

  • Payments are becoming increasingly seamless, embedded and contextual;
  • More and more technological possibilities are becoming apparent. This also entails risks. Therefore, improving cybersecurity remains essential to guarantee security;
  • Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can help detect and prevent security breaches. Customer verification can serve as an extra layer of security;
  • To offer customers an optimal, easy and fast payment experience, more and more integrated payments are being used;
  • Platforms are also becoming more popular. They see an opportunity to broaden their offer with opportunities around investing and cryptocurrency.

Many steps have already been taken to promote innovation and digitization within the payment system.

What important developments can we expect in the future of payment systems? Together with other payment professionals, you will dive into the conversation around this topic.

At the event there is plenty of room to network and learn from each other. Inspire and challenge each other, exchanging knowledge, experience and ideas are key.

What can you expect?

Discussions and Keynote sessions about the following three important topics:

  1. Regulations, Reality
  2. Embedded: The New Payments Behavior
  3. Acceleration Towards New Money

Furthermore,

  • Expand your professional network with the attendance of 300 + strategic payment experts
  • Over 10 C-level speeches with topics like: Digital Transformation in Banking, FinTech, NextGen customer, New PSD2 Business Models, Blockchain Impact and Artificial Intelligence
  • 20 round table sessions: EID, PSD2, Instant Payments, Cybersecurity, Cryptocurrencies, Data-Driven Business Models
  • Plenty of networking opportunities with Drinks & Bites

Program and Speakers

You can see an overview of all the speakers of 2022 here.

To take a deeper dive into the full program you can view and download the agenda here.

Join the event with a discount and register exclusive via treasuryXL

The registration fee to attend the event is € 849,00 per attendee.

We are happy to provide our readers with a 20% discount on your registration fee.

Make sure to use this exclusive link to register with a discount.

I wish you a great event!

 

 

 

Kendra Keydeniers

Director, Community & Partners
treasuryXL

 

 

 

Corporate Treasury Data Insights: trends in COVID-19 Refinitiv usage data

01-02-2022 | treasuryXL | Refinitiv | LinkedIn |

Andrew Hollins, Director of Corporate Treasury Proposition at Refinitiv, brings you a round-up of the latest Corporate Treasury Data Insights, including corporate treasury activity during COVID-19 illustrated through Refinitiv’s usage data, a Refinitiv report on ESG risk and whether carbon markets matter to COP26.

  1. Corporate treasury activity illustrated through Refinitiv data usage saw the COVID-19 pandemic split into three distinct phases.
  2. The initial phase concentrated on credit risk data and analytics, as well as corporate financial data. Meanwhile, phase two focused on cash balances, and phase three honed in on ESG data and analytics as the world moved towards the ‘new normal’.
  3. Other areas of corporate treasury under the microscope included risk mitigation and ESG, carbon markets and COP26, and the state of the U.S. labour market.

For more data-driven insights in your Inbox, subscribe to the Refinitiv Perspectives weekly newsletter.

Chart of the Month

Refinitiv’s usage data paints a fascinating picture of corporate treasury activity throughout the pandemic. As events unfolded, we saw interesting and distinct dynamics play out.

We’ve discerned three phases of the pandemic.

Phase 1: the survival phase

The standout feature of this initial period was the focus on credit risk data and analytics, highlighted by an unprecedented increase in usage of the Credit Default Swaps app – 155 percent in EMEA, and 120 percent in Asia and the Americas.

Demand for corporate financial data also grew strongly – notably company fundamental data (usage up 81 percent), private company data (usage up 33 percent), sectoral data, and peer analysis (usage up 113 percent).

Conversely, during this initial phase, we saw a distinct fall in demand for ESG and LIBOR-related data and analytics.

Phase 2: the cash and corporate health phase

From June to September 2020, activities aimed at boosting cash balances were very much apparent. Our data showed a notable acceleration in corporate debt issuance.

In addition, there was also another, even bigger, jump in demand for company fundamental data with usage of key ratios and cashflow data growing by 160 percent and 175 percent respectively.

Phase 3: return to ‘new normal’

Emerging from the pandemic demand for ESG data and analytics is once again rising strongly. Between December 2020 and March 2021, it has grown by 93 percent to stand well above pre-COVID-19 levels.

This trend is likely to continue its upward trajectory given the rapidly evolving regulatory and demand-led factors that seem to be driving the focus on sustainability.

Refinitiv unpacks more of our usage data insights in a new masterclass series produced in collaboration with TreasuryToday.

Log-in or register at TreasuryToday to follow the series

Refinitiv report: Risk mitigation and the pivotal role of ESG

The far-reaching consequences of COVID-19 have forever changed the risk landscape, and rising levels of third-party risk now demand urgent attention.

Persistent gaps in formal due diligence must clearly be addressed, but a broader sea change is needed: both financial institutions and corporates need to adopt a more holistic approach to risk management – one that incorporates environmental, social and governance considerations as a fundamental tenet of the risk mitigation process, rather than as a separate silo.

Read the report: Risk mitigation and the pivotal role of ESG

Why do carbon markets matter to COP26?

Carbon markets are a key tool for countries to cut their greenhouse gases and meet their Paris Agreement commitments.

The cost of polluting is rising in Europe, parts of North America, South Korea and New Zealand. Most likely it will do so in China, the latest country to launch a national emissions trading system.

Read the blog: Why do carbon markets matter to COP26?

Are U.S. labour markets healing?

The COVID-induced rigidities in the U.S. labour market are easing, but the labour market remains extremely tight, implying potential upwards pressure on inflation from wages.

What can the Beveridge curve tell us?

Inflation gets complicated

There are textbook ways for investors to beat inflation. Unfortunately, we do not live in a textbook world.

Inflation chatter is always a thing, but the shocks are now coming thick and fast.

Decades of globalisation had muted inflation, and the last time the Consumer Price Index (CPI) topped 5 percent was just over a decade ago.

Refinitiv Lipper explores

Refinitiv Corporate Treasury Newsbeat

  • Refinitiv launches USD IBOR Institutional Cash Fallbacks in production to facilitate industry transition from USD LIBOR | Refinitiv has announced that USD IBOR Institutional Cash Fallbacks are now production benchmarks, and it will launch USD IBOR Consumer Cash Fallbacks 1-week and 2-month settings pending Refinitiv Benchmark Services (UK) Limited (“RBSL”) board approval. Read more

Image promoting the Corporate Treasury Data Insights newsletter. Subscribe Now!

 

Meet our Expert | Interview Ernie Humphrey, CEO of Treasury Webinars

31-01-2022 | Ernie Humphrey | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

 

We are happy to introduce our newest treasuryXL expert, Ernie Humphrey.

Ernie serves as the CEO of Treasury Webinars. Over the past three years Treasury Webinars have delivered thought leadership webinars to over 15,000 treasury and finance leaders across the globe.

Ernie has extensive experience as a long-time treasury manager and previously served as the Director, Treasury Services at the AFP.

Ernie’s dedication within the treasury ecosystem has been awarded with an impressive list of recognitions over the last years. He keeps on learning and surprising us, this man sure doesn’t sit still. We are excited to welcome him into the treasuryXL community.

Curious to know more about Ernie and his adventures?

We asked him 8 questions, let’s go!

INTERVIEW

 


1. How did your treasury journey start?

Actually, it has been a fairly interesting journey. I started working as a marketing analyst at a fast- growing mid-market public company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Franklin and Electric. When I first started I was “asked” to be in charge of the golf outings. I would interact with the CFO and Treasurer during the golf outings. I would let it be known to the CFO I would like to work for him as I was a bit “out of place” in product marketing.

After about a few golf outings, the CFO invited me to his office asked me whether I was seriously interested in a role in finance. At the time, they had an open vacancy for a treasury role as a Treasury Specialist. Their Treasury Department consisted of only one treasurer. At that time Franklin Electric had bank accounts in over 16 countries, over 5 continents and over 50 bank accounts. So, speaking about the start of my treasury journey, these were my first steps.

I think my start in treasury is an example which shows that it is important to have your brand out there. The CFO noticed that I could really bring people together at the golf outings, as everyone out there was having lots of fun. I had all people wearing all the marketing attire, so that was how I got my foot in the door.

2. What do you like about working in Treasury?

I think the biggest thing which made me like my work at Treasury at Franklin Electric was that no day was the same. We only had a small department, which made it possible to get really involved in almost everything. For instance, we were involved in global cash management, risk management and coordinated all the global insurance financial risk. I also enjoyed helping manage and administer the benefit plans of our company. We really had our footprint across the whole organization. Operating within multiple departments gives you a clear overview of a company. You get familiar with every department and every facet of the business. You really have your fingers in the pie and that’s very exciting.

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

Well, the first thing I was really involved in was global cash management and I am still very versed in this area. Cash management has always been a passion of mine. I am always interested in what is going on, especially in terms of technology. Another topic which has always excited me is bank relationship management.

I used to work as Director of Treasurer Services at the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) in Bethesda National. In this role, I was helping with managing the Bank Relationship management suite. As this was something near and dear to my heart, it is still something I love to talk about. When I speak on webinars and seminars of the AFP, relationship management is often involved. I still have an appetite for short-term investments and benefit plans of accounting administration.

During my last few years, I have really been focusing on treasury technology, as all the recent RPA and AI developments have help move treasury into a more strategic role. I have tried to stay on the forefront of these developments as it can really benefit Treasury.

And also really in advancing technology has empowered companies to take more control of cash through more visibility into the how and why of cash movements through AP and AR,. If AP and AR don’t report up to Treasury, I believe they should. Along those lines, also become involved in business partnering.

Lately, I have been creating and sharing quite a bit of treasury content. For example, I have spoken on my own and the webinars of other organizations and created surveys on how to impact the professional success of Treasury professionals. My latest content is mainly focused on how treasury professionals can really take control of their careers. For me, the foundation for a successful treasury professional is an impactful personal brand.

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

Wow, that is kind of a tough one. I would say the things that were most valuable to me were:

  • My time at AFP, I was in charge of the Retail Treasury Forum in New York City.
    This was a big undertaking for me. I head to take control of an entire conference which was very exciting. It provided me opportunities to connect with treasurers and people from over 500 companies like Tiffany’s, Ikea, Big Five sports. The event went well and proved to me that I could take the challenge and collaborate with people who I looked up to. I managed to get people to work with me and follow my lead , so that was cool.
  • Another thing which was really great is that I created and delivered the Treasury and Finance Virtual Forum.
    I experienced this a couple of years ago. This was the first real virtual conference for finance professionals. Delivering a full-blown virtual conference had been really a dream of mine for a long time to accomplish. I made this happen as a one man show, as I organized and delivered the entire conference by myself. We had a tremendous number of registrations, the attendee feedback was amazing and it was a big success.

5. What has been your biggest challenge in treasury?

As a practitioner in Treasury, my biggest challenge has been just staying on top of my game. I try to engage with as many treasury and finance leaders as possible to make sure I stay on top of my game and help them to do the same.

Also, every day I try to spend some time networking. Networking is something where I invest my time and I think everyone should do that. Next, I think it is also important for me to deliver relevant content that offers value to the world of treasury. Furthermore, be professional, stay connected and know what is going on in treasury and why.

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

There are a couple of lessons I have learned in interacting with thousands of treasury professionals over the past several years. The first thing that comes into my is: to listen. Really listen to what other people saying, before you should respond.

Also, don’t forget that we are all humans. Nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes. That it is all right to be yourself at work. You should be authentic, no matter what. And as a leader, you should be empowering other people in accomplishing their goals.

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

The evolution of the treasury function is depended on mainly two big things:

  • First thing which I noticed is that treasury professionals need to be more social.
    I try to educate treasury professionals about this by doing a lot of public speaking about this topic. For instance, how do you collaborate across your department right within treasury? How do you collaborate with colleagues in accounting , HR, marketing and sales? It is really important to communicate with different departments. You have to communicate effectively in order to collaborate effectively. I have had to learn that the hard way as I did not have much of guidance. Treasurers need to know that social communication is a valuable resource for them. You need to be trusted by others, but also have trust in others. My advice is to let other people know you, and you should invest in getting to know them.

  • Also, keep up to date with the newest technologies within treasury.
    We see a lot of advantages within treasury. The current developed technologies make it able for us to re-allocate more time and value to all our working activities. Therefore I am always keep an eye on the recent technology advancement that could makes its way to treasury.

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

Back in the day, technology had been a competitive advantage for the Treasury Department at a fortune 100 company, and that is no longer the case. I think, that in the near future we are going to continue seeing a focus on developing social soft skills. Also embracing technology will be important. A little bit further in the future, it will be interesting to see how things like Bitcoin and blockchain will make their way into Treasury. For example, will there be big differences in adoption in the US versus the rest of the world? Again, treasury is very exciting, as it is always changing.

Concluding, I am always looking for possibilities to learn, as learning is a way of living for me. Thanks you for having me!

Ernie was a driving force behind Proformative, formerly the largest community of Finance professionals, which grew from 500 to 30,000 during his tenure. He has authored published articles on working capital management, performance management budgeting & planning, acquisition integration, and bank relationship management in addition to articles dealing with several aspects of professional development. His e-book focused on career management was recognized as one of the Top 10 e-books for CFOs in 2018. Ernie was named one of the Top 20 Pioneering CEOs by Tech Magazine in 2020. Ernie has a BS and MS in Economics both from Purdue University, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Purdue Alumni Association and as the President of the AFP of Indiana (AFP-IN). Ernie is a Certified Treasury Professional and is a sought-after public speaker.

Get in touch with Ernie
Click here for his Expert Profile

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Kendra Keydeniers

Director Community & Partners, treasuryXL