The global economic crisis of the past two years has transformed corporate
priorities, pushing financial risk management to the top of the list. In turn, this
shift has raised the profile of the executive often responsible for managing that risk:
the corporate treasurer.
“The changes in the focus of the treasurer over the last year have been nothing short
of seismic,” said Jamie Smith, group head of tax and treasury for manufacturer Smiths
Group. “Historically, treasurers have been seen as important, but rather hidden. But
treasury and risk are now permanently on the board’s agenda.”
Today, treasurers spend considerably more time in senior management meetings
and before the board than ever before. In financial companies, “boards are being
questioned more by regulators and need a more sophisticated understanding of
credit and market risk,” said Hugh Graham, director of treasury and corporate finance
for Northern Rock. “Treasury is being scrutinized far more than it used to be, and
this has raised the profile of the new treasurer.” At Smiths Group, the treasury team
has even implemented a new treasury reporting system to give the board access to
more information.
Treasurers have also been working more closely with CFOs ever since risk and cash
flow management have become greater corporate priorities. “The CFO has to be
critically involved in the discussion around the balance sheet and risks, and cannot
just be focused on investor relations,” said Smith. “Our CFO now probably spends a
quarter of his time on treasury issues.”
THE NEW TREASURER
Before the crisis, the prevailing treasury trend was
to concentrate on benchmarking and on best-in-class
systems processes and controls. “That works in
a steady-state environment. But when the market
started to collapse, it became all about market
dynamics and risk management,” said Adil Mistry,
treasurer for Toys“R”Us.
“In today’s environment, it’s all about access to liquidity,
and there’s a greater focus on debt covenants,”
said Irene Moshouris, vice president and treasurer
for United Rentals. Because of her status as a point
person on financial risks, Moshouris has been named
co-chair of United Rentals’ enterprise risk management
committee. The group gathers colleagues from
different departments, from HR to IT, to develop an
enterprise-wide view of risks to the organization and
reports on them to senior management and the board.
To better manage risk, most treasurers have chosen
to run a very conservative treasury operation in
response to the economic crisis. Once the credit
markets started to open up in late summer 2009,
they started to consider refinancing. “To the extent
that you could remove refinancing risk from your
balance sheet, you were rewarded by the market,”
said Mistry.
But even though green shoots for the economy
are appearing, treasurers haven’t entirely changed
their approach just yet. “I sense a feeling of mute
optimism,” said Sean Christie, group treasurer for
AstraZeneca. “People are less defensive, but I still
think treasurers now are more conservative than
they used to be.”
A CHANGING SKILL PROFILE
In fact, most treasurers view the volatile markets of
the past few years as less of an aberration than as a
new reality they must be prepared to navigate. “When
I recruit for my team now, I am looking for people who can react to a rapidly shifting landscape,” said
Graham. “I want broad business thinkers and people
who have been stress tested.”
In this environment, traditional areas of focus for
treasurers, such as cash management, have become
sidelines. As a result, the traditional treasury operations
skill set is less in demand, while savvy in capital
markets has become increasingly critical.
Meanwhile, as the need for comprehensive, real-time
information for decision-making has increased, so
has the use of technology tools for decision support.
In turn, IT understanding has also become more
valued in the treasury role. But while treasurers should
be able to bridge the application of technology to the
treasury operation, having a current understanding of
treasury concepts and trends remains far more important
than technical IT skills.
THE TREASURY CAREER PATH
While the treasurer role is often a stepping stone
to CFO in the banking and finance industries,
treasurers don’t necessarily see the recent focus
on treasury as a trend that will open up new career
opportunities to them. Some even feel that it may
even be more difficult for treasurers to move beyond
the role right now because they’re so indispensible
in their current position.
Others see the role as a great proving ground, but
acknowledge that a vertical move is only realistic for
those who break outside of the treasury silo, since
good exposure to financial planning and analysis
and control are also common requirements for the
CFO role.
Today, a number of blue-chip companies deliberately
rotate executives through the treasury function, as well
as through operations and other departments, to
groom future leaders. “I am not a career treasurer,”
said Anna Manz, group treasurer for Diageo. “I was put into treasury both to round off my skill set, and
also because treasury now requires a broader type of person.
You need to be nimble, stress tested, broadly focused,
understand the business and all its elements,
and you must add value.”
MOVING BEYOND CRISIS
As the economy improves, many treasurers expect
to spend the next few years focused on balance sheet
repair. “Treasurers have got the bulk of the risk behind
them, but it’s come with a cost,” Mistry said. “I think
the next wave will be treasurers trying to claw back to
regain a more malleable balance sheet.”
Despite the current attention on the function, some
treasurers view the role as cyclical, and expect the focus
on treasury to ebb as the financial crisis fades. But others
feel that the downturn has permanently changed
both the way that companies manage risk and the treasurer’s
role.
“The whole funding and liquidity landscape has
changed,” said Christie. “Traditional assumptions
around assessing liquidity have changed. We have
to look more closely at our backup facilities, at how
the bond markets are reacting, at the credit worthiness
of counterparties. We need to look more closely at
where we put our money and how safe it is. The level
of scrutiny is just far higher — and I think it’s here
to remain.”
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