Case Study Profile: Tarryn Van Wijk

Tarryn Van Wijk
Senior Treasury Specialist
Vodacom Ltd

Tarryn was certain that she wanted to work in finance but did not want to take the accountancy route. While working during a gap year in London, Tarryn progressed in to treasury. Quickly realising this was the profession for her, she decided to take the AMCT Diploma in Treasury (AMCT) and hasn't looked back since.

What do you do?

As Treasury Manager of the Treasury department at Virgin Management my team and I look after the management of cash, cash flow and funding; loans; banking relationships; foreign exchange and interest rate risks; group reporting and control within the Virgin Group as well as managing the relationships between the Virgin companies and Group. I enjoy working in Treasury at Virgin Management because no day is the same. One day I am looking at different strategies for foreign exchange and interest rate risks, the next day we are discussing cashflows and funding with the individual Virgin companies and the next day we are discussing a company disposal. I really enjoy the interaction with all of the internal departments, other Virgin companies around the world and building relationships with our banks.

ACT qualifications

I started off studying the International Cash Management Certificate (CertICM), which was very useful as I had just started in the treasury profession and needed to build on my foundation and knowledge of treasury. After I had been in treasury for a few years and knew I’d found my niche and needed a professional qualification that would provide me with advanced knowledge and practical training so I decided to study for the AMCT Diploma in Treasury. AMCT enabled me to improve our departmental functions and expand my knowledge on elements that I can put in to practice in the future. AMCT also assisted me in attaining my promotion to Treasury Manager - a great achievement for me.

The fun side of finance

A career in treasury allows you to work in the heart of the company. You become involved in exciting projects and have the opportunity to meet new people and build valuable relationships. Treasury is exciting because it encourages you to be forward-looking. The projects you manage are linked to the financial markets so any movements or volatility can make a quiet day very busy and challenging. There are so many elements to a treasury role; you’ll be able to gain experience in various disciplines and never get bored.