We often speak of turbulence and volatility when we refer to today's business climate. We don't always compare the current day's environment with the unpredictable conditions that prevailed in the 1970s. And yet it was those conditions that provided the background to treasury as a profession and led to the creation of corporate treasuries within many companies. At the time, UK-based corporates were squaring up to floating exchange rates, in place since the late 1960s, and unpredictable exchange rates. Companies in the UK and elsewhere in the world were growing in scope and spreading geographically.
These internationally expanding entities needed sure-footed financial management, skilled practitioners who could address the problems thrown up by the variable rate movements, differing tax regimes and regulatory frameworks. The task of working with financial markets and the banks formed the basis of the role of the corporate treasurer - a job title unfamiliar to many at the time. In 1979, The Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) was formed at an inaugural meeting in London. The very first edition of The Treasurer was published in August of that year. Over the next 40 years, the ACT has worked to establish and evolve a suite of qualifications that equip corporate treasurers to work anywhere in the world and address the spectrum of financial management issues. The fact that it now has more than 6,200 students and members in 88 countries is testament to how effectively the association has achieved that goal.
Along the way, many ACT members have drawn plaudits with their stewardship and sound financial management, and it is a source of pride that The Treasurer has been able to document many of their stories and achievements. In the pages that follow, you'll find accounts of award-winning treasury teams at Tesco in the UK (on page 16) and DP World in the UAE (on page 24). We talk to some of the most senior women in treasury on page 20 and on page 28, where Philippa Foster Back and Fiona Crisp, the ACT's first and second female presidents, discuss the changes they've seen over the course of their careers. Our profiles of leading treasury professionals are one of our most popular features. On page 30 you will find a round-up of some of the lessons our interviewees have shared. And on page 40 John Grout, surely treasury's most prominent advocate and a former policy and technical director of the ACT, gives his account of that early context to the ACT' s formation.
It has been a great pleasure to compile this commemorative edition of The Treasurer. I hope you find within it many points of interest.
-Liz Loxton, editor of The Treasurer