Change is in the air at the ACT. There are challenges to the growth and development of the treasury profession and our economic environment remains difficult. We believe, however, that we have come through the financial crisis in good health and we are working on a wide range of initiatives to broaden our appeal to the treasury community in the UK, across continental Europe and globally.
If all goes well with our application for Chartered status for the ACT, we should expect to receive the Royal Charter later this year
The ACT is deepening its relationships with national and international treasury associations – including the members of the European Association of Corporate Treasurers – as well as with other professional bodies in accountancy and finance across the globe.
One of the lessons of the past few years that we hope to demonstrate is that treasury and financial strategy in organisations can only benefit when it is in the hands of qualified individuals. To that end, there is a focus on offering the ACT’s education and professional qualifications to individuals looking to grow their careers and professional development.
If all goes well with our application for Chartered status for the ACT, we should expect to receive the Royal Charter later this year. Alongside this, we are encouraging members to look at their CPD needs in the current membership year, in preparation for the launch of a new, formal CPD process in 2013. We recognise that most active members of the ACT (indeed, active treasurers everywhere) already do CPD that is appropriate for them and our new scheme is designed to put CPD in the hands of members through self-certification.
Regular readers of The Treasurer will know that the ACT reaches far beyond our members and students, however. This year, for example, members of the Spanish national treasury association, ASSET, have started to receive copies – and we hope you and they enjoy what you read. More than 10,500 treasury, risk and corporate finance professionals are now, like you, readers of the magazine.
This edition marks a relaunch of The Treasurer as a fresh, authoritative magazine that will reflect the importance of the role of the treasurer in organisations worldwide. The ACT is now working with Think, a leading publisher for professional organisations, to develop our suite of publications. The focus for both Think and the ACT is on creating publications that champion thought leadership, deliver practical and technical advice, celebrate the personalities in the treasury community and support treasury professionals in their career development. These are the features a recent reader survey told us were most important to the success of The Treasurer. We hope to achieve this for you through challenging commentary and the use of strong, modern design and photography.
The Treasurer is committed to continuing the conversation online through the development of its own microsite, which will launch in the autumn. Through that you will be able to help shape The Treasurer and the treasury profession going forward.
Colin Tyler is Chief Executive of the ACT.
Follow him on Twitter @ColinTyl