This year’s ACT Annual Conference marks the Association of Corporate Treasurers’ (ACT’s) first in-person post-pandemic annual conference and as such promises to bring together the treasury community for a long-delayed chance to meet up and network.
The conference theme is The Year of the Treasury Tiger, and the idea is simple: through Trust, Innovation, Growth, Excellence and Resilience, treasurers are once again in the front line of dealing with a dynamic risk environment where volatility and opportunity sit side by side.
The fact that General Sir Richard Shirreff CBE has been confirmed as keynote speaker brings an urgency and gravitas to proceedings. General Shirreff has been an astute commentator on the current crises and will share with delegates his insights on how good leaders can thrive in tough times.
Elsewhere in the programme you will find the usual eclectic mix of topics being covered in depth: from the global economy and inflation to payments, cryptocurrencies and values-based leadership, the range of subject matter will reflect the increasingly varied and demanding nature of the role.
Delegates can also hear a range of speakers from the ACT, NatWest, S&P, Lloyds, Anglian Water, Michael Page and Pearson.
The conference also marks the debut of Dino Nicolaides as the new ACT President. Dino is a long-standing supporter of the ACT and a passionate advocate for the profession. After completing his degree in Economics at Cambridge, he went into accountancy, qualifying in financial services audit with Touche Ross in London (now Deloitte).
See the full conference programme here.
A move to Cyprus saw him involved in numerous treasury projects, prompting him to study for the AMCT qualification, which he achieved in 2004.
In 2007 he decided to move to London and focus exclusively on treasury advisory, joining first KPMG treasury advisory services, and then in 2011 returning to Deloitte to lead the treasury advisory team in the audit service line. In 2018 he joined Redbridge Debt & Treasury Advisory, a specialised global treasury and debt advisory firm, as the head of treasury advisory for the UK and Ireland.
“What I like about treasury is that there is never a dull moment,” he says, pointing out that the profession faces a critical period in the coming years.
“Treasury’s profile is rising – the days of people treating it as a black box are over: certainly now, CFOs and the board cannot afford to do that. They need to understand treasury and to give it a voice at board level.”
Now, as ACT President, he tells us about where he sees the profession in 2022, and what challenges lie ahead.
The past couple of years have been challenging for the whole world, and corporate treasurers were no exception. We’ve all been through a challenging time. Now, although it seems that business life is coming to some form of normality, in my mind, I believe that there are some challenges that treasurers need to adhere to.
The first thing is inflation. While this isn’t a new phenomenon, it has been a few years since we have experienced high inflation in the UK and other developed countries. We treasurers know that inflation can have a knock-on effect on key risks such as FX and interest rate risk management, so it requires our immediate attention.
And newer entrants into treasury have had limited experience of inflation, so we have to help them; the more experienced among us haven’t dealt with it for a while so we need to refresh ourselves. But in my view, a good treasurer can easily address this challenge by going back to first principles and finding the risk appetite for their organisation.
Associated with that is interest rate risk. After a period of historically low interest rates – and in combination with rising inflation – we are now seeing rates rising. That will have an impact on policies and risk management that treasurers need to address as they would need to reassess and redefine the risk appetite.
The next thing treasurers have had to learn about is cryptocurrencies. They’ve been around for a number of years, but we’re seeing a growing number of organisations considering accepting cryptocurrencies. Again, this will have an impact on risk management that falls within the treasurer’s remit.
And then finally we have technology and payments. With new tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning helping treasurers in improving the accuracy of cash-flow forecasts, keeping on top of digitalisation, and running projects on top of the day job when treasury teams are by nature reasonably small in number, can prove a challenge.
With payments we’ve seen significant innovation in this area, and treasury and finance departments are trying to assess the suitability of new payment methods to their operations and their organisations more generally. Treasurers are usually tasked with these initiatives, but the key challenge here is that this is a complicated and technical area that requires specialised knowledge. It’s yet another demand on an already busy treasury schedule.
Of course, these challenges are also opportunities for treasurers to demonstrate their value.
By supporting its members and the wider financial community in line with its vision and mission. But what does that mean in practice?
I’d say it covers three main areas: first, by providing suitable education and training to continuously raise the technical and ethical standards of the profession. Second, by facilitating events and publications and projecting the voice of the profession on crucial areas of development to ensure that it remains a leading advocate in this respect so that members feel part of a diverse but supportive community.
Finally – and crucially – by maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and ethics among its members.
I hope that we continue to go back to some form of normality post-COVID-19 so that the ACT can continue to fully support the profession and its members with no further disruptions.
My priorities as President are to ensure that the ACT remains relevant to its members and their changing needs; then that it continues to be an agile and diverse organisation that can flex to the changing economic and financial environment; and then it must deliver its mission and vision.
For most of us (including myself), this is the first face-to-face large-scale event that we will be attending after the pandemic. So, my message is, ‘make the most of it’ – from technical updates to interesting professional conversations; promoting your business objectives to enjoying time with friends and colleagues, and feeling once again an integral part of an outstanding and diverse finance and treasury community.
Christian Doherty is editor of The Treasurer magazine
