Having played a leading role in the treasury transformation undertaken at UAE-based conglomerate Al-Futtaim, Benjamin Koch found his thoughts turning towards a move back into treasury consultancy with ConVista back home in Germany. Here’s how his pandemic move came about.
When did you take up your new role and how did the move come about?
I took up my role at ConVista Consulting in Munich just this month after relocating from Dubai. I had spent six years in Dubai and the Gulf region. Like many relocation stories, I went out to the Middle East for a half-year consultancy contract and ended up staying much longer.
The move back to Germany was not solely driven by the pandemic, though. After working in consultancy in the Gulf for two years, I had the opportunity to work on a major finance transformation project at the one of the UAE’s largest family conglomerates, Al-Futtaim, in the capacity of global finance and treasury digitisation and transformation lead. As reported in The Treasurer, the project came to a natural conclusion and we had reached our main goals, so that was the time for me to ask: what’s next?
At the same time, we had the situation with the pandemic, which made me realise that I now couldn’t see my family back home in Germany. So in the end, it was a decision around personal circumstances.
The coronavirus helped me to refocus on what should come next, and I realised that after such a long time it would be great to spend time closer to family and home.
How did you secure the new role?
I was lucky to get an offer from ConVista after engaging with them online and then meeting with them in Munich in the summer when, happily, restrictions were lighter than they are now. It was not without constraints. There was a requirement to test negative for COVID-19 before flying to Germany, and then on arrival I had to have an additional test. After that, the rule in Germany at the time was that you had to register with the local health authority. But overall, these measures didn’t really put significant hurdles in the way.
Once you had an offer and had decided to move back, what were the practicalities?
The practicalities were a little tougher than the interview process, I would say. Luckily, I had enough time to plan and Al-Futtaim was a great help as well. I had seen other people relocating and heard of their various challenges, so those didn’t come as a surprise.
There were some aspects of the process that were difficult and took more time than you would expect in a relocation process. For example, selling items like a car in the buyers’ market that existed in the region during coronavirus was not an easy task and took considerable time. Likewise, shipping furniture and belongings back to Europe was heavily delayed. And then it was a matter of searching for an apartment and going through the regulatory aspects of relocating. However, all in all, I have to say that these issues were not unexpected, and the process went fairly smoothly.
Once I was back in Germany, because it was still the summertime, things were very relaxed. There were tourists everywhere, everything was open and there were only very lax restrictions around wearing masks or going out. Of course, with infection rates going up in November, lockdowns were reimposed and since December there has been a pretty hard lockdown in place. That experience has been quite strange, to be honest.
What were your first impressions of your new organisation, culture and team?
It’s great. I enjoy being back in consulting and working for a smaller organisation. Less time is spent on politics and bureaucracy, and more on getting things done, which is what ultimately drives me personally. There are around 650 consultants at ConVista – and coming from an organisation of around 40,000 people, it’s good to be able to meet the key people you’ll be dealing with swiftly. The hierarchies are flat and you quickly get to know a handful of people who you can approach on almost any topic.
The culture is very friendly and family-orientated, and I enjoy working in a team of senior treasury and finance experts who are deeply connected to both the business and also the technical consultancy side of things – be it through our certified SAP partnership (as a recognised SAP focus partner in financial management, banking, utilities and insurance as well as platform and technology development) or on other treasury solutions.
What are your main responsibilities and how do you work with your team?
I am a senior lead in treasury and finance consulting, and my role is to actively help our clients to get true value for money and realise their treasury and finance digitisations and transformations, guided by the best possible experts in this domain.
While I am now located in Europe, I continue to work closely with clients in the Gulf region. It helps that I understand the culture and challenges.
As to work – we try to minimise the health risk for both sides and try to work remotely where possible. Online meetings are therefore key to deliver value. But of course everyone is looking forward to meeting in person again once possible.
What's coming up in 2021 for you and the team? What are your priorities and plans?
Our objective for 2021 is to continue to support our clients globally with their treasury system implementations and treasury transformations. In fact, many companies are using the chance to upscale their treasury capabilities and systems.
The pandemic has shown the need for digital real-time treasury and crystal-clear reporting for top management as well as efficient organisational set-ups – with pressure on costs.
Our priorities are our clients’ priorities and we are looking forward to guiding and supporting their programmes and projects.
Liz Loxton is editor of The Treasurer