Colin Linton was recently made an Honorary Fellow of the ACT in recognition of his contribution to training and education in the treasury profession. Here, he talks to The Treasurer about his career and how technology is transforming how professionals can learn.
Linton has been ACT chief examiner since 2015, which was when the association’s new qualifications were launched. Since then, he has played an integral part in ensuring the high quality and standards of the ACT’s qualifications and exams are maintained. So, it was no surprise when he was awarded honorary fellowship earlier this year.
I leapt at the chance to be involved with the ACT... I always had a soft spot for treasury
“The award is in recognition of the work I have done with the ACT over the last eight years, though I have dipped in and out of treasury-related roles throughout my career,” he says. “I had the opportunity to get involved with the ACT to help it through a period of huge change, when it changed its suite of qualifications. But more fundamentally, the assessment delivery platform has also changed, with everything moving online. So, when COVID-19 arrived, it was business as usual for us. The ACT was relatively quick to embrace assessment-related technology, which wasn’t the case for some other awarding bodies.
“I leapt at the chance to be involved with the ACT because of my previous connections with the association. I always had a soft spot for treasury.”
Linton began his career in the late 1970s, and by the 1980s was developing and delivering capital markets training for staff working in commercial and corporate banking with NatWest. He then shifted to sales and marketing, selling cash management and related banking services to corporate clients, while launching a parallel career with the London Institute of Banking and Finance as an examiner.
He left the bank, which by then was part of RBS, in 2007, after a four year stint as the corporate banking division marketing director. Since then he has been an academic, consultant and trainer, delivering assignments around the world to a wide range of corporate clients.
The arrival of COVID-19 had a significant impact on both training delivery and assessments, with a significant shift towards greater use of technology.
The ACT is also good at keeping its syllabi and content up to speed, constantly refreshing them to reflect market changes, such as technological developments
As we know, technology has played an increasingly important role in all areas of business life, and training and education are no exception. “In terms of the impact on what I do, technology has been transformational,” Linton says. “The ACT was already ahead of the game, but the way of the world now is different. People want to receive their results more quickly, marking windows are much tighter. People want to do assessments on demand and get their results much more quickly.
“We are having to respond to what the market wants, and what employers want. Employers want the processes to be robust, but exams are not the only way of assessment, and they do not suit all learners.
“In this respect, the ACT is a really good example of an awarding body that has embraced this. It is also good at keeping its syllabi and content up to speed, constantly refreshing them to reflect market changes, such as technological developments.”
Linton recognises the increasing influence of artificial intelligence on day-to-day treasury operations, and elsewhere in the finance professions, but maintains there will always be the need for human input. “We still need intuition,” he says. “But there are many opportunities to embrace the use of AI.”
Honorary ACT Fellowships are awarded to those whom the ACT Council wishes to recognise for their extraordinary contribution to the treasury community. As well as Colin Linton, the council awarded Honorary ACT Fellowships to Agnes Favillier and Lynda Heywood. Favillier, a former ACT President, is director of treasury operations at LSEG. Heywood is the former group treasurer of Tesco and chairs the ACT Deals of the Year Awards judges' panel.
The ACT qualifications offer trusted, credible and globally recognised credentials that will help treasurers gain expertise and navigate complex global markets with confidence.
For treasury these are: Certificate in Treasury Fundamentals, Certificate in Treasury, Diploma in Treasury Management; for cash management: Award in International Cash Management and Certificate in International Cash Management.
For more information, visit learning.treasurers.org
Philip Smith is editor of The Treasurer
