Member story: Jemma Watt, Treasury Analyst, World First

1. Please provide a brief overview of your career to date.

I started my career working on a treasury/markets desk for a wholesale Islamic Bank based in the City, where I learnt the craft of liability gathering, economics, sales and executing FX and money market trades.

I recently made a move into the FinTech world, where I manage client money for an international company as a Treasury Analyst.

2. What do you like about working in treasury?

There’s so much! Treasury is such a wide and varied role and presents an enormous amount of opportunity for personal growth and career development. I greatly enjoy working with short-term funds and find cash management an interesting challenge.

I also like working with trading screens and observing the swings in cable and other major currencies, during the release of economic data such as nonfarm payrolls.

3. You are a student member of the ACT. What attracted you to the ACT’s qualifications?

At the time I had worked in treasury for a numbers years and learnt a great deal whilst on the job. But a few years in, I had an urge to explore the foundations of treasury and to build-up knowledge in a more systematic way. After speaking with my manager, we looked through the ACT syllabus and were blown away with the breath of detail and knowledge. I then started my path to become a qualified treasurer.

4. What would you to say to anyone thinking of taking our qualifications?

What do you have to lose? There is so much to gain from being a qualified treasury professional.

5. What member benefits do you use the most?

I religiously read the magazine. It holds so much technical and topical information on treasury and beyond – and is relevant to all members irrespective of their level.

6. What do you think are the most important skills/strengths you need to be successful?

There are so many! But one I really like … is to try (I mean really try) to understand somebody else’s perspective. When you fully immerse yourself in a dialogue and seek to understand where a person is coming from, you learn much more about their goals, aims, agenda, things they may not tell you directly. You can in turn offer help and guidance should they need it.

7. What 3 words best describe you?

Polite, flexible and resilient!

8. What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Seek to understand rather than to be understood – this goes a long way when building relationships and one that I personally live by.

9. What book are you reading at the moment?

Covey’s ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. An inspiring and heart-felt read. I would recommend this book to anyone who seeks to better themselves and achieve personal growth.

10. Tell us something interesting about yourself.

I support a famous London football club, because a star striker used to live across the road from me.