There is an ancient Chinese proverb that goes: ‘Women hold up half the sky.’ They don’t, however, make up half the treasury profession, or probably even a quarter. According to the ACT’s current membership statistics, some 22% of its members are female. But the profession does appear to be gaining in popularity with women since they make up an encouraging 33% of students.
Indeed, the good news for ambitious female treasurers is that finance in general appears to be one of the best routes for women to make it to the top in business. A report published by accountancy body ACCA in September 2012 found that of the 20 women who held the role of executive director in FTSE 100 companies, nine of these (45%) were CFO or equivalent. Of course, that does not detract from the fact that the number of women board directors is still pitifully low (17.5% among the UK’s FTSE 100 companies, according to ACCA) and it is an issue that has achieved greater prominence since the publication of the Davies report in 2011, which set a target of 25% female representation on FTSE 100 boards by 2015.
On 8 March, we mark International Women’s Day, so in this issue of The Treasurer we take a particular look at the opportunities and challenges that exist for women in treasury in our cover feature, starting on page 18. We also meet Janice Watson, head of treasury for Visa Europe, on page 26. She shares her experiences of taking time out of the workplace to start a family and her thoughts on treasurers making CFO.
But this issue isn’t all about women. We also bring you our quarterly 16-page special on
cash and liquidity management, starting on page 31. Here, you will find some provocative
commentary on the future of cash (page 32), a treasurer sharing his experience of implementing cash pooling in Asia-Pacific (page 36) and advice on better reporting of debt and cash flows (page 40). We also bring you insight into the Canadian maple bond market on page 47, suggestions for automating your supply chain (page 56) and some useful pointers on how to say ‘no’ (page 58). Finally, if you’re in need of some light relief after ploughing your way through our packed issue this month, make sure you check out our article on the importance of laughter, on page 30.
See you again next month!