Corporate Treasury Courses

More about Corporate Treasury Courses

The corporate treasury profession is built on the foundations of a number of complementary financial disciplines, which combine to form the five core pillars of corporate treasury activity:

Capital Markets and Funding

This covers the range of sources and techniques available to raise finances for the business. Aside from making choices between different types of borrowing and the relative structures, terms and costs, treasurers need to develop relationships with investors and lenders, as well as credit analysts and rating agencies.

Cash and Liquidity Management

This relates to the process of forecasting an organisation’s cash needs in order to ensure that it is able to continue running its business(es). A critical part of this task is of course seeking the most effective and efficient means of obtaining funding, while doing everything possible to free up the company’s cash to avoid excessive borrowing. This requires an advanced understanding of working capital as well as cash reporting systems, which are closely connected to cash and liquidity management issues.

Corporate Financial Management

This is about finding the best way to ensure that an organisation’s business and financial strategies converge, finding the answers to critical questions relating to the assets that are worth investing in and the capital structure necessary to obtain money for these investments.

Risk Management

Risk management is about understanding and analysing the variety of different financial and business risks that a company faces and making decisions about whether any potential returns justify taking those risks.

Treasury Operations and Controls

This relates to the overall running of the treasury function, including issues such as staffing, internal & external relationships, systems & controls, procedures and general policies. This fifth pillar brings together the previous four areas of responsibility and involves ensuring that all of these different activities are carried out smoothly, without interrupting or jeopardising one another. Ultimately, managing the corporate treasury function is about always having a clear idea of your organisation’s and investors’ objectives, maintaining control of financial processes, balancing shifting priorities and being constantly up-to-date with the wider financial and business environment. It is only with skills in these key areas that a corporate treasurer will feel comfortable taking the difficult but necessary decisions that they are faced with on a daily basis.

The breadth of a professional’s role in a corporate treasury will depend on the size of their organisation, the size of the treasury department and their level of experience, but will always involve a combination of one or more of the above pillars. As in any profession, the range of responsibilities treasury professionals have will expand as they gain experience and progress in their careers, from dealing exclusively with risk modelling or foreign exchange in a junior position to managing an entire treasury.

Treasury Qualifications

The need for formal certifications will vary depending on the employer and the exact position in question. The CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) qualification can be highly valuable, as can a range of accountancy qualifications. Consider as well the range of Certificates that make up the AMCT Diploma in Treasury and the MCT Advanced Diploma in Treasury, Risk and Corporate Finance designed by the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT).
These Certificates are recognised both individually and as part of the AMCT Diploma, as well as contributing to CPD (Continuous Professional Development), which is key to remaining up-to-date in the dynamic and varied treasury profession.

Relationship with Investment Banking

Corporate treasury also has a range of similarities with the field of investment banking. Both professions involve analysing and forecasting an organisation’s need for external funding in the short- and long-term, as well as utilising a range of tools including bank loans, commercial paper, bond issues and stock issues to respond to these fluctuating needs for liquidity. In fact, corporate treasury personnel and investment bankers often need to work closely together, so much so that some training is geared specifically towards helping them gain greater insights into one another’s professions.