Educational Sessions
The role of the treasury professional is growing. Our Conference programming offers a broad range of topics from financial planning and analysis, risk management, payments, cash and liquidity. Hear from your colleagues on timely content to help you work smarter and be more efficient.
Career Development
Your Greatest Potential: Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders
A 2012 report by Deloitte identified eight trends in human capital that have the most business impact over the next 18 to 24 months. One of those trends is developing the next generation of leaders. Unless they do so, many companies will not have experienced, capable employees prepared to assume leadership roles going forward. Attendees at this session are introduced to the fundamentals of a high performance environment that is necessary for the engagement and empowerment of future leaders.
Celebrity Treasurers: Why You Should Become the Go-to Expert in your Field
Senior management relies on treasurers more than ever for guidance—now treasurers must make sure they aren’t taken for granted. In this session, treasurers will learn how to leverage their knowledge and skills on the speaking and writing circuit to raise their industry profile and propel their careers. In the process, “celebrity treasurers” can elevate their treasury group’s standing within the organization.
Turning Conflict From a Stumbling Block into a Building Block
Have you ever had to deliver bad news? How about when the Difficult Discussion you have to have is with your team, management or clients? Is there a way to do it that FITS YOU, maintains your character and integrity and gets the results you want WITHOUT getting people upset? Absolutely. This session is not about tricks or clever phrases; it is about how to THINK so you speak and interact in a natural style that is not combative.
Project Management for Treasury Professionals
Due to increasingly constrained resources, Treasury Management Professionals (TMPs) are asked to step out of their role as a firm's manager of cash and capital to serve as project managers. This session demystifies the discipline of Project Management. In this interactive session, the attendees learn how to manage a project from beginning to end: establish project goals, obtain buy-in from internal business partners, establish a project roadmap, ensure project progress, anticipate project “turbulence,” and bring a project to successful completion.
What Fortune 100 Leaders Know That You Don't
Learn the nine key characteristics that great leaders employ every day in their quest for success. Examine exceptional communication strategies, the elements to decisive action planning, when transparency works for you and even against you and how failing forward is good for the team. Each participant has new tools to use in identifying what habits, attitudes, beliefs and expectations are holding them back, or propelling them forward.
How to Write an Impactful Resume for the Financial Professional
The hiring market is more buoyant and now is the time to brush up your resume. Your personal brand depends on your ability to convey your experience and responsibilities compellingly, convincingly and powerfully, and on paper! This interactive workshop provides participants with the tools needed to write or re-write their resumes. Learn how to translate competency-based skills into meaningful accomplishments, with metrics to reinforce success. Focus on the distinction between hard and soft skills and why both are important on a resume.
Checking into the C-Suite: Transitioning from Treasurer to CFO
Many treasurers dream of becoming a chief financial officer but are uncertain how to make the leap. Attendees at this session learn how to position themselves as attractive CFO candidates, the skills CEOs desire in their next CFO and the critical factors involved in being an effective CFO. This panel discussion is led by current CFOs who have both public company and private equity backed experience.
Social Media for the Risk Averse Financial Professional
There are many reasons for participating in social media yet some people have allowed fear to prevent them from even trying. Social media is the best way to stay connected, become a thought leader, and educate friends, connections, and followers. Participating in the right way can be beneficial and rewarding. The panel concentrates on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. We discuss tools to get you thinking about all the right things before you go wrong — or set you straight if you have gone wrong.
Retaining Talent in High Growth International Markets
Many multinational corporates are facing competitive overseas markets where recruiting and retaining talented treasury staff in high growth markets such as India and China has become especially challenging. Career development opportunities and senior level mentoring along with a strong corporate culture are some strategies being used. This panel discussion will focus on how successful multinational corporations maintain their top talent in these high growth markets amid the challenges.
Financial Professionals as Strategic Leaders
Financial professionals possess specialized analytical skills and knowledge that can be leveraged to advance enterprise-wide, strategic leadership through value and risk-based decision-making. They can play a key role in advancing the strategic success of their enterprises but they must also possess the skills to become advocates, educators, communicators, catalysts and strategic leaders throughout their enterprises. Attendees at this session learn key skills and strategies necessary for them to further advance their roles as strategic business leaders.
Corporate Finance and Capital Markets
Bond Issuance: Private Placement versus Public, Intermediaries and Direct-to-Investor
In this session, a corporate treasurer looks at issuance of bonds in the private placement versus public market, a representative of an agent bank reviews the merits of issuing through a bank intermediary and a representative of a large investor examines the merits of issuing bonds directly to the end investor.
Leasing as an Alternative to Debt or Equity
Leasing can be the least expensive form of liquidity in a company’s capital structure. Hear how to properly utilize leasing in your capital structure to reduce cost, increase controls and visibility into your lease portfolio and learn best practices to reduce and or eliminate risk. There is significant room for savings and risk mitigation in EVERY leasing proposal. This session provides insight on structuring and negotiating every facet of equipment leases to save money and leverage lease financing to your advantage.
Convertible Notes-What You Are Getting Into
You just finished a meeting with an investment bank pitching you the benefits of convertible notes. Are you wondering what they did not tell you or what the convertible notes’ operational impacts on your team are? This session will examine the benefits and considerations of convertible notes and its impact on the finance team post issuance.
Counterparty Risk from Mickey’s Standpoint: How Disney Evaluates, Monitors and Mitigates Risk in its Capital Markets Dealing
The Walt Disney Company faces a multitude of financial risks, including foreign exchange, commodity and interest rate risk in its global businesses. Learn how Disney’s Treasury and Corporate Finance assess counterparty risk from a policy perspective and the best practice procedures and metrics the Company has instituted to monitor and mitigate risks for their Capital Markets derivative transactions. Michael Broderick, Director of International Treasury at The Walt Disney Corporation, and Laurie McCulley, Partner at Treasury Strategies, will present how the counterparty risk evaluation process has changed and issues companies need to be aware of in light of Dodd-Frank derivative regulation.
An Effective Investment Policy in a Changing Regulatory Environment
With possible regulatory changes to money market funds, potential downgrades of financial institutions and possible new investment options available to corporate treasurers, it’s particularly important to have a properly-worded investment statement. This session will incorporate a practical discussion of writing such a policy, a review of the influence of the SEC, FSOC and the rating agencies on the statement, and best practices for drafting an effective investment policy and for reviews and revisions once the policy is in place
Maximizing Credit Facilities and Rewarding Bank Relationships: A Case Study
What are the best practices in evaluating bank relationships, optimizing the size of credit facilities and bank groups, and rewarding banks business? The Treasurer of Nash-Finch Company discusses how they worked with lenders to increase their ABL facility from $340mm to $590mm and ultimately realized significant credit benefits. The session provides guidance on awarding titles in syndicated credit facilities and capital markets executions and on managing bank participant expectations for equitably allocating share of wallet for fee and product income.
Dodd Frank Financial Reform Regulation Update
In July 2010, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly referred to as the Dodd Frank Act, was signed into law. Title VII of Dodd Frank establishes new requirements for the trading of many financial derivatives, including trade execution, clearing, margining, data and recordkeeping and reporting requirements. This session provides an overview of the Dodd Frank Act's impact on corporate treasuries, as well as a look at how non-financial companies are responding to the Act's requirements and implications.
FSOC and What It Means to Corporate Treasurers and Executives
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), created under the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, has created another layer of regulatory accountability for financial institutions and the corporations they serve. Learn how FSOC came into being, their power and control in the financial markets, real or perceived, and what that means for corporate treasurers. Discussion will focus on the salient points CFOs and corporate boards need to know.
Negotiating Loan Documents in Today's Environment
This session focuses on trends in loan documents and provides suggestions on how a corporate borrower can best negotiate its credit facility. We will highlight specific negotiation tips – and traps – in loan documents for borrowers, offering detailed examples of language to either avoid or request so that you will have maximum flexibility in running your business while also appropriately allocating risks between you and your bank.
Emerging Issues in Money Market Funds
Hear about trends in short-term debt securities and investing from a money market mutual fund expert and from an emerging markets treasurer. Transparency, money fund assets, regulations, and money market mutual fund portfolios are discussed along with issues involved in launching CP and CD programs. Discuss recent events and hot topics in the commercial paper, money fund, and money markets that are impacting issuers and investors, and review regulatory changes of interest to global money market participants.
Leasing as an Alternative to Debt or Equity
Leasing can be the least expensive form of liquidity in a company’s capital structure. Hear how to properly utilize leasing in your capital structure to reduce cost, increase controls and visibility into your lease portfolio and learn best practices to reduce and or eliminate risk. There is significant room for savings and risk mitigation in EVERY leasing proposal. This session provides insight on structuring and negotiating every facet of equipment leases to save money and leverage lease financing to your advantage.
Liability Management and Capital Structure
This session walks attendees through the types of capital alternatives available to corporations, including the benefits of each. A corporate finance manager discusses debt structuring decision points and provides an understanding of the process of issuing debt in the capital markets using a step-by-step example of the capital markets issuance process.
Advanced Financing Options 201: Learning the Language
Many financial professionals are confident that they understand the financing options their local bank presents, but then subject matter experts enter the conversation speaking an entirely different language. Attendees at this session learn how to “talk the talk” of the major financing options available to mid-cap companies and the different ways that industry experts discuss such terms as bank credit facility, a syndication, the pro rata market and more.
Financial Planning and Analysis
Enterprise Planning in Action: The Crate & Barrel Approach
FP&A often measures broad enterprise wide analytics, but rarely looks in the mirror at its own performance. This session will address ways to calculate the value of the FP&A function to an organization. Approach will be taken from concept to real application as session will spotlight an organization that has applied the methodology to capture the ROI of their FP&A function. The session will discuss challenges and successes encountered in spotlighted case study.
Multi-tiered KPIs/Balanced Scorecards: Helping Finance be on the Leading Edge of Performance Management
More and more finance professionals are being tasked with creating and managing KPIs/balanced scorecards for an entire organization. This session will cover KPI theory, how to create them at different levels (Tiers I, II, and III), and how to manage their on-going reporting. Special emphasis will be places on cutting-edge multi-tiered KPIs that can even replace annual performance reviews. This session will help professionals navigate the intersection of Finance, HR, and performance management with a clear view on how to make KPIs work for organizations of any size.
The Process of Financial Analysis
FP&A leaders are always looking for a better and improved process for conducting financial analysis. There is a dire need for a disciplined approach to conducting financial analysis. This session intends to provide a world class approach to financial analysis which has worked across industries ranging from financial services to manufacturing. This simple yet elegant process is meant to help the FP&A group in facilitating better decision making for the business.
Measuring the ROI on FP&A
This session focuses on how an organization measures the return on their investment in the financial planning and analysis (FP&A) function. FP&A often focuses on measuring other departments but does not look internally at its own performance. We address ways to approach the calculation of the value to the organization and how this can be used to evaluate ongoing performance. Both the strategies and challenges associated with this calculation are also covered.
Rolling Forecast Implementation: 7 Factors for Success
Rolling Forecasts help organizations become flexible, dynamic, and effective during unpredictable business environments. They require unique techniques for planning purposes because they extend time horizons and improve visibility of future performance. This session outlines the 7 key factors necessary for a successful implementation of Rolling Forecasts, including technology requirements and cultural shifts from the “traditional budgeting” mentality.
Leveraging a Planning and Reporting System to Optimize Performance Management
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals has experienced significant growth and organizational changes over the last several years. While their existing EPM platform supported core business needs, the changing environment created complexity, uncertainty, and greater demands on the Finance organization and the underlying technology. As part of a system upgrade, Sunovion redesigned various aspects of the existing annual planning, forecasting, and reporting processes. They also established an EPM roadmap that optimally aligned current business requirements and anticipated future needs.
FP&A Lessons Learned
Hear about Intel's strong FP&A function and how it drives company strategy and performance. The discussion mixes strategy and technique with real experiences to make the case, along with observations about hiring and influence strategies, that a strong FP&A function improves a company's competitive advance in the marketplace. The discussion also includes methods to value, fund, and nurture growth businesses.
Integrating the Strategic Plan with the Annual Budget and Forecast Process
This presentation will provide attendees with lessons learned and best practices in producing and integrating the Strategic Plan with the Annual Budget and Forecast process. The presenters will discuss how economic uncertainty and industry changes has necessitated a scenario-based approach to financial planning in order to understand the full range of possible outcomes to an organization’s credit ratings, covenants, and cash flow position prior to making critical capital allocation decisions.
The Evolving Role of the FP&A Professional
As organizations continue to maneuver the evolving global environment, the FP&A role is becoming more critical than ever to the success of businesses. FP&A professionals are essential to driving business decisions and the growth of organizations. This session will take a look at the beginning of the FP&A role, how it has evolved and the future of the FP&A role highlighting what skills/certifications will be needed to be an effective and efficient FP&A professional going forward.
Financial Planning in the Cloud: Seeing the Bigger Picture
Pandora, the leading Internet radio service, charged their FP&A group with implementing an infrastructure to prepare for rapid growth. This discussion focuses on how the company defined its needs and switched from Excel-based planning methods to cloud solutions, which has helped the company deliver greater financial transparency across the company. This also enabled easier integration with the various business systems and supports a vastly larger data set for analysis. Cloud-based financial planning is a viable business alternative with specific benefits to financial planners.
Critical Communication Skills for FP&A Professional
Communication skills are vital to a financial professional’s business success. One study estimates that 85 percent of success in business is determined by communication skills, and employers rank “verbal communication skills” as the most important skill necessary to do the job well. This session gives attendees basic strategies and tools they can apply immediately in their organizations, including how to create a communication skills development plan.
Global Treasury and Finance
Enhanced Global Liquidity Through Notional Pooling and Payment Netting
In the current economic environment, timely and cost-efficient liquidity management is more important than ever. Treasury departments must be willing to evaluate and employ creative tools which provide flexibility and efficiency. Two such tools are notional global multi-currency cash pooling and payment netting (Intercompany and Third Party). In this session you will learn how Federal-Mogul Corporation has used these concepts to maximize global liquidity, lower foreign exchange transaction costs and reduce administrative burdens.
Best Practices: Wal-Mart’s Approach to Global Bank Risk and Relationship Management
As the largest retailer in the world with over $400 billion in annual revenue, Wal-Mart has banking relationships in more than 28 countries, including United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, and China. Because of this global reach, developing best practices to ensure its bank relationships across the globe meet both its treasury and cash management needs is critical. This session will focus on Wal-Mart’s approach to improving the management of its bank accounts across the globe.
Leveraging RMB for the Benefit of Your Global Business
The China central bank has been encouraging RMB cross border flows and has recently been focusing on relaxing the RMB flows out of China. This session will bring together a panel of experienced treasury specialists from US corporates operating in China to discuss the new opportunities of doing business in RMB. They will share their perspectives of current developments through live case studies that outline some of the challenges they’ve overcome and the benefits they’ve gained.
Increasing Liquidity Through Efficient Global Treasury Structures
When designing and managing a global liquidity structure, organizations need to consider cash mobilization and liquidity management structures that optimize available cash, reduce risks and automate end-to-end accounting and reconciliation. Warner Music Group’s treasury staff transformed a globally decentralized cash management structure to a more efficient, centrally managed structure that automatically concentrates cash for central management and control. Attendees hear how Warner Music Group achieved its goals of increasing liquidity and reducing overall costs through bank fee rationalization.
International Cash Management Strategies
There is a tremendous amount of “trapped cash” in foreign countries from the increased globalization of U.S. multinational companies. Many businesses continue to investigate strategies to invest cash held in their offshore entities. As these assets are often not required for operational liquidity and may be held in various currencies, we review different scenarios for operational impact, capital preservation and competitive returns.
Payments
Achieving True STP: Trends in Straight-Through Processing
In this cash and liquidity focused environment, transparency, standardization and efficiency are paramount. Panelists from General Electric and Staples, along with their Bank and SWIFT partners, explore trends in straight-through processing (STP) and share their success stories and challenges in what it takes to achieve true STP. The discussion examines the best navigation and vetting techniques, as well as use of newly implemented comprehensive remittance information, so that organizations can take advantage of true STP.
When’s the right time to upgrade legacy systems? Lessons from AARP
AARP had a payments problem. As remittance channels evolved, it found its outdated legacy system was ill-equipped to process the now more than 60 different types of remittance documents received from its 37 million members. The solution? AARP turned to automation technology – an integrated receivables hub. Within 90 days of deployment, AARP lowered its operation costs while improving its processing accuracy and now receives same-day availability of cash. AARP is also driving ROI and CRM by leveraging the technology to service its growing member-base.
Capitalizing on Innovation and Best Practices in International ACH Transactions
International ACH Transactions (IAT) are gaining greater acceptance among corporate treasurers. This session will present a case study of a large U.S. payments processor who was able to make 55,000 payments in one day across 23 countries in Europe, the highest volume of single-day ACH transactions to Europe that the Fed had ever done. Discussion includes a “road map to IAT” and lessons learned, serving as a how-to guide for treasurers.
New Data Cleansing Technology Improves Efficiency
GulfMark Offshore Inc., a $3.8 billion global marine transportation services provider, initiates 400 to 500 domestic and 1,200 to 1,500 international payments a month in multiple geographic locations and currencies. GulfMark’s rate of straight through processing (STP) failure was high, resulting in payment processing inefficiencies and higher costs. Learn how a bundled solution that included data cleansing, maintenance and strict controls on bank record creation helped GulfMark position itself for greater growth.
Dealing With Problem Payment Streams
New cloud based software has emerged, enabling users to create AP and payment platforms that incorporate their own specific workflows, terminology, and inquiry and reporting capabilities. How are diverse industries embracing this new technology to move millions of payments faster, easier and with more insight? Learn how this technology is being applied to functions including invoice processing, check creation, ACH origination, return mail handling and escheatment.
How To Protect Against Fraud in an Evolving Payments Evironment
Practitioners need to be prepared to continuously evaluate internal controls and coordinate with their banking providers to implement the latest services and tools available to mitigate the potential for fraud. This panel discussion focuses on how practitioners are responding to an increasingly electronic/mobile payments environment and what steps have taken to protect their assets. Data and insights from the 2012 AFP Fraud Survey will be explored.
Receivables Centralization Enabled by Technology
Hear how corporate treasury leaders are enhancing receivables management, an area of many challenges (including that of payer preferences), through centralization, focus on transaction processing and funds flow components , and utilization of technology. Understand how these steps to improved receivables management can present new opportunities to transform enterprise s through the establishment of agreed - upon metrics and key performance indicators.
SEPA Countdown: 3 Months To Go Before the Shut-down of Legacy Euro Payments
With the deadline fast approaching, SEPA is a major concern for many companies with significant operations in Europe. This session is focused on the key actions that companies should take to drive toward achieving SEPA compliance. For those companies that have been executing on their SEPA plan, learn how your company can benefit from the new SEPA environment and add value to your organization.
It’s Not Business as Usual: New ACH Network Opportunities
Over the past year, NACHA has proactively engaged corporates to identify how the ACH Network can better support their business needs. This interactive session will address steps NACHA has taken to respond to this input. Discuss developments in rulemaking and network innovation, supporting efficiencies in such areas as ACH origination, retail purchases, recurring and one-time bill payment and remittance processing. Identify opportunities in vertical markets, including healthcare, utilities, insurance and beyond.
Leveraging Business Commerce Portals for Straight-Through Payments Processing
Companies using business commerce portals reduce accounts payable (A/P), accounts receivable (A/R), and payments processing costs, apply payments quicker, and strengthen trading partner relationships. Choosing the "best" portal for your company can be challenging, and implementing it may seem near impossible. Yet, many benefits accrue to companies that do so. In this session, treasury professionals share their experiences, including insights and tips regarding identifying, implementing, and using portals, and how their company benefits.
Collections on the Go: Best Practices in Mobile Image Deposit
Organizations that rely on mobile sales forces face considerable challenges in collecting payments, making deposits and improving funds availability, but smart-phones and new bank technologies are enabling mobile capture solutions. Financial professionals share their experiences in these emerging practices. Attendees learn how mobile deposit via smart-phones simplifies settlement and reconciliation and how successfully integrating a mobile image deposit solution with an accounts-receivable system speeds up deposits and increases availability of funds while supporting working capital management objectives.
U.S. EMV Smart Card Migrations: What Cards Do Merchants Hold in their Hand?
A diverse panel of merchants identifies challenges and takes a critical look at issues surrounding adoption of the Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) integrated chips "standard" in debit and credit cards. Merchants discuss factors influencing their adoption, including the costs of implementation, necessary technology investment, the impact on fraud, the interplay with e-commerce and mobile, compliance with Regulation II and more. Hear about the lessons learned from other global markets that can be applied in the U.S.
What You Need to Know to Take Your Card Program Global
What should card program managers consider as their organizations expand globally? Which practices cross national boundaries and which are better left at the border? How can you be respectful of cultural norms and mindful of regulatory differences while maintaining consistency? Hear about the language differences, varying liability models, and currency triangulation faced Tennant Company as it expanded from the U.S. into Europe, China and Brazil. Learn how to address global client requirements using the latest marketplace tools.
Case Study: Responding to a Highly Sophisticated Fraud Attack
Most major e-commerce merchants have controls to manage payment fraud that use rules or scores to flag or reject transactions with characteristics deemed to be risky. The rules and scores tend to be similar across merchants and easy for criminals to anticipate. Hear about a Fortune 100 company that responded to a sophisticated fraud attack with advanced analytical techniques. Discuss the characteristics of the attack and the strategies used to address it and understand the implications that “cleaner” fraud has for merchants overall.
What You Need to Know to Take Your Card Program Global
What should card program managers consider as their organizations expand globally? Which practices cross national boundaries and which are better left at the border? How can you be respectful of cultural norms and mindful of regulatory differences while maintaining consistency? Hear about the language differences, varying liability models, and currency triangulation that faced Tennant Company as it expanded from the U.S. into Europe, China and Brazil. Learn how to address global client requirements using the latest marketplace tools.
Successfully Managing Payment Innovation
Practitioners need to be prepared to continuously evaluate internal controls and coordinate with their banking providers to implement the latest services and tools available to mitigate the potential for fraud. Panel discussion will focus on how practitioners are responding to an increasingly electronic/mobile payments environment and what steps they have taken to protect their assets. Data and insights from the 2012 AFP Fraud Survey will be explored.
Taking Payments to the Next Level in Liquidity Management: Reducing Costs & Generating Revenue
Migrating paper checks to ACH can help companies reduce costs and risk, as well as improve operational efficiencies. However, migrating paper checks to a virtual card program is a hidden gem that helps corporations earn rebates. Hear how Masco Corporation is able to reduce costs, earn rebates, and improve operational efficiencies across multiple types of disbursements by migrating to an integrated payments platform.
Pension and Benefits
Take Your 401(k) to the Next Level: Cutting Edge Strategies for Increasing Savings
In the wake of recent financial crises, managing an organization’s retirement savings program is even more challenging than in the past. This session focuses on state-of-the-art approaches for improving 401(k) plan performance. Attendees learn about various institutional techniques to manage such plans within a risk budget, redesign the way plan fees are paid and improve likely outcomes through “DB-izing” the investment structure.
Asset Allocations: A New Methodology for an Uncertain Future
Pension plan sponsors make critical decisions about asset allocations in their companies’ portfolios. Often such decisions are based on predictions about Federal Reserve policies and actions, changes in interest rates, inflation and asset class performance. Monitoring such factors is time-consuming and not always effective. This session reveals how evolving expectations about future real GDP growth and inflation may affect asset pricing over time to create five “market regimes,” which pension plan managers can use to make more informed investment decisions.
Controlling the Impact of Pension Expense on Corporate Finance
Pension plan sponsors face the challenges of volatile equity markets, low interest rates and fluctuating pension liabilities that are directly impacting corporate finances. This session focuses on innovative pension investment and risk management strategies designed to reduce funded status volatility and its impact on cash availability and corporate balance sheets. In this session, we discuss the latest active investment strategies and accounting methods designed to align investment decisions with corporate risk sensitivities and the long-term objectives of the plan.
An Evaluation of Target-Date Funds for Salesforce.com 401(k) Plan
Target-Date Funds (TDFs) are the most popular QDIA and have become one of the largest plan investment options for DC plans. As a fiduciary, plan sponsors should have a selection and monitoring discipline for TDFs in place. We will present how the plan sponsor conducted a detailed evaluation of their plan’s current Target-Date Fund suite and conducted a search to make a side-by-side analysis of those funds. TDFs were reviewed for asset allocation, performance and fees.
A Treasurer's Perspective of Pension Risk: Managing the Journey to Full Funding
Numerous ‘perfect storms’ for pension plans over the past decade have taught us that in periods of stress, diversification often fails to deliver what was hoped for in our asset portfolios. Additionally, plummeting Treasury interest rates can cause pension liabilities to skyrocket at the same time as the asset portfolio suffers, often at times when cyclical plan sponsor’s businesses are suffering. These insights have spawned the risk parity and LDI strategies that numerous sponsors are implementing today. In this session we focus on combining these strategies and propose managing the journey toward full funding with a liability relative risk factor approach
CDHC, Complete Legislation History, Impact on Receivables
The discussion details the evolution of Consumer Driven Health Care, focusing on regulatory and legislative events that created Health Savings Accounts. It is imperative that financial professionals understand the difference between FSAs, HRAs and HSAs, discussed in this session. Regulations enabling HSA plans sale through Health Exchanges (HIXs) favor HSA Plans and HSAs. In fact, regulations embrace High Deductible Health Plans and pave the way for HSA growth. Learn the inside story from two individuals responsible for HSA expansion.
Risk Management
Delivering a Smarter Investment Strategy: How UPS Analyzes Counterparty Risk
Limited treasury resources make it challenging for many corporates to conduct a thorough credit analysis to properly evaluate counterparty risk. Financial professionals from UPS discuss how they utilize their expertise and resources to evaluate counterparty risk and incorporate it into investment decisions. Attendees learn the criteria for evaluating credit and counterparty risk, examples of specific analyses, the parameters credit professionals utilize and the current market factors providing opportunities and challenges for all short-term investors.
Disaster Planning and Recovery: Will you be in business tomorrow?
Floods, tornados, technology outages, terrorist attacks. It’s events you can’t see coming that can put you out of business. Hear a panel of practitioners discuss how they plan and prepare for disaster recovery and share stories of how they survived and recovered from real life disasters. You’ll learn best practices for building, testing, and implementing business continuity plans with a focus on treasury departments.
Strategic Risk Management: Case Study with Novelis
As treasury continues to operate in a global environment and respond strategically to changing market conditions, it needs to look holistically at mitigating its risks to effectively drive value to the business. This session addresses some of the market conditions that affect financial risk management programs, specifically around commodities and FX. We review how one company’s approach to restructuring its global risk management activities is enabling it to gain the visibility it needs to work more strategically across the enterprise.
Financing Foreign Subsidiaries and Risk Management Implications
Companies face several issues when a parent is financing foreign subsidiaries. We will address topics such the risk management implications of contributing equity versus using an intercompany loan structure. In addition, we will discuss the differences between organic debt and synthetic debt (that can be created with cross currency swaps). Finally, we will review the use of foreign exchange options as a risk management tool when financing subsidiaries in high interest rate currencies.
Currency Hedge Strategies in Today's Market
Risk managers must deal with a new paradigm in financial markets as central bank accommodation has contributed to declining price volatility. This session includes a discussion of key currency hedge strategy implications of the current environment. Topics include the value proposition of forwards versus options, selection of hedging tenor, arriving at optimal hedge ratios for layered hedged programs and taking advantage of pricing anomalies.
Managing the Trifecta of Market Risks in Today's Environment
This presentation will focus on the risks and outlook for foreign exchange rates, interest rates, and commodity prices. The presentation will include a discussion of the relationship between growth expectations and the most significant market risks for corporate treasurers and risk managers across the next 12 to 18 months. The presentation's focus is on the risk assessment and risk management approaches of corporate practitioners across the following sectors: automotive and heavy manufacturing, finance and trading, metals and mining, oil and gas, transportation and logistics, and consumer products.
Exploring Hedge Accounting Changes and Their Impacts
Hedge accounting standards under both US GAAP and IFRS are changing. The IASB’s proposed standard, IFRS 9, includes significant changes. The FASB has also proposed significant changes to the hedge accounting provisions of ASC 815 under US GAAP. The changes to both frameworks are intended to simplify applying hedge accounting – but will that be the end result? The proposed changes are likely to have a profound effect on the application of hedge accounting.
Coping with Disaster: Maintaining Continuity in the Wake of Emergencies
Superstorm Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane in history, left more than 8.2 million homes and businesses without power. Hear how AIG and Guardian Life’s treasury teams, with little to no preparation for an event of this magnitude, resumed operations in the storm’s aftermath. As they share their collective experiences, learn firsthand how they responded, resolved and learned key lessons. Our panelists discuss the changes they are making to their business continuity plans and how you can benefit from this experience.
Best Practices for FX Predictability and Compliance in Global Operations
For many years, Jabil Circuit, Inc. has achieved double-digit growth by strategically building new customer relationships, entering new markets, expanding services, and forging new global operations in key worldwide locations. A byproduct of this successful business strategy is exposure to volatility in foreign currencies. A general overview of Jabil’s financial risk management framework focusing on foreign exchange risks. Jabil’s financial risk management team partners with business units across 27 countries and 60 sites, to reduce P&L volatility and protect cash flows.
Building an Effective Risk Insurance Program
Managing a company’s risk exposure is vital to its financial health. Practitioners learn tools and techniques to help them define and quantify risks and exposures, evaluate available options (insurance, risk mitigation or risk transfer options) and implement an effective risk management program to help reduce the company’s overall total cost of risk. The discussion focuses on risk and mitigation issues including those inherent in supply chain, acquisitions, counterfeiting, vendors/subcontractors and ways to best position a company’s risk to insurance underwriters.
Transforming Brocade’s FX Hedging Program
Treasury at Brocade initiated and implemented a transformation program to revamp the Company’s foreign exchange risk management activities. The implementation of this transformation program has led to a multi-million dollar improvement to the bottom line and process efficiencies, e.g., streamlined cross-functional processes, shortened accounting close, elimination of cumbersome reconciliations, and a reduction of an estimated 2 FTE’s, for a moderate investment. The presentation includes a discussion of the implementation process, issues that came up, and the outcomes of the project.
Evolution of Cyber-Liability Exposures, Mitigation, and Insurance
The goal of the presentation is to highlight the cyber-liabilty exposures that companies face in today's environment. The panelists will discuss actual litigation and case studies focused on emerging mitigation practices. It will conclude with a discussion on cyber-liability insurance and recent developments on the coverage.
Treasury Management
Best Practices in Treasury Security
For national retail organizations and companies with dispersed operations, concerns about securing vital assets are nerve raking. In this session, Arby’s and RaceTrac share best practices in instituting security measures within the treasury/finance department, as well as at remote operations outside of corporate control. Practitioners discuss the use of security measures, including dual approvals for payments; security tokens; user entitlements; separation of duties; stand-alone computers; and smart safe technologies to mitigate risk, limit liability and ensure employee safety.
Understanding the Changing Landscape of Account Analysis
Account analysis fees continue to show a great deal of volatility. Banks are looking for ways to replace lost revenue streams and the account analysis statement is a prime target. Financial professionals need to develop a solid strategy for monitoring your their fees while coping with rising interest rates and the rapid expansion of the international reporting of bank fees.
How Three Companies Booted Up the Functionality of Their Workstations
Many companies have treasury workstations, but are they using them to the fullest extent possible? This presentation explores three entities and how they powered up their treasury departments using their Treasury Workstation. The presenters will demonstrate how new treasury responsibilities led to investigating changes they could make in their treasury workstations to handle additional requirements. Further, it provides real solutions in the search for improvements.
Reserving a Seat at the Table: Treasury’s Expanding Strategic Role
The role of today’s financial professional has expanded to be more strategic. In addition to having daily contact with company CEOs and boards, financial professionals are tasked with more extensive reporting, finding ways of improving liquidity, increasing working capital efficiency, developing long-term funding strategies and managing fraud. A panel of financial professionals discusses how they overcome the challenges of increased reporting requirements and regulations and how they effectively communicate the treasurer’s role to both executive management and the board of directors.
Cyber Attack on Your Institution-Not If, but WHEN!
Learn about the threats and techniques to mitigate the cyber-crime risk to corporate treasury operations. As evidenced by current events, there has been a significant increase in the number and severity of attacks against corporate treasury by cyber criminals. However, the reported losses from these attacks are declining because of improved risk mitigation techniques, including training of the treasury staff about the risks. Examples of current threats, including case studies of cyber- attacks will be presented and discussed.
Implement SWIFT Simply-Top 10 Things You Need To Know
Gilead Sciences shares their experience implementing SWIFT and the benefits realized. Discussion will focus on when to implement SWIFT versus a bank proprietary channel, how to prepare for your on-boarding and when to engage your bank. SWIFT will share best practices in planning your SWIFT project including when to leverage standards and proprietary formats to simplify and streamline your implementation.
Managing FBAR Requirements
The US Treasury’s Foreign Bank Account Reporting requirements present a record keeping and administrative challenge to US companies and individuals. This session will review the specific requirements each party has with regards to this program and how URS Corporation has managed its obligations. The company has over 700 account signors on 650 bank accounts for both corporate and joint venture entities with a total of nearly 5,000 signature authorities.
Living Through a Cash Crunch
Most companies, especially fast growing companies, will go through periods of liquidity constraints that cannot be solved through a financing institution. This presentation tells the story about how a fast growing telecommunications company managed through a period of severe cash constraints. The case study will show how the entire cash conversion cycle was targeted in combination with effective vendor communication and investor cooperation. It will map out the turn-around process.
eBAM: A Journey Through Account Management Efficiency
Companies deal with hundreds of bank accounts across the globe, making the process of opening and maintaining these accounts with up-to-date signatories a time-consuming process. Hear about Wrigley’s experience in implementing eBAM, from the decision in choosing a proprietary or multibank solution to the steps involved in the implementation process. This session will provide a clear picture of eBAM’s opportunities and the associated challenges, and an explanation of benefits to your account management processes.
Gaining Transparency into AP Spend and Improving the Accuracy of Cash Forecasting
Lack of transparency into AP Spend presents significant challenges for treasury, particularly in improving forecasting models and working capital management practices. Attendees learn how Sprint improved the accuracy of its cash forecasting to achieve greater treasury transparency and worked with its banking partners to create a more holistic view of cash. This session also covers how innovations such as an ECR payment collection tool are used. Hear how such solutions can benefit an organization’s strategic growth goals.
Best Practices in Implementing Cash Management Operations
ConocoPhillips shares best practices in successfully separating into two stand-alone businesses, and how they simultaneously established Cash Management and Treasury Services departments, allowing the respective operations to achieve strategic goals. Review the planning and execution required to recreate all treasury operations from the ground up, including payments, receipts and reconciliations across two new entities and how the treasury team managed the enormous amount of documentation needed for opening new bank accounts and/or changing existing bank accounts.
Tactical Liquidity Management
Tactical liquidity management is the process of segmenting corporate cash based on an entity’s unique cash flow needs and customizing the appropriate allocation of cash preservation, liquidity, and return to provide a more comprehensive strategic solution. This session demonstrates how Community Health Systems (CYH) was able to segment cash into its appropriate allocation sleeves, manage and invest those sleeves according to expected liquidity, and increase interest income as a result.
Leveraging Technology to Manage Starbucks' Cash Cycle
The process of accepting, depositing, reconciling and monitoring cash deposits and change orders is a significant challenge, particularly in an environment with a national footprint, multiple banks and armored carriers. Starbucks will share how they leveraged the DTS service and partnered with their Treasury Management banks to develop a cash tracking and reconcilement process. You'll hear how Starbucks implemented this innovative solution by working with their banks to create an industry standard for reconciling banks’ BAI files using DTS.
A Practical Guide to Developing A Cash Forecast
Organizations often focus on long term strategic forecasts and twelve month budgeting forecasts, but sometimes overlook the importance of short-term operational cash forecasts. An operational cash forecast decreases the risk of cash surprises, helps ensure ability to meet financial obligations, enables better informed investing and borrowing decisions, and promotes a cash-focused culture and overall fiscal discipline. This course will present how one company created an operational cash forecast.
Treasury Technologies: Working Together to Deliver Insights and Efficiency
It is challenging to find the right solutions to streamline processes. Hear from Forest City Enterprises and DTE Energy, two companies leveraging combined technology solutions (ERP, treasury workstations and/or banks) to collect critical information about their businesses, improve control over forecasting, and streamline their payments processes. Explore their initial situation assessments, their selection and implementation of solution(s), and the actual or expected impact of these changes. Also hear about their plans and priorities to continue improving their business into the future.
Developing and Integrating an Effective Process for Working Capital Management
How does an organization ensure that their working capital solution is a long-term approach to improve its bottom line and not simply a quick fix? Hear from Sunrise Senior Living, an operator of more than 300 senior living communities in the US, Canada and the UK, whose working capital management strategy now includes forecasting, automation, controlling payments and mitigating risk. They developed a detailed approach to effectively manage their cash flow and cash management processes.
Making the Most of ISO2002 Standards
Industry experts examine ISO2002 standards and how use of common/standardized formats in the corporate-to-bank payments space and the bank-to-corporate transaction reporting statement space reduces costs and simplifies implementation processes for corporate practitioners managing multiple banks. Review the evolution of ISO2002, the Common Global Implementation initiative (CGI), hear how and when the CGI standards should be applied and what results can be expected. Panelists discuss the influence of SEPA and challenges presented by local market variations in the standard.
Time is Money: Finding Your Capital Sweet Spot
Recent research has shown that the relationship between a firm’s working capital position and market value is tied to a number of factors. Participants will learn about the latest in working capital research and the relationships between trade credit positions, inventory and market value. Discuss a variety of characteristics may be used to develop specific working capital benchmark to maximize the market value of the organization.