By Ted Howard
In this last issue of 2016, iTreasurer gets reflective as has become the custom over the last couple of years. So in the heart of the issue review of the year’s big themes through the lens of NeuGroup peer group meetings and the top take-aways from them. Also in this issue we weigh in on how a Trump administration will impact corporate treasury; highlight the findings from a 2016 NeuGroup Peer Research FTE and compensation survey; discuss the challenge of managing pension funds in a low rate environment and look at how financial technology companies are changing how supply chain financing gets done.
To start with, iTreasurer takes a look at the possible impact Trump’s presidency will have on the global economy and how business gets done. President-elect Trump’s phone call with the Taiwanese president and his hyperbole regarding companies sending jobs overseas raises many, many questions. But, writes contributor John Hintze, “these questions and others impacting corporate treasury are unlikely to find much clarification before Trump’s inauguration. However, the new president will have the tools and in many instances the political support to make dramatic changes to trade, taxes and the US economy.”
Next, contributor Julie Zawacki-Lucci sorts out the takeaways of an FTE and Comp survey conducted in the middle of 2016. One of the main takeaways was that being a part of treasury is “a good place to be.”
“Total compensation levels for NeuGroup treasury members were higher than suggested in other broader treasury surveys,” observes Ms. Zawacki-Lucci. “Total compensation for treasurers averaged $845k, with the minimum at $214k and the maximum at $1.77M. Of that total, on average, $317k was the base/cash salary, $163k cash bonus, and $277k in equity grants and performance based equity awards (vesting in approximately three years).” A good place indeed.
Then begins our look back at the year that was. And what a year. “Never a dull moment, and treasury management reflected it, from picking up the pieces following the shocking Brexit, to confronting the challenge of Section 385, to then picking up the pieces again after a shocking US election. But all the while, treasurers maintained their solid presence as the company cash-management stalwarts.”
After that, Geri Westphal discusses pension management with input from Société Générale. Corporations the world over have been facing many challenges in their pension plans. First it was the crash and then in the aftermath, persistently low interest rates. The situation has also been exacerbated by high asset values, and both issues have created the need for tools that can help mitigate interest-rate and draw-down risk. That’s because at current levels, “pension fund deficits can impact corporate valuations and can potentially handicap corporate development plans,” Ms. Westphal writes.
Finally, we look at how fintech companies have been driving innovation in supply chain finance and thus “continue to streamline the buyer-supplier experience, eliminating age-old tensions and adding a new tool to
working capital management.” Enjoy the issue.