Treasury careers – perspectives from group treasurers

What does it take to reach a group treasurer role? Aspiring treasurers came together to hear from experienced senior treasurers Ian Chisholm, Group Treasurer at Grosvenor, James Kelly, Group Treasurer at Pearson, and Stephanie Morris, Group Treasurer at Acteon, about their routes to becoming group treasurer. 

It’s fair to say that there is no ‘one-way’ to becoming a group treasurer and that the experiences of the panellists were varied – with some being internally promoted, while others had to move to a new company to become group treasurer.

Key themes that emerged from all the panellists’ experiences were:

1. It’s important to increase your exposure within your company by working on projects that involve other teams to help you to build your reputation.
2. Think about your business and behavioural skills alongside your treasury skills – good communication and people management skills are essential to not only building relationships within the treasury team but within the wider company.
3. Plan your career – and think about when it’s sensible to move roles.
4. Think about what support you may need – treasury qualifications provide a good grounding.

When looking to move roles you really need to think about what you want to gain as a result of the move. Questions to ask yourself include:

• what will you gain from this new role?
• how will you develop?
• what exposure will you have – e.g. UK/Europe/RoW – and how does this differ from your current role?
• how is the treasury team structured and where does the role fit in?
• how will the role develop?

An internal promotion may be an easier way to achieve the group treasurer role – you know the company and their processes, as well as individuals within the team and the wider finance function. But how do you ensure you stand out? The key to this is to get involved with the ‘change’ projects – this will help you to get noticed and will also help you to develop relationships outside your immediate team. By being open to these new projects – and putting your hands up for these – you will ensure that you stand out from others. 

In addition, and as mentioned above, when looking at any new role you really need to think about your business skills – especially relationship management and people skills. These will be invaluable; interacting with other parts of the business, showing your value and how you can help them, and being able to explain the role of the treasury team in the context of the business are all essential to raising your awareness. 

Succession planning is undertaken in most companies, and they typically look at succession within a three-year cycle. So, you need to think about your role within that framework and, when you are new in a role, you need to build out your skills in line with this. If you are looking for the next step you need to demonstrate your skillset while you are in your current role, e.g. take on group treasurer tasks while being the assistant treasurer, and take the opportunities to highlight your skills.

Are there particular characteristics that help you to succeed in treasury? 

1. Curiosity – be curious about the business and about the outside world, and use this to understand the role, the company and how it fits in with the wider business environment.
2. Manage and build your network – and importantly think about how to work with this network - ask questions, build relationships, and show how you can help others.
3. Take opportunities to truly understand the business – go on site visits, understand the motivations/country footprint of your customers and stakeholders etc.
4. Do your research – make sure you understand the business.
5. Be open to new opportunities – move sideways to a different role if it will give you new skills, think about taking part in new projects etc. It’s important for you to be proactive and manage your career.

Working in treasury is exciting, fun and challenging. Every day is varied and it’s true to say that no two days are the same. Few roles give you the same level of autonomy or provide the chance to make such a difference to the company as a whole. It really is a forward-looking, interesting and challenging career.

Thank you to the panellists for sharing their career journeys and insights, and to Jessica Timelin at Michael Page for hosting the Aspiring Group Treasurers event.

Louise Tatham

Head of Professional Development