I read a wide variety of publications, ranging from broad finance-related titles, to those which deal with treasury related issues in passing, through to a few which are treasury specific. As you would expect, there is a considerable range in quality, from ‘excellent’ to ‘what on earth is this trying to achieve?’ In several cases, publications have changed from being relatively niche titles to covering general finance issues, trying to gain a wider audience. This could be the temptation with The Treasurer. Treasurers are broadening their skill set and are being asked to perform a function which extends well beyond the ‘traditional’ treasury areas of cash management, foreign exchange (covered in this month’s Spotlight), etc. Why not broaden our scope and extend our readership by providing more general coverage of the issues which a treasurer might face? Before members reach for their pens (I wish!), the answer to that proposition is that we must continue as a niche publication. Yes, we must cover all those issues which a treasurer deals with and we must broaden the nature of articles to include non-financial issues – but in each and every instance, we must ensure that the topic is examined with the treasurer in mind. To get appropriate coverage, those involved in the commissioning process must ensure we are getting the right angle on topics in order to inform and educate our readers. Secondly, we need to get the balance right between disseminating information and providing education. In future the information should come from a stable of expert journalists who are able to provide a balanced, unbiased standpoint. We will also provide more news-type bulletins which flag items of interest, allowing those who are interested in the topic to research further. The education will still come from the experts, ie practising treasurers, bankers and consultants. As Oceanus pointed out last month, this is not easy, but we will continue to try to commission high quality articles and features. Anne Querée, a freelance journalist, is in the vanguard of this new approach, and her article on application service providers appears on page 33. She has also contributed the update on web-based FX providers on page 41. We hope to continue this trend in the coming months, in particular with December’s Deals of the Year feature, where we will be interviewing treasurers and bankers involved in the deals which make the final selection. Please do not forget to provide your nominations on the form which is bound into this month’s edition. We also have a couple of letters, on the downside of securitisation and on the benefits of e-commerce. We also include a loan agreement which was passed to us by a member – now that is an education. MIKE HENIGAN
