This was my first ACT Europe Conference, and strategic and collaborative are the adjectives that best describe the experience for me. A fantastic speaker faculty and a generous attendance made the event content-rich, interactive and stimulating.
We kicked-off by deploying our event app to check the temperature on current market conditions, business prospects and some hot-button political issues.
Paired with tepid business confidence, the room overwhelmingly supported a stay-in vote in the June UK referendum. Even further, more than two thirds of the audience stated that they would not like their home country to hold a similar vote.
The conference proceedings opened with a fireside chat with Peter Llewellyn-Davis, the British CFO of German biotech company Medigene. Interviewed by our conference chair Peter Matza, Llewellyn-Davis charmed the audience with a witty and candid account of his career – spanning from banking, treasury and accounting, all the way to his CFO and non-exec director roles. He shared tips and practical advice on how to establish a dialogue with the board and the business, and maintain the treasury’s integrity and relevance. Didn’t the two Peters look just like two old friends chatting by the fireplace?
We then welcomed on stage Lee Foulger, a member of Commissioner Hill’s Cabinet responsible for the Capital Markets Union – who updated us on the state of play of the initiative, but also on the growth objectives of the current Commission at large. Lee, backed up by the EACT’s chair Jean-Marc Servat from the audience, stressed that the European Commission is well aware of the importance of corporate treasurers – and that treasurers should not underestimate the importance of investing some time to visit Brussels and make their voice heard.
After polling the audience – and finding that 57% of the attendees have continuous financing requirements, with 46% still preferring bank funding over DCM (25%), trade finance, equity and supply chain (10% each) – we discussed how to design the capital structure in uncertain times. It was a top panel of experts, with Christian Große Erdmann, former Head of Capital Markets at Evonik, Volker Heischkamp, Head of Treasury at RWE and Lars Schnidrig, Head of Finance & Treasury at Vonovia. They dispensed tips and insight on shareholders relations, hybrid debt (seen as inexpensive equity rather than expensive debt), and the compliance implications of setting up a new funding relationship.
HSBC’s Tatjana Schön convincingly focused on client stories when describing how corporate cards can fit in the payment ecosystem – providing details on how to improve processes, reduce costs and increase DPO. Working capital is hot amongst today’s treasurers and this was a practical and interesting take on the issue.
Following suit, Marco Shuchmann sprinted through his ambitious transformation project at ASICS Europe – where he is setting up a global treasury centre for strategy, policy, cash management, hedging… a masterclass in the making! Marco shared his brilliant vision (and its execution): transforming finance and treasury into a strategic function and becoming an enabler for the business.
Closing the plenary section of the agenda, was a high-powered panel debating the impact of macro, geopolitical and market forces on the treasury of tomorrow. Christian Große Erdmann retuned to the stage along with Chris King, Group Treasurer at the Vita Group, Jean-Marc Servat, Chairman of the EACT and HSBC Germany’s Holger Zeuner. The group debated contentious issues with an eye on the future. Just one of the many refreshing ideas that emerged, the experts questioned whether the global corporate treasury model is now becoming outdated. With walls (physical and metaphysical) being erected across Europe and beyond, should we be resuming the regional model?
We thought that we should prod our distinguished guests a little… to make sure that this was a conference to be remembered! So we split the audience into working groups, led by subject matter experts and designed to stimulate collaborative, strategic discussions around specific themes.
These ‘brain workouts’ touched upon:
The discussion did not languish, and how could that be when you get some seriously smart, senior people rubbing shoulders?
We also closed the conference on a high, contagiously interactive note! The participants of the all-corporate, Chatham House-run talkingtreasury session vented much discontent at their service provider partners – both financial institutions and professional service firms. And much more. But I can’t tell you too much about it.
One participant did say, though, that “the worst three letters of the alphabet are, in this order, K Y C!”. Everyone agreed, many hands were raised, the discussion got heated! Jean-Marc Servat and our very own Associate Policy and Technical Director Michelle Price did a brilliant job of containing displeasure and liberating peer comradery.
Meanwhile, next door, Peter Matza was giving banks, consultants and service providers some “food for thought” on what treasurers really want from their business partners… just as he used to when he was a treasurer.
For those who missed the live conference, I hope you kept your finger on the Twitter pulse (which was a lively, healthy one!) by following @actupdate and #acteurope.
It felt only appropriate that, upon our return to the office, we were greeted by a strengthening Euro off the back of Draghi’s press conference’s remarks – but will it last? What lies ahead? These are volatile times, but we ought to remain rational and optimistic.
Until next year, Europe! May the force be with you.
