Historically, treasury was seen as an extension of finance and consequently treasury departments were heavily populated by qualified accountants who often saw themselves as accountants working in treasury management. However, since 1985 and the establishment of a dedicated professional qualification, treasury management in the UK has increasingly been claimed by people who see themselves as professional treasury managers.
Like other specialist areas that are related to finance, numeracy and analytical skills are integral to the role. However, a review of the core elements of treasury management reveal how broad the profession is and one of the attractions of treasury management is the potential variety of the work.
How broad or specialised your experience becomes may be dictated by the size of company you work in. A small treasury department of 1-3 people is on a day to day basis more likely to offer exposure to a wide range of treasury activities but will not provide the complete suite of activities. A national subsidiary will have no direct exposure to the capital markets whereas a large multinational may be broken down into departments covering, for example, exposures to currency and money markets. While there will be those who want to remain dedicated to specific areas of expertise, more ambitious treasury managers will be looking to gain experience in different areas whilst building up their overall treasury management skills. Larger department will be able to provide this type of career development.
Corporate treasury management, as the name suggests, refers to treasury departments employed by companies. However banks and other financial institutions often have substantial treasury activities with many specialist staff. This is generally referred to as operations rather than management. There is no reason for people not to migrate between the two and also parts of the public sector where a number of core treasury skills are often vital.
As in any other profession, ability and application are key to advancement. However, it is clear that the substantial interface that treasurers have with other corporate functions and particularly at senior levels with executive management requires treasurers to be business savvy and have both well honed interpersonal and communications skills.
Treasury management is a profession that is growing and outside of the ebbs and flows that characterise the business cycle is able to offer substantial career development opportunities. |
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