Perspectives
2014 Global Corporate Treasury Survey
Executive summary and key insights
More than 100 top corporations from around the globe – representing a wide array of global scales, industrial footprints, and geographic headquarters – participated in this biannual survey.
Issues facing today’s corporate treasury groups
The treasury professionals who responded to the survey contemplated the following:
- Is treasury truly a strategic function?
- What mandates are provided by the chief financial officer (CFO) and board to treasury?
- What are the key challenges facing treasury?
- Has automation addressed the needs of treasurers, or is it still a pipe-dream?
- How are operating models evolving?
- What are the emerging trends, and how will these effect the treasurer of the future?
Key insights
Key insights from the survey:
- The modern treasury group is strategic, collaborates with the businesses it serves, and is using automation, offshoring, and treasury centers of excellence to consolidate and standardize tactical areas.
- Treasurers clearly have strong mandates from their CFOs to be strategic.
- Fifty percent of treasurers noted that their biggest challenges are the ability to repatriate cash and to manage foreign exchange volatility.
- Forty percent of companies remain challenged by visibility into global operations, including cash and financial exposures. Forty percent also cited insufficient technology infrastructure to support their department.
- Treasury departments are growing more comfortable with the use of centers of excellence to support global operations, including the use of in-house banks and shared services centers.
- Emerging trends such as restricted economies, the increased need for foreign jurisdictions, and cyber threats are real.
Global Corporate Treasury Survey