The Highly Commended Winner of this year’s Woman of the Year APAC award is Michelle Ang, Group Treasurer at Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation – a passionate business leader with a track record of leading high-performance international teams.

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Financial Analyst (CFA), Michelle has held a variety of senior leadership positions with the Daimler Group over the past 24 years across Asia Pacific, Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Working in a field that is notably male-dominated, Michelle remains committed to creating a workplace that is characterised by equal opportunity and meritocracy, as well as by social responsibility.

As Treasurer for the Europe region at Daimler AG – now Mercedes-Benz AG – Michelle’s responsibilities included asset and liability management for the European captive finance business, with an asset value of more than €50bn. She was also responsible for corporate finance for over 400 European subsidiaries, as well as for mergers and acquisitions.

In this role, she was heavily involved in preparing the spin-off of the Daimler Truck group from its parent company Daimler AG (now Mercedes-Benz AG), leading to the successful listing of Daimler Truck Holding AG on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. She was involved in transitioning the firm’s European business model in response to Brexit and launching an e-commerce sales infrastructure in Europe.

Michelle’s other notable achievements include her involvement in the corporate finance advisory of the cellcentric joint venture between Daimler Truck AG and the Volvo Group, as well as her role in concluding the Daimler Group’s first green loan.

Leading change from the inside out

Taking up the challenge of establishing a global treasury hub from scratch, in September 2021 Michelle accepted the role of Group Treasurer of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corporation – a move which involved relocating to Tokyo.

Believing firmly that her Asian roots – combined with her Western education and more than two decades of experience in the financial industry – would serve her well in her new position, Michelle set about forming a diverse treasury team that encompasses more than seven different nationalities and covers export credit to 144 locations across the world. This is not without its hurdles: alongside the challenges of working in a male-dominated industry, Michelle notes that “Japan ranks low in the gender inequality ratings globally.” However, she is committed to using her position to “change this from the inside out”.

In her current role, Michelle is responsible for shaping the group’s banking, financial markets and investment strategy across nine major markets: Japan, China, India, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand. She continues to develop the Daimler Truck credit story with financial institutions and the capital markets. Her responsibilities also include piloting collaborations with fintechs and installing liquidity finance solutions that best meet customers’ mobility needs, while helping to establish an electric mobility ecosystem in the region.

Michelle is passionate about supporting women in finance to achieve their goals. Using her position as a key executive of the company and the Finance leadership team she acts as a role model for others. As such, she has been a driving force in the Finance area’s transformation program to heighten awareness of ethnic, social and gender inequality and implement concrete initiatives to foster cultural change.

As Michelle comments, “I would like to inspire women to chase their dreams, even if it means overcoming insecurities. Most importantly, success comes with a strong support organisation – which in my case includes my male mentors in the organisation, as well as my family.”