Philomel Pena, Director, UC Treasury at the University of California, explains what motivates her, and why creating a comfortable environment focused on good communication is the best way to accomplish treasury’s varied and multiple daily tasks.
Lisa Davis, Managing Director, Head of Digital Channels at J.P. Morgan describes how being agile about how her skills put her on a career path in transaction banking. She also gives her view on how organisations can create a speak-up culture and improve diversity and inclusion.
Dorothy Musho has had a varied career in banking since she was first hired on the graduate programme at Chase Manhattan Bank. She discusses what she has learned along the way, how to create a speak-up culture in an organisation, and why it is important to enjoy what you do.
Yeng Butler, Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Cash Business at State Street Global Advisors, believes in the power of self-reflection. She spends time considering not just her successes, but also her failures. The objective of this is to drive continuous self-development to ensure she can meet her next career aim. Yeng summarises this with a simple, yet powerful motto: “Pause, reflect and onwards and upwards.”
With her insatiable quest for knowledge and steely determination, Mary Gilbert, Treasury Manager for The Duracell Company, is an inspiration to all. In part one of this exclusive interview, she tells Treasury Today about her long journey from one side of town to the other.
It has not always been plain sailing for Princy Royce, Treasury Manager – Middle East, Africa and India at National Oilwell Varco, during her career. Difficult bosses and the need to balance a family and a career are just two notable challenges that she has had to overcome. Now Princy is very much focused on the future and supporting those climbing the career ladder.
In a relatively short time, Kate Moorcroft, Group Treasurer at Barratt Developments has risen to the top of the treasury profession. In this candid interview, she talks about her career path and how learning to have confidence in her own abilities has enabled her to push forward her career.
Debra Todd, VP, Global Treasury Services at BP ended up in a treasury role quite by chance. She is now on her 13th job at BP in a career which spans 30 years. Her motto in life is to be brave. She was a panellist at our Women in Treasury Forum in London where she said: “You can do things you just couldn’t dream.”
Carole Berndt joined ANZ in May 2015 as Managing Director Global Transaction Banking, based in Hong Kong. She has responsibility for the bank’s Global Transaction Banking products, channels and sales for all customer segments. With over 20 years of experience encompassing roles in finance, risk management, business development and technology, Carole is regarded as a practical and innovative leader in global transaction banking. Carole’s career spans four locations (Australia, Hong Kong, New York and London) and centres on institutional transaction banking and client delivery.
With a natural inclination for numbers, Paula Stibbe, Managing Director, Head of Global Liquidity Sales, Asia Pacific at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, specialised in short-term fixed income markets early on – but her experience boasts skills from a much broader spectrum. In this article, Paula shares what she has learnt during an impressive career, as well as the best advice she has been given along the way.
Although Ciar Timon, Senior Regional Treasury Manager at Honeywell EMEA Treasury, credits an early move into finance to being in ‘the right place at the right time’, in this interview, we discover that her success is largely down to an honest and hardworking attitude in an increasingly challenging workplace.
For Marlies Janssen, Head of Treasury at Van Oord, there is a solution to every problem, including managing a career, alongside family life. In this interview, Marlies candidly discusses the challenges between creating a healthy work/life balance and shares her views on the corporate treasury profession and her career to date.
From early in her career Erin Strang, Group Treasurer & VP Tax & Governance at Australian rail freight operator Aurizon has been aware of the power of networking. In this profile, we hear Erin’s candid views on how networking has helped shape her career and how she believes a more diverse corporate landscape can be created.
After taking the plunge into the world of treasury, Dawn Chua quickly began to see how dynamic and challenging the profession could be. In this interview, Dawn shares her thoughts on the profession, the importance of teamwork, a healthy work/life balance and the need to have passion for your role.
After starting her career in academia, Anita Prasad, General Manager, Treasury Capital Management at Microsoft has gone on to become a leader in treasury at one of the largest and most innovative technology companies in the world. In this interview, Anita talks about the uniqueness of the treasury function, the treasurer’s role as a risk manager, and the importance of having a good work/life balance.
As a finance professional in the logistics sector, Helen Toh progressed on a circuitous route before arriving in treasury and assuming the role of Treasury Director, Corporate Finance for Deutsche Post DHL’s Regional Treasury Asia Pacific office in Singapore. In this interview, she talks about treasury’s position as a ‘niche area’, and the challenges around global visibility and access to cash in a far-reaching business.
Since Kristen Covey joined Caterpillar in 1996 she has held various positions in treasury, finance and marketing, including stints spent working in Chile and Singapore. Throughout her career she has looked for new experiences and maximised the opportunities she has been presented, and she believes that the advent of technology is facilitating a more flexible and balanced working life.
For someone who was attracted to treasury by the complexity of the function, L’Oréal UK’s Jessica McDarren is not one to shy away from the relentless pace and intricacies of the work. In this interview, Jessica talks about the role of self-belief in treasury and importance of a constructive working environment.
For someone who ‘ended up in treasury by accident,’ Karen Van den Driessche, Treasury Director EMEA at Avnet has done rather well for herself since entering the profession. In this interview, Karen talks about her biggest challenges as a treasurer and the importance of voicing your opinion in treasury.
“If you’re going to do something, do it right,” says Shelly Maneth, CFO at technology startup ConneXionsAsia. Here she explains how her ‘never regret’ attitude not only brought her from the US to Singapore, but also drives the way she manages the development of CXA’s finance function.
As treasurer of the company that makes her number one efficiency tool (yes, you guessed it), BlackBerry’s Jennifer Ramsey-Armorer has an infectious enthusiasm for excellence. In this interview, Jennifer talks about everything from jazz to yoga, while sharing her experiences from the male-dominated world of treasury.
‘To get to the top of the corporate ladder, requires hard work. But in working hard, do not neglect your health,’ is the advice of Latifah Mohamed Yusof, Treasurer at Astro Group. In this interview, she explains the importance of a strong work ethic in treasury and the challenges still facing women in the profession.
‘Be competent but be caring’, is the mantra of Jennifer Boussuge, Head of Global Transaction Services for EMEA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch. In this interview, she explains what women bring to treasury and how regulation is driving collaboration.
The best tool a treasurer can have is a great team, says Michelle Dovey, Group Treasurer, National Express. In this interview, she shares her views on the benefits of gender equality in corporate treasury functions and outlines the importance of a collaborative workplace environment.
Lisa Tierney has worked in corporate treasury at Diageo and now with Luxottica, but she also has a banking background, having worked at Merrill Lynch on the treasury funding side. She is currently learning Italian and believes language skills are extremely important in business – now more than ever before.
Winner of the first-ever Treasury Today Woman of the Year Award at this year’s Adam Smith Awards, Maeve Robinson says that her favourite part of the job is discovering ways to make treasury more efficient, looking for “the next big idea” to streamline processes.
Rising to the challenges thrown at her during the financial crisis in Greece, Marianna Polykrati, Group Treasurer, recently moved from Greek food conglomerate Vivartia to Chipita Group, which is a food company of Greek origin but with a strong international footprint.
According to Lelaina Lim, to work in treasury you need to be both “brave and firm”. Brave because today’s world throws up changes incredibly quickly; and firm because you need to do what you have to do for the company’s best interests, “which is not always easy”. Lim exemplifies both attributes.
Returning to Barclays after 14 years, Global Head of Liquidity Product Yera Hagopian’s next major objective is to “to settle in so well that people forget that I had left”. She believes that her biggest challenge today is to bring the benefit of her experience to the business, while maintaining all the good things that already exist.
Ellen Cornelissen, Director Treasury Europe, Aleris, moved from linguistics to treasury early in her career and never looked back. Today she oversees European operations, but also supports the new treasury set-up in Zhenjiang, China. The migration to Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is the biggest challenge facing her this year.
Cindy Lee’s career-defining moment was when she built the company’s cash management platform in Singapore – running across 15 countries – and took on the cash management duties of nearly 35 companies. The treasury platform now supports 52 companies across 18 countries.
