One of Treasury Today Group’s newest initiatives, our Future Treasury & Finance Leaders Forums are bringing together industry experts and past winners of our awards programmes to discuss best practice for a modern generation of corporate leaders.
For the last 18 years, Treasury Today Group’s prestigious awards programmes – which now include the Adam Smith Awards, Adam Smith Awards Asia and Women in Treasury & Finance Within Awards – have been a highlight of the modern treasury professional’s calendar, shining a light on achievement and best practice around the world.
Our community of award winners represents a rich pool of expertise. And in 2024, we launched the Future Treasury & Finance Leaders Forum initiative – a new programme to bring together top financial leaders, industry experts and alumni of our awards programmes, to discuss best practice and personal development.
From strength to strength
Over the last year, the Future Treasury & Finance Leaders Forum initiative has gone from strength to strength. The programme kicked off in September 2024 with the inaugural forum in Singapore, followed by events in London, New York, Amsterdam, Mumbai and, most recently, Hong Kong.
“We have an amazing community of Adam Smith Awards alumni and amazing Women in Treasury leaders that I’ve met over the last decade,” explains Sophie Jackson, CEO of Treasury Today Group.
“The Future Treasury & Finance Leaders Forum was created in 2024 as a way to harness the power of our winners across the world – to bring them together and allow them to explore what best practice means to them and what award-winning experiences they’ve had.
“Our forums also look at best practice on a personal level, focusing on topics such as career development, communication skills and essential human skills that allow you to get to the level you want to reach in your career.”
Celebrating success around the world
SINGAPORE
Building a roadmap for future success
In September 2024, the first Future Treasury & Finance Leaders Forum event took place in Singapore. Lay Perk Toh, Group Treasurer and Head of Corporate Insurance, Kulicke & Soffa Pte Ltd, reflected that winning an award was the “icing on the cake – it’s an extra boost to the team and to the organisation.”
In 2018, the company won awards in three categories, followed by an award in 2022 for Best Investing Solution. And in 2018, Toh was also a Highly Commended Winner of Treasury Today Asia Woman of the Year.
“Being recognised as Woman of the Year brought a real sense of fulfilment, and I always tell myself to give back to the extent that we can,” she said. “I’m also trying to teach my son that nothing is too small when it comes to giving back to the community – every single step makes a difference.”
Attendees also discussed the importance of developing effective interpersonal skills, as well as a technology-focused skillset. As Cindy Lee, Regional Treasurer, Asia, Director, JAPAC Treasury COE, AbbVie Pte, observed: “Today, I would say we are looking for people who are willing to learn. I agree that you need a bit of a finance background, because otherwise you’re basically just coming in blind, but you need someone who can learn.”
Hot on the heels of the Singapore event, in November 2024 the Future Treasury & Finance Leaders Forum came to London. During the event, several previous winners of Treasury Today’s awards programmes explained what taking home an award had meant to them, both professionally and personally.
Stefan Windisch, Global Head of In-House Bank at Swiss-based pharmaceutical firm Roche – a company that has won numerous Adam Smith Awards in recent years – explained how the treasury team harnesses its awards to raise its profile both internally and externally. “We use this as a channel to talk about new developments, to connect and collaborate with others, spread the word and stimulate innovation in the banking world,” he said.
Kemi Bolarin, Head of Treasury – Europe, GXO Logistics, said that picking up the Woman of the Year EMEA Award in 2023 had amplified her advocacy for women in treasury. “It’s all about representation – winning such an award raises your visibility,” she observed.
She explained that she consciously works on developing the next generation of female treasurers. “We can raise the profile of treasury, letting women know that there is someone like them in the profession and there is no barrier to entry,” she added. “This is my way of paying forward.”
December 2024 brought the next Forum in New York. Jayna Bundy, General Manager, Procurement at Microsoft, explained how the technology giant approaches the awards programme, and highlighted the importance of psychological safety and intelligent failures when it comes to innovating and taking risks.
She explained that innovation requires trial and error, “so we as organisations and leaders have to create an environment where people feel safe to try things – because I promise you that not everything we’ve done has succeeded.”
During a group discussion exercise, attendees shared their views on the concept of best practice and innovation. Phung Ngo-Burns, Chief Financial Officer of Catalyze, noted that when adopting best practice, “the first thing you’ve got to think about is what are you reinventing – do you understand the process that you’re mapping out? You’re going to face everyone saying, ‘I’ve got to remain compliant’ – but let’s combine compliance with agility and collaboration.”
And Paul Franek, Global Head of Treasury Services & Solutions at Apollo Global Management argued that the qualities most needed by today’s treasury professionals are intellectual curiosity and the desire to learn and grow, “because treasury is an on-the-job learning kind of function. It’s about being driven, being a sponge and being curious, more than it is about having a strong grasp of one particular mathematical skillset.”
In the first forum of 2025, Treasury Today went to Amsterdam to host an engaging discussion with a group of European finance professionals and treasurers.
During the event, Jarno Timmerman, Treasury Director EMEA at Nike, spoke about the company’s award-winning multi-currency, multi-level virtual account structure, and explained the importance of having access to the right talent, tools and banking partners – as well as a good partnership with IT.
“Working with IT, whether in Nike or other companies, is always complex. It’s not necessarily a lack of knowledge – although implementing treasury tooling requires niche expertise – but a tussle for scarce IT resources,” said Timmerman, explaining that accessing those resources requiring a strong business case: “We try to build a business case around qualitative and quantitative benefits.”
The forum also included a thought-provoking discussion on how to keep reevaluating best practice and moving treasury forward. Franca Aeby, Senior Treasury Manager Front Office – Financing and Markets at Roche, suggested having stretch targets included in annual key performance indicators or goals.
And Peter Graham, Regional Treasury Director at Ricoh Europe, said that he asks each member of his team to come up with three ideas for the annual objective-setting process. “Graduates bring fresh ideas and perspectives,” he observed. “They may not turn into best practice necessarily, but they might suggest things that save time, energy and money.”
At our first forum in India, Sugandha Singhal, VP Head Treasury at chemical manufacturing firm SRF Limited, described the impact of gaining recognition in the 2021 Adam Smith Awards Asia, as well as being named Highly Commended Winner in the Champion of Change – APAC category in the 2024 Within Awards.
She described the Indian treasury community as one that is highly innovative and agile. “I think small or big best practices are something we have been unconsciously adopting, not even realising that many people across the world are not even thinking about this,” she reflected.
“The purpose of the community coming together is that there is a power to the collective thinking. We need to become that collective power.”
Amit Baraskar, VP and Head – Treasury at Thomas Cook India Limited, also spoke about the impact of being a Highly Commended Winner in the 2017 Adam Smith Awards Asia. He explained how the experience had prompted him and his team to take part in industry publications and other awards programmes, and to co-found the India Corporate Treasury Association.
“I can’t find the right words to thank Treasury Today for getting this started, because without that strong kick start, all of this was not really possible,” he added.
Building on a successful first year, the Future Treasury & Finance Leaders Forum initiative continues on its journey with events in New York and Palo Alto and Hong Kong later this year. In 2026, we plan to extend our programme of events to additional locations including Chicago, Dubai and Florida.
In addition, the scope of the initiative is set to expand beyond individual events. Moving forward, the programme aims to build a rich and vibrant global community of practitioners who are passionate about raising the bar in senior corporate finance functions.
“What we want to do next is not just create these individual communities in different locations, but also connect them at a global level,” explains Jackson. “Going forward, we’re going to be hosting some digital networking events where members of this community can meet their peers in other parts of the world to share best practice.
“For me, the exciting part of this is globalised best practice, sharing and learning with peers around the world.”
Explore the key highlights from previous Future Treasury & Finance Leaders Forums, keep up to date with the programme and our future locations.
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