On 11th July 2024, senior treasury professionals from across the Asia Pacific region gathered to attend the 11th Women in Treasury APAC Forum.
Held at the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel in Singapore and hosted by Sophie Jackson, Joint Publisher & Head of Strategic Content and Meg Coates, Joint Publisher & Head of Operations at the Treasury Today Group, this annual event has become a powerful voice in helping to further equity, diversity and inclusion in the region.
Attended by corporate treasury professionals and their banking and technology partners from the APAC region, this year’s forum provided the perfect environment for an afternoon of lively debate and thought-provoking interaction with industry peers.
Changing attitudes to diversity and inclusion
The welcome reception, sponsored by MUFG, opened with Meg Coates greeting the attendees. As she observed, “Treasury Today Group’s Women in Treasury initiative was established to pioneer gender equity in our industry and to create a community where we not only share experiences, but also encourage each other’s professional development.”
Over the last 12 years, she noted, the initiative “has evolved from profiling female leaders in our industry to launching our annual global study. Continuing to grow, it now encompasses a variety of different events – such as our forum here today – as well as playing host to workshops and roundtables across the world.”
During a fireside chat with Sophie, Manoj S Bhatia, Managing Director, Global Head MNC Banking at MUFG, underlined MUFG’s support for the Women in Treasury APAC Forum. He also talked about inspirational figures in his career, challenging potential leaders in the audience to examine their own motivations: “Why do you want to be a leader? What are your values?”
Citing the views of A.G. Lafley, the former CEO of P&G, he pointed out that people are judged not on what they say but what they do. “To be a good leader, you need to have empathy and compassion for your colleagues,” he said. “And you need to have the courage to take tough decisions.”
Manoj went on to reflect on the dramatic changes in attitude towards diversity since he first began his career. “Speaking from my experience in India in the 1990s, the alpha male was the dominant force in banking. It was OK then for men to be aggressive and throw their weight around.”
Although he believes that there is now much greater awareness of the issues around diversity, equity and inclusion, he thinks men should continue to go out of their way to show solidarity with female colleagues. “In today’s world, there is no room for toxic masculinity. We need to recognise our biases and work towards becoming much more inclusive.”
Highlights from the panel discussion
Following on from the fireside chat, the 2024 Within Awards were presented to the winners in attendance: Marie Hong, Asia Head of Treasury at Manulife Financial Asia – Highly Commended Winner Woman of the Year APAC, and Sugandha Singhal, Sr. Vice President – Head Treasury, SRF Limited – Highly Commended Winner Champion of Change APAC.
The two award winners then joined Sophie and the other panellists to discuss trends over the past decade and the topics raised by Treasury Today’s Women in Treasury Global Study 2024, sponsored by Standard Chartered.
The discussion began with each panellist talking about her career journey so far. Sugandha explained how losing her father (an orthopaedic surgeon constantly inspiring her to achieve more) at an early age had changed her world. It was then that she was exposed to the cultural construct of society which reinforces unconscious bias and stereotypes especially towards a girl child. “That was the first time I realised that girls were regarded differently.” She was fortunate to enrol herself in Dayalbagh Educational Institute, an institute that believes in providing quality education at low cost, encouraging inclusivity.
It is here that she met professionals/teachers from across the world who volunteered several hours to shape young minds. This is the reason why inclusivity and the notion of extending a helping hand without expecting anything in return is so close to her. One professor who taught at the institute on a voluntary basis instilled in her the idea of a “chain of brotherhood”, recognising the privilege of knowledge and expertise, and the importance of passing this on. If practiced by everyone, the change could be transformational.
After starting her career working as a financial services consultant in Bancassurance, she realised that the role wasn’t meant for her. After trying various other roles, she reached her current destination of group treasurer. Her advice to everyone in the room was: “If I can do it, you can do it too.”
Harmonisers and warriors
Marie told the audience that after starting her career in her native Korea in the mid-1990s, she moved to the United States to study for her MBA at the Simon Business School of the University of Rochester, New York. Life in the US was very different from Korea. “New York was a melting pot of cultures,” she recalls.
Gaining her degree in Finance Accounting, she subsequently became Senior Financial Analyst, Global Treasury at Avon Products. After spending six years working in New York, Marie took the decision to move to Hong Kong. Although she went there initially for a two-month trial period, she ended up staying for a further 12 years.
Looking back at the time when she started her career, she explained that women in the workplace had tended to be categorised as either a ‘harmoniser’ or a ‘warrior’, and that those women who were at senior management level were regarded as the ones that had sacrificed their family life in order to devote themselves to their career. She added: “When I look back, it doesn’t have to be either of these two extremes.”
Seizing opportunities
May May Pang, Co-head of payments Corporate Sales ASEAN related how she joined J.P. Morgan in 2000. As a child she had often dreamed of being a shoe designer, but never a banker. “Shortly after I graduated from university the dotcom bubble burst,” she recalls. “It was one of the worst times to try and find a job.” She urged everyone to take full advantage of good fortune when it came, but also advised: “You have to be able to seize opportunities as well.”
After working in operations and then client services, she moved into sales. Readily admitting that she is not naturally suited to the role of a salesperson, she said: “You may not be born with suitable skills, but if you put in the effort to work on your development and adopt a growth mindset, you can acquire them.”
Jennifer Doherty, MD & Head of Business Enablement & Change, Transaction Banking, Standard Chartered began her career in Ireland in the early 2000s. When the financial crisis struck, the effect on the Irish economy – the Celtic tiger – was devastating. Without a clear idea of what she would do, she rented out her house and moved to London, eventually joining the world of transaction banking.
While working at HSBC she was asked by her boss to go out to Singapore. “A recurring pattern in my career is taking the chances on offer,” she said. “Maybe that’s luck, or maybe it’s just being in the right place at the right time.”
Jennifer explained that she doesn’t focus on what she might be doing in five or ten years’ time. “I think, just take the opportunities as they present themselves.”
Neurodiversity and mental health
After discussing age-related challenges and changing attitudes towards the menopause, the panellists spoke about neurodiversity and mental health.
“The neurodivergent are one of the most misunderstood groups,” observed May May, highlighting the importance of understanding the struggles that individuals might be having. “Managers need to adjust their communications approach. They need to be direct and concise and to keep the message simple,” she explained.
“We need to get better at discussing mental health,” added Jennifer. Noting that not everyone might be happy to talk about this topic, she continued: “If I’m stressed or there’s something on my mind, I try to be open about it. It’s impossible to keep it together all the time, and you shouldn’t try to.”
Wellbeing and resilience
Where wellbeing is concerned, Jennifer highlighted the need for a support system which includes mentors and sponsors. “It takes a lot to build resiliency, it’s not something that you can do overnight.” Furthermore, the best response to being shown kindness is by being kind to others. “My mantra is ‘paying it forward’,” she said.
Acknowledging that mental health is now discussed far more than it was in the past, May May said: “Everyone can experience mental health challenges. It affects people in terms of how they think, how they feel and how they behave.” She added: “We also need to talk about resilience, the ability to bounce back, and to be stronger than before.”
Sugandha, meanwhile, emphasised the importance of having a positive attitude. “It helps you to cope with stress. It improves your ability to think in a balanced way. You can better control your emotions, and thus one can then deal with the situation in a very different way.”
Moving forward
Marie pointed out that no-one has a straightforward path to a successful career, and that there will be times when things seem bleak. “The most important thing is how quickly we recover and move forward,” she said. “In my family I was the first to study and work overseas. I didn’t have their support because they didn’t understand my situation.”
For Marie, it was a case of learning through trial and error. “I had to leave jobs involuntarily twice in my career. And at the time, I thought the world had collapsed. But you know what? It wasn’t the end of the world. So now I have learned to cherish the problems in life.”
Sugandha explained that for her, success is a relative measure. Giving the example of her nomination for a Within Award, she explained how intimidating it was to compete against the entries of large corporations – “but we still made it.”
In conclusion, she said: “I think your success is your own individual story of doing what you wanted to do. Sometimes success is just being able to balance your family life while continuing in your job. If you can plan big, then very well – but if you can’t, the smallest success is also success, so cherish it.”
