The Adam Smith Awards enter their teens
Unprecedented times for sure. The successful companies in this year’s thirteenth Adam Smith Awards were announced on 8th June via a live video broadcast. For obvious reasons, the usual celebratory lunches were unable to take place this year, and so instead the videostream also heralded the beginning of the first ever Adam Smith Awards season. The season will consist of the usual case studies, which follow in this 2020 yearbook, illustrating just how corporate treasury has responded to these challenging times, as it always does. Additionally, a brand-new Adam Smith Awards podcast series is already under way, giving listeners the chance to hear about the award-winning solutions from the creators themselves.
Whilst nominations needed to demonstrate solutions implemented, or in the process of being implemented, from January 2019 to May 2020, the events of the last few months have certainly focused the minds. Several projects specifically respond to the impact of COVID-19 as you will see in this yearbook.
Notwithstanding these tremendously difficult times, we received a fantastic 187 nominations spanning 24 countries with Best Cash Management Solution and Harnessing the Power of Technology categories very well supported. These awards continue to be acknowledged as the ultimate benchmark for the corporate treasury profession and competition for these coveted awards was, once again, extremely strong.
Reflecting the times in which we all find ourselves, we introduced a new category: Best Crisis Management Solution. Our inaugural winner, Sasha DeGracia, Director Finance – Treasury Services and her team at Holiday Inn Club Vacations worked tirelessly to mitigate the effects of the pandemic in a rapid, controlled and intelligent manner.
The Best ESG Solution, expanded from the previous Best Sustainable Finance Solution, received many more entries this time round. The winner is JetBlue Airways who has been working over several years to embed ESG design into every aspect of its corporate treasury operations.
Our 2020 individual winners are also worthy of a special mention; Woman of the Year is Deepa Palamuttam, Director, Treasury Cash Operations at Intel, whilst Tian Song, Senior Treasury Manager at Baker Hughes is our Rising Star.
Finally, our most prestigious accolade, Treasury Today’s Top Treasury Team 2020, goes to Amit Singh, SVP Group Treasurer and his team at Takeda Pharmaceuticals based in Tokyo, Dublin and Zurich. A magnificent effort.
The entire team here at Treasury Today Group wish to extend our sincere thanks to all the companies who took part and we offer our congratulations to all our winners and their partners.
The treasury profession has always been resilient, and this year is no different. In an increasingly digital work, it only makes sense that we adapt our processes as well, and celebrate success in any way we can – virtually is just another method of doing so!
