Asia-Pacific corporate treasurers reveal priorities
The Asia-Pacific region's leading corporate treasurers have identified improving cash visibility and cash-flow forecasting as the most common priorities in the coming 12 months but also see additional scope for enhancing treasury process automation, optim
According to the second edition of the "Asia Pacific Treasury Management Barometer Survey", these priorities illustrate the shift of the roles and responsibilities of treasurers and reflect the common challenges of operating in this diverse region, resulting from managing a range of banking relationships, operating with a large number of accounts and disparate means of accessing account information.
"By analysing the data in the 2015 Asia Pacific Treasury Management Barometer Survey and through ongoing client interactions, it is clear that corporations in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly focused on integrated treasury management platforms and solutions, which deliver real-time analytics, multi-bank visibility, cash-flow forecasting and transaction management across countries, currencies and time zones," said Ivo Distelbrink, head of global transaction services at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
"Against this backdrop, the roles and responsibilities of the treasurer in Asia-Pacific are changing meaningfully, and strategic treasury advisory will be imperative to enable treasurers to take advantage of changing objectives and priorities."
Treasurers in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly focused on leveraging efficient technology to achieve operational and financial efficiency, said Ash Khalek, senior vice president for corporate liquidity sales at SunGard, a US software multinational.
"With a third of respondents already using hosted and cloud-based solutions for treasury management, treasurers recognise the role of these solutions to ‘leapfrog’ legacy technologies and achieve rapid implementation of a best-in-class treasury technology infrastructure."
More than 1,350 treasury professionals from around the world were interviewed for the study by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and SunGard, a 45-per-cent increase in participation from the first edition.
In its second edition, the report offers insight into the priorities and strategies deployed by leading treasury management decision-makers across multiple industries and all major economies in the Asia-Pacific region. Respondents were asked to provide analysis on thematic cash and treasury management issues: liquidity management, foreign exchange, working-capital management and treasury technology.
In addition, treasury and finance professionals from blue-chip corporations operating in the region shared their insights and experiences.
Respondents were drawn from a wide range of corporations as measured by revenue. Twenty-three per cent of respondents work for corporations with an annual global sales turnover of US$10 billion (Bt337 billion), 12 per cent with $5 billion to $10 billion, 24 per cent with $1 billion to $5 billion, 15 per cent with $500 million to $1 billion, and 26 per cent under $500 million.
Respondents included privately owned (34 per cent), publicly listed (64 per cent) and a small number of state-owned enterprises (3 per cent).
All major industries were represented, with the highest level of responses from the electronics and technology (19 per cent), manufacturing (16 per cent) and financial-services (9 per cent) sectors.
