My Life in Treasury: Christof Nelischer, Willis Towers Watson

An Interview with Christof Nelischer, Global Group Treasurer, Willis Towers Watson

Christof Nelischer, Global Group Treasurer of Willis Towers Watson, is well-known to many readers following an illustrious and varied treasury career both in Germany and the UK. In this feature, Christof shares some of his experiences so far with Helen Sanders, Editor.

How did you come into treasury and what attracted you to the profession?

I joined treasury really by chance when I left university in 1991/2. I came across a position in a relatively small corporate treasury function at Heraeus in Germany where the treasurer was looking for a ‘right hand man’. Although I hadn’t really considered treasury before, I enjoyed the role and it marked the start of my career in treasury.

How did your career progress through to the role that you hold today?

I spent around four and a half years developing well-rounded treasury experience across risk management, cash management, capital raising, trade finance etc. at Heraeus but I realised that I had reached the end of my learning curve with the company. I therefore made the decision to move to Kellogg’s where I became European treasurer. Although the role was a new, regional treasury function, it was an opportunity to develop a broad and diverse role combining both operational and strategic responsibilities, including cash and banking, treasury technology etc. However, there was no real opportunity for career progression after three and a half years, so I moved to a treasurer role at Novar plc in the UK, where I reported to the director of tax and treasury. This position had a broad scope, including strategic risk management, senior management reporting, board advisory as well as capital raising at a group level. Novar was acquired by Honeywell in 2005, and treasury was absorbed by Honeywell, so I managed the wind-up of Novar’s treasury function and the transition to Honeywell.

I then spent the next two years as group treasurer of Fiberweb plc, which once again involved building a new treasury function, this time at group level, as well as managing an independent stock listing and funding the organisation. The company went through challenging times and two years later I moved on and initially took on a series of interim roles and in 2010 joined Willis Group and became global group treasurer of the company in London. Although Willis had a treasury function in place, the business had moved on, so we effectively rebuilt the treasury from scratch, including policy, processes, technology and skills. Following the merger with Towers Watson this year, to create Willis Towers Watson, our treasury has joined forces with the Towers Watson Treasury team to become the treasury function for the combined group, so we are now working to integrate the respective activities of both predecessor companies: twice the debt, twice the turnover, more than twice the complexity, but not twice the number of people in treasury!

How have demands and needs in terms of treasury changed over the course of your career, and what particular skills does it now require?

I think the perception of treasury has changed. Before the global financial crisis, treasury was often - wrongly – perceived as a ‘black box’ in the corner of the finance function, and considered to be mostly a technical function. All of a sudden, the financial world as we knew it fell apart, and companies quickly came to recognise that their implicit assumption that the markets would always be there was unfounded. Treasury’s role in managing capital and risk therefore became in far greater demand, particularly as market liquidity became less readily accessible and subject to more stringent controls. Since that time, company boards, as well as external bodies such as credit rating agencies, have been far more closely engaged with treasury and developed a greater familiarity with its role.[[[PAGE]]]

Treasury has also evolved in line with the international activities of the corporation. As it is now easier to operate in multiple locations, treasury is becoming organised along more functional than geographic lines. Added to this, as the corporate outlook extends from a broadly domestic perspective to an international one, this changes the skills and activities that organisations value.

What is your greatest professional achievement to date and why?

While it’s difficult to pinpoint a particular event, I would probably refer to the ‘darkest hour’ in a previous role. I was on holiday (and it really was Friday 13th, naturally) when I received a message from my boss asking me to call urgently. Whilst visiting the US operations, he discovered that we would have to do a writedown and issue a profit warning, which would likely result in a breach of our bank covenants. Added to this, our AGM was taking place two and a half weeks afterwards. I immediately returned from holiday, and spent the next two and a half weeks negotiating a relaxation of our covenants which was finally concluded the night before the AGM. Without this, that AGM would likely have marked the end of the company.

I have also been very proud of what we have achieved at Willis. When I joined, there were a number of issues to resolve, really from the ground up. The challenge was to balance the priority of opportunities for ‘quick wins’ with the need for more fundamental reform. Since then, we have been building a world-class treasury function, which will be strengthened further as we integrate the Towers Watson treasury activities into the business.

What qualities do you look for when you are recruiting for your department?

People I have recruited into the Willis treasury team typically have had overseas experience working for a multinational corporation, and it is very valuable for the department to have this diversity of skills and backgrounds. I tend to value this international perspective more highly than specific experience of the industry, as it tends to result in more ideas of how we can improve and develop. People who experienced good treasury practice are best placed to drive the treasury function forward.

How important do you think a formal treasury education is, as opposed to (or as well as) more general finance or accountancy qualifications?

I don’t think accountancy qualifications are particularly important for treasurers, whereas specialist treasury qualifications offered by the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT), for example, are far more valuable. In my experience, accountancy encourages a different way of looking at things than treasury, which is typically focused on what’s ahead.

Based on your career so far, what would your advice be to finance professionals who are perhaps in their first treasury role?

Whatever you see, it’s important to take a step back to look at the bigger picture, and understand why things have been done in a certain way up until then. Perspective is important, and allows you to determine what your priorities should be.

What would your ideal holiday be?

Actually, I’m about to go on it! I’ll be leaving for a skiing holiday in Austria with my family shortly, staying in a nice hotel. Recently, we spent a week in Barbados too which was also very pleasant!

What book have you read recently or what film have you seen recently that you would recommend, and why?

I recommend The Lost Victory: British Dreams, British Realities 1945 - 1950 by Correlli Barnett which I have read several times. It is now sadly out of print, but I’ve often sourced second-hand copies for friends and family. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking insight into twentieth century Britain.