- Katja Zimmermann
- Head of Corporate Treasury, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
An Interview with Katja Zimmermann, Head of Corporate Treasury, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
In this edition, we are delighted to feature Katja Zimmermann, Head of Corporate Treasury, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, who describes her career so far and offers advice to finance professionals considering how best to develop their careers in treasury.
How did you come into treasury and what attracted you to that profession?
I did my degree at Berufsakademie Mannheim (now Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg), specialising in banking, on a structured programme combining both study and work. This was a great opportunity to study whilst gaining practical workplace experience. It was only after doing a Master’s degree in London that I decided to pursue a role in treasury. Before then, I had not been aware of corporate treasury, but recognised that it offered more variety than banking, with responsibility for FX, derivatives, capital market, loans etc. rather than a single product line.
How did your career progress through to the role that you hold today?
My first treasury role was with Escom AG as assistant treasurer, and I then moved to Asta Medica AG, part of former Degussa AG, which is now part of the Evonik Industries group. In 1997, I moved to Heidelberg where I have spent the past eighteen years. Spending a long period in the same company is very interesting as you witness more clearly the changes to the business, and the wider market in which it operates. Naturally, my role has developed significantly over this time, so it continues to be diverse and rewarding.
How have demands and needs in terms of treasury changed over the course of your career, and what particular skills does it now require?
When I first joined treasury in 1995, the treasury profession was just becoming established in Germany, whereas previously, treasury had been one activity within the accounting and controlling function. At that stage, treasury was still mostly concerned with financing but since then, the scope and influence of treasury has grown enormously. The techniques that treasurers use have changed too. When I first started, for example, financing the business involved bilateral loans with banks. Today, treasurers have a far wider range of options, including capital markets and syndicated loans.
To meet this expanding reach of responsibility, treasury technology has become very important, not only to manage a wider range of transactions efficiently, but also to support sophisticated reporting and analytics, such as derivative accounting. Technology also plays a major role in regulatory compliance. Treasurers working for multinational corporations need to keep in touch with regulatory changes, particularly in countries identified as key growth markets for our business, such as China and other Asian countries, where the pace of regulatory change is very rapid. The implications of evolving regulations can be significant, not only for compliance reasons, but also when defining and implementing treasury structures such as in-house banks.
As treasury has expanded and become closer to the business, however, it has become as much a ‘people’ profession as a technical one. Treasurers need to be able to inspire trust and belief both internally and externally, and build sustainable relationships with banks, credit rating agencies and other external bodies, as well as other internal departments and subsidiaries. This contrasts significantly with treasury of two decades ago when treasury was far more self-contained and rarely widely known across the business. Today, treasury is highly visible to the CFO and the board, so developing transparency and trust is essential, particularly since the global financial crisis which emphasised the importance of liquidity and access to financing.
What is your greatest professional achievement to date and why?
It’s difficult to identify a single event or project across my career given the change and variety of initiatives in which I have been fortunate enough to have been involved. Like many other treasurers, steering the company through the global financial crisis was a major responsibility, and we underwent significant restructuring as a result. In 2011, we sought our first external credit rating, launched our first bond issue and concluded a new syndicated loan facility across a very short period. Treasury inevitably played a key role in driving these initiatives and co-ordinating resources as part of a cross-functional team. It was a very stressful period, but ultimately a very rewarding one as a result of the efforts, qualities and reliability of every member of the team. We also embarked on a variety of other financing initiatives around the same time, including two convertible bond issues, so there was a steep learning curve. For the company we managed to diversify our financial framework in terms of financing instruments and maturities, where the longest maturities are now as long as 2022. This forms a solid base for the future. Throughout this time, I worked closely with the legal team, which I had not done extensively before then, and which I found a very positive experience.[[[PAGE]]]
In addition to financing, there have been a range of other projects throughout my time at Heidelberg. We have implemented two in-house banks, for example, in 2005 and 2014 respectively. These are major undertakings as they involve every entity. The success of complex projects of this nature is a direct result of the quality of the team, and I am very fortunate to work with people with whom I have a great deal of respect. Even during the most challenging weeks and months of the global financial crisis, we had very little turnover in personnel, which has been critical in building stability and trust.
What qualities do you look for when you are recruiting for your department?
Diversity is key to an effective team, and a healthy variety of talents and experiences is essential to success. For some roles, good analytical skills are the priority, while others need to be more extrovert and enjoy building internal and external relationships. Even then, of course, a firm basis of core finance and treasury skills is essential. This is often achieved through a business degree and exposure to capital markets and derivatives.
Given the range of responsibilities that treasury carries, it is important to delegate effectively within the team. We aim to give projects to people based on what they enjoy and to which their skills are best suited wherever possible, and the personal freedom to carry them out, which is an approach that brings the best results.
How important do you think a formal treasury education is, as opposed to (or as well as) more general finance qualifications?
Treasury qualifications can be beneficial of course, but we tend to focus more on ‘on the job’ training. Our team members are often long-term employees with a wealth of experience and expertise, so they are in a good position to act as mentors for newer employees. We try and encourage new people to take responsibility as early as possible, such as producing documentation etc. so they can build up knowledge of the business quickly. We also engage in proactive dialogue across treasury function, including team meetings involving everyone, and specific group meetings to cover specialist areas, which together allow a good level of interchange.
Based on your career so far, what would your advice be to finance professionals who are perhaps in their first treasury role?
Learn as much as you can: treasury is rich in variety, and it is important to understand how these inter-relate. At the same time, in larger companies in particular, there is the opportunity to specialise, so you should look at where your skills and interests lie, and develop your role accordingly. As you become more senior in an organisation, your skills and responsibilities expand and you can build on both your specialist and wider knowledge.
What would your ideal holiday be?
I recently went to Cornwall in the south west of the UK and would have loved to stay there. I had watched Doc Martin on TV while I was in the UK and visited Port Isaac where it was set and filmed, and felt like a local – I loved it!
What book have you read recently or what film have you seen recently that you would recommend, and why?
One book I found particularly interesting was Who Owns the Future? by Jaron Lanier. Lanier looks at how the digital world could develop in the future and the implications for jobs, society and our daily lives. He also considers ‘big data’, particularly held by technology companies, and how it could be used in practice. It’s a sort of utopia – or maybe dystopia, in some respects.
