Blog

January 2021 2 Min Read

BIS: Cyber-attacks on Financial Sector Never Been Greater

The connected nature of business today means it has never been more important for treasurers to recognise and respond to the risks impacting their partner ecosystem. In particular, given the agenda for digitalisation, understanding the ever-changing threat of...

Blog

October 2020 3 Min Read

Negative Interest Rates and the Implications for Money Market Funds

The conditions now facing the global economy are unprecedented. For many countries, interest rates have been close to record lows since the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. While some central banks had already taken the plunge into negative territory, the...

Article

May 2020 8 Min Read

The Dangers of Negative Interest Rates

Are negative interest rates really good for treasurers, and for the world economy in general? There are admittedly some benefits, but there are many more drawbacks. Perhaps a return to zero rates would bring the greatest overall benefit.  A few years ago, the...

Article

October 2019 7 Min Read

Hitting the Sweet Spot: Macro Uncertainty and the Ultra-Short Solution

In the current uncertain macro environment, it is tempting for treasurers to hunker down in their short-term investment comfort zone, namely money market funds (MMFs). Nevertheless, if they are prepared to step out into an ultra-short-duration strategy, investors can...

Article

August 2019 13 Min Read

Money Market Fund Makeover Innovation in Short-Term Investments

The doom-mongering around money market fund regulation has now stopped. Instead, talk has moved on to low interest rates, credit quality, digital investment channels, and the rise of environmental, social and governance investment criteria. Treasurers are also...

Article

April 2019 7 Min Read

The Return of Returns: Cash is Back

Central banks across the globe have varying approaches to monetary policy, but the general direction of travel, until recently, had been the same: one of tightening. When the shape of the yield curve changes, treasurers must be prepared to respond. Jim Fuell, Head of...

Article

December 2018 4 Min Read

Repairing Treasury’s Leaky Bucket

The steady erosion of value caused by corporates stockpiling cash as interest rates remain at record lows is becoming more evident as inflation edges higher. But solutions such as dynamic discounting could staunch the flow of cash from EMEA companies. US interest rates...

Article

November 2018 5 Min Read

Risk Homeostasis and the Hamster

“My hamster died last night … it fell asleep at the wheel.” – Anonymous Homeostasis refers to some regulating process that keeps an outcome close to a target by compensating for external disturbances; core bodily temperature is an example of being...

Article

April 2018 8 Min Read

Global Liquidity: Faster, Deeper, Greater

Liquidity management is undergoing a period of major change. Liquidity is (re)circulating more quickly, major opportunities are emerging in ‘big data’ analysis and the global economy looks set to push liquidity levels higher. Nick Powell, Global Head of...