CONFERENCE I n January, 172 members of the treasury community gathered at the Grosvenor House Hotel in central London to discuss many of the pressing issues they currently face. And they will have taken away a sense of optimism that, while the economic and geopolitical outlook remained uncertain, there were signs that the future may not be as volatile as the past year. As the events chair, group treasurer of Grosvenor Group Ian Chisholm said, there was a degree of optimism in the room. James Pomeroy, HSBCs global economist, told the audience of experienced treasurers: The economic outlook is dark, it is uncertain, but there is a glimmer of optimism. Uncertainty was Pomeroys watch word growth is uncertain, inflation is uncertain and therefore it is very uncertain what central banks will do to combat inflation. The economy has kept turning despite all these challenges, though the big question in 2023 will be whether this will continue. He welcomed the quicker-thanexpected reopening of China, which would go some way towards fixing broken supply chains, though a question was raised over whether this could stoke commodity prices. In a discussion on the geopolitical outlook for 2023, the audience heard how, although Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had at the time only been in the job for 85 days, there had been a restoration of market confidence in the UK government the ship had been stabilised. However, it was acknowledged that underneath this veneer of calm, a great deal of uncertainty remained, with the impact of public sector strikes and a cost-of-living crisis still taking their toll. The economy has kept turning despite all these challenges, though the big question in 2023 will be whether this will continue The forum heard from Viktoria Hadarits, assistant treasurer at Lightsource bp, who outlined her organisations journey towards net zero. She described how, when she joined the team, she made a point of understanding the companys net-zero journey. It is very important for the treasury team to be aware of the goals and objectives of the company so that having people with a sustainability mindset within the treasury team will help embed those [sustainability] processes much faster within our function. Tatiana Slepova, HSBCs sustainability lead for Europe, told the forum audience that companies could expect more sustainability related questions from their banks regarding their transition strategy, and potentially about a companys KPIs in this area. But banks can also help their clients on their transition to net zero. The forum also offered an opportunity to discuss practical issues such as credit risk, export finance, supply chain disruption and the future of treasury, including the metaverse. Credit risk The credit risk session covered credit conditions and the importance of credit analysis during a recession. It considered what a recession might look like, how it may differ from previous recessions, and what effect this may have for treasurers. Participants noted how rapidly market conditions were changing the conversation could have been different as recently as November. There was the view that out of the US, EU and UK, it would be the latter that was most likely to enter into recession as it had the strongest headwinds, but that this recession was unlikely to look very like any previous one. Participants in the session believed that staying on top of credit risk analysis was very important for corporates, this included the need to understand the quality of their counterparties and their indirect exposure to changing market conditions. Discussing the road to net zero Net zero Throughout the day, there were reminders of how climate change was affecting the day-to-day work of treasurers. Speakers urged their treasury colleagues to engage with their organisations so they could understand their climate strategy, and how treasury can play its part. 24 ISSUE 1 2023 treasurers.org/thetreasurer TT ISSUE 1 23 pp23-25 Forum.indd 24 23/02/2023 13:20