NACT Telediscussions and Webinars

Telediscussions and webinars are held throughout the year on a wide variety of subjects specifically designed for the Corporate Treasurer.

NACT Webinar and Telediscussion — Gaining a Holistic View of Risk Tuesday
March 19, 2013, 2:00 PM (EDT)

Speakers
Michael Bosacco, VP Treasury Solutions, AvantGard, SunGard

Session Description
Successful corporate treasurers are expected to have a firm grasp of financial and operational risks facing their organization, including counterparty, FX and other market risks. Achieving that is anything but simple, as they must identify and quantify aspects of the business that might open an organization to unplanned events and help mitigate any potential adverse results.

According to a recent study of over 222 treasury professionals (62% from companies with revenues of $1 billion and above), 60.4 percent of respondents felt their organizations were above average at identifying financial risk exposure, identifying their companies as somewhat to very effective. By centralizing data into a single treasury management system (“TMS”) solution, treasurers have better visibility into financial risk. Almost 24 percent use a TMS in cash management forecasting, while 34.2 percent use a TMS to monitor counterparty/trading limits.

Many treasurers use applications or services in order to manage financial risk. Some are realizing that outsourcing critical applications like a TMS or even services related to managing those solutions can help alleviate that risk. What about operational risk? In the event of a natural disaster occurring, a country’s economy failing, or IT budgets being cut, having a plan in place to ensure that critical applications and the people that run them are fully operational is a necessity.

This webinar will touch on the results from a recent study on financial risk challenges and the solutions that practitioners are undertaking to overcome them. Learn how treasurers can manage financial and operational risks more effectively, and gain a holistic view of risk.

Immediately after the presentation, members will have a private session of "Treasurers Talking to Treasurers" to discuss this and other topics of interest.


NACT Telediscussion — ECB Rate Cuts
Tuesday, August 21, 2012, 11:00 AM (EDT)

Speakers
Jason C. Straker, CFA, Executive Director
Emily Mulliner, Executive Director
J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Session Description:
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi is prepared to do "whatever it takes" to save the euro. As part of that effort, on July 5, 2012, the ECB took rates to historically low levels, cutting the main refinance rate to 75 bps, the main lending rate to 150 bps and, most unexpectedly, the deposit rate to zero. What has been the impact of this unprecedented move, particularly on the short end of the curve and on the euro itself? Are further rate cuts and more non-conventional policy measures coming? In this call, we will review the ramifications of the ECB's recent rate moves, the reactions of investment providers, and the alternative investments corporate treasurers are considering in this zero — and possibly negative — yield environment.

Immediately after the presentation, members will have a private session of "Treasurers Talking to Treasurers" to discuss responses to the ECB's rate cuts and other topics of interest.


NACT Telediscussion — Standard & Poor's Update on CRA 3
Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 2:00 PM (EDT)

Speaker
Christopher Lake, Senior European Regulatory Counsel, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services

Session Description:
There have been a number of significant concerns raised by market participants since the European Commission first published proposals on 16 November 2011 to further regulate credit rating agencies in the European Union. In particular those concerns have centered on proposals for mandatory rating agency rotation and also regulatory involvement in ratings.

More recently both the member states of the European Union and the European Parliament have made their own suggestions to modify the Commission's proposals. The speaker will discuss the current position as regards the proposals and their possible impact — if enacted in the current form — on the development of efficient and transparent capital markets in the European Union and the international comparability and hence usefulness of European ratings to global investors.

Immediate after the presentation, members will have a private session of "Treasurers Talking to Treasurers" to discuss responses to rating agency regulation and other topics of interest.


NACT Telediscussion — Share Repurchases
Thursday, June 28, 2012, 3:00 PM (EDT)

Speaker
John Adam, Director of Equity Capital Markets, Liquidnet, Inc.

Session Description:
Public companies have experienced unprecedented volatility and a fundamental change in how and when their stock is traded in the U.S. markets. Liquidnet’s John Adam will discuss the implications of the real-time capital markets for Treasurers:

  • Where and how does my stock trade, and what are the implications for my repurchase strategy?
  • Why has the volume of my stock become disconnected from the liquidity?
  • Who are the different trading participants trading, supporting, or working against my stock buyback?
  • Who uses dark pools and why?
  • What is High-Frequency Trading (HFT) and why does it matter for my company?

The dialogue will be focused around the needs of Treasury professional and how the evolution of the public markets affects their role when dealing with a corporation’s public equity.


Offering Retirees Lump Sums — A New Option for Plan Sponsors
Thursday, June 14, 2012, 3:00 PM (EDT)

Speakers
Michael Economos, Senior Actuary, Pacific Global Advisors
Bruce Jurin, Chief Science Officer, Pacific Global Advisors

Session Description:
Ford and General Motors have reportedly received Private Letter Rulings from the IRS regarding a defined benefit plan sponsor’s ability to offer lump sums to retirees. Furthermore, General Motors plans to terminate one of its pension plans through the purchase of insurance contracts to cover pensioners, including pensioners which decline the lump sum offer. This is a big change and adds a new dimension to pension risk management. Pacific Global Advisors expects other companies to follow in these automakers’ footsteps, but believes there are issues and considerations which need to be taken into account before embarking in this endeavor.


What FX Hedging Can Achieve: Certainty vs. Reduced FX Rate Volatility
Tuesday, May 1, 2012, 2:30 PM (EDT)

Speaker
Jeff Wallace, Managing Partner, GREENWICH TREASURY ADVISORS LLC
and Co-Founder, DEBT COMPLIANCE SERVICES LLC

Session Description:
What are the main objectives and benefits of P&L FX Hedging? Is it to provide more certainty on FX risks over a given time horizon, so that other business factors can be managed to produce satisfactory P&L results? Or is it to reduce P&L FX rate volatility? And how is the FX rate volatility defined? Quarter to quarter, previous year quarter to current quarter, year-to-year or on a multi-year basis?

The discussion will include an historic FX rate volatility analysis showing which passive hedging strategies work best given certain volatility metrics. The presentation concludes with recommendations on how to best manage the trade-offs between the two hedging objectives.

Presentation Material: FX Hedging PowerPoint


NACT Telediscussion — Next Steps for Europe

Global Implications
Monday, April 9, 2012, 2:00 PM (EDT)

Speaker
Rebecca Patterson, Managing Director & Chief Market Strategist
J.P. MORGAN ASSET MANAGEMENT

Session Description:
Europe's crisis has gone from acute and immediate to more chronic. At the margin, that's been good news for investor sentiment and cyclical assets globally. In this call, we will provide an update from our last call in January on key drivers so far this year for Europe. More importantly, let’s look forward: What risks remain that could derail Europe? What are our key scenarios? What are the implications for the rest of the world from Europe's crisis? Finally, how are we positioning portfolios with Europe in mind?

Presentation Material: Next steps for Europe and Global Implications


NACT Telediscussion: — The Eurozone in Crisis
Friday, January 20, 2012 2:00 pm EDT

Speaker: Rebecca Patterson, Managing Director & Chief Market Strategist, J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Session Description:

The Euro area is entering its third year of crisis, with countries around the region grappling with extreme fiscal austerity, a looming recession and billions of euros of maturing private and public-sector debt. What is the end-game? Will the euro and monetary union still exist a year from now? During this presentation, we will explore Europe’s challenges, including:

  • Most likely scenarios for EMU over the coming years – Is there any hope of a “white swan”?
  • Implications for the global economy (GDP growth, inflation, liquidity, FX rates, etc.) should the euro crisis worsen
  • How are we positioning to mitigate risks and protect investments against such a scenario?

Presentation Materials: Where Next for Europe?


NACT Telediscussion:: — Sovereign Creditworthiness Trends
Wednesday, December 14, 2011 3:00 pm EDT

Speaker: Nikola Swan, Director, Standard & Poor's Sovereign Ratings Team

Session Description:

In light of the failure of the supercommittee to agree on a debt reduction plan and the long-term economic imbalances between euro nations, many folks are concerned about possible ratings implications for the U.S. and Eurozone. The speaker will discuss the current sovereign credit rating landscape and will walk through the framework for Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' sovereign ratings, focusing on the U.S., Canada, Germany, France and U.K. He will also touch on how political issues and the general economic outlook may impact sovereign ratings performance and downgrades.


NACT Telediscussion:: — Corporate Cash Management
Thursday, October 27, 2011 3:00 pm EDT

Speaker: Tony Carfang, Partner, and Cathy Gregg, Partner, from Treasury Strategies, Inc.

Session Description:

With indications that companies expect high cash levels to remain for a long time, there continues to be substantial investment in treasury technology and infrastructure. Current market dynamics are encouraging corporate treasurers to move more quickly to a Treasury 3.0SM environment that is information-based, rather than transaction-based. The speakers will touch on regulatory impacts, counterparty risk, investment considerations in volatile markets and other implications for treasurers, who must to a greater degree incorporate information from both internal and external sources in their decision-making.


NACT Telediscussion: — Implications of the US Debt Ceiling Debate
Thursday, August 4, 2011 12:30 pm EDT

Speaker: Russ Koesterich, CFA, Global Chief Investment Strategist for BlackRock iShares

Session Description:

The immediate crisis appears to be averted as Congress voted on a framework to raise the debt ceiling and reduce spending over the next decade. These developments are clearly positive in terms of reducing the risk of a US debt default, however, significant policy uncertainties remain and the risk of a future ratings downgrade is still not at zero. The speaker will highlight possible strategies that treasurers and fixed income investors may use to respond to these rapidly changing market conditions.


NACT Telediscussion — Rating Agency Regulation Update
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 11:00 am EDT


NACT Teleconference — Derivatives Regulation
What corporate treasurers need to know about the proposals to regulate OTC derivatives
October 13, 2009


NACT Teleconference — Regulation of the Financial Markets - How it will Impact Corporate Treasury?
September 9, 2009 11:00 am

Presentation Slides

Session Description
Governments and central banks around the world are debating proposals for massive restructuring of financial regulations and authorities granted to regulatory entities.

From interest rate swaps to loan pricing, the outcome of these debates is certain to affect how corporate treasury organizations do business. In this session, Treasury Strategies will discuss the implications of proposed regulatory changes and what your treasury organization can do now to prepare.

Learn more about Tony Carfang, Speaker at the September 9th Teleconference and Money Market Funds.

Review the Treasury Strategies SEC comments. Click here to review all comments made on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website regarding the Proposed Rule: Money Market Fund Reform.

View the video of Tony Carfang on CNBC Kudlow and Bloomberg TV.