ONE TO WATCH
Senior Treasury Consultant, Sander De Vries, was nominated as an emerging young talent in treasury by the ACT in the Ones to Watch 2016 awards. Here, he talks to us about his quick rise to success after joining Zanders Treasury and Finance Solutions straight from a Masters degree in Finance in his native Netherlands.
What does your current role entail?
As a Senior Treasury Consultant at Zanders, I advise a wide range of corporate clients in the field of treasury management, risk management and corporate finance. I've been involved in some really interesting things, such as a transformation project, where I worked on the redseign of a treasury funtion at a FTSE 500 company.
How did you end up in a career in treasury?
After graduating the master degree Finance of the University of Groningen (Netherlands), I was looking for a dynamic and challenging work environment in the field of finance combined with a friendly working atmosphere. The open attitude, drive for excellence and enthusiastic culture at Zanders appealed to me. As there was a good fit I ended up working for Zanders as a Treasury Consultant.
What skills do you think are important to a treasury role?
I think you should be determined, be flexible to adjust to changing circumstances and always develop yourself by searching for new challenges; it's important to go through steep learning curves. I also surround myslef with people who I can learn from and am not afraid to ask questions.
Why did you take on an ACT qualification? What was your main objective?
I took the Certificate in International Cash Management (CertICM) in order to further develop my knowledge so I can advise my clients in a better and more thorough manner. I also completed the Certificate in Risk Management prior to this. These two courses have had an immediate impact on my role and my abilities to support clients.
Which specific areas of your job role will this qualification support?
In my job as Senior Treasury Consultant we assist a lot of corporate clients in strategic bank selection projects. Such project starts with the evaluation of the current cash management practices followed by determining the future to-be state based on both best market practices and company specific requirements. When the to-be picture is drawn the requirements can be recorded and the selection process can start to find the banking partner(s) which best fit in the to-be cash management picture. The CertICM content fits perfectly when entering such a selection process.
Are there particular areas of treasury/finance that the CertICM helped you understand even better?
This qualification particularly helped me understand the technical banking side of the clearing and settlement process of international payments.
What are the benefits of having professional qualifications to add to your CV/résumé?
The answer to this questions is twofold, first of all you can easily show to have gained some specific knowledge and secondly it signals that you will find it important to keep developing yourself.
What happens next in your career and how has this qualification helped?
I’m still young and at the start of my career, so who knows? But for now, I would like to leverage the knowledge I gained during the qualifications and apply it in my projects so I can advise my clients in the best possible way.