What are the 4 levers of resiliency? A conversation with European Treasury Leaders

How can treasurers drive long-term value in an era of short-term pressures?

In conversation with François Masquelier, Chair of the European and Luxembourgish treasury associations, we broke it down into 4 topics:

1️Treasurers are no longer just managing liquidity 🧊
Business don’t operate in isolation, therefore they see the alignment of (sustainable) investments with core operational needs to drive of long-term resilience, risk mitigation, and competitive advantage.

2️Sustainability ≠ Sacrifice 🥊
Corporates often saw ESG as a cost, not an opportunity. But treasurers can flip the script: quantify the cash flow benefits of sustainable investments (e.g., lower energy volatility, better financing terms) to prove their long-term ROI.

3️The long game wins ♟️
Short-termism is the enemy of resilience. Treasurers can advocate for strategies that reduce cash flow volatility, even if they take years to pay off. Contributing to the resilience of supply chains are critical to outlasting market cycles.

Family-owned business look beyond the business cycle, which in turns permits focussing on (for example) stabilizing energy costs. Predictability of input costs, translates into stronger conversion and client retention – which in turn makes cash conversion cycles more predictable.

4️Data-driven decisions 🎯
Treasurers’ quantitative expertise is a goldmine for C-suites. From optimizing working capital to de-risking ventures, their forecasts can lower WACC and unlock strategic growth.

🇪🇺 Moving from anthropocentric to ecosystem-centric: a venture strategy crystallizes competitiveness over long terms horizons. With a European resilience in mind, treasurers need to consider new and alternative forms of financing to match these investment horizons. This doesn’t always flow through the balance sheet, e.g. by tapping private capital.

💡 Actionable Takeaway:
The value of being resilient is built from a 12-month or quarterly view. Ask your treasurer and CFO how you can be leveraging your insights to navigate investment opportunities, diversifies sources of funding and de-risk operational activities to build resilience.

Luxembourg Association Of Corporate Treasurers
EACT – European Association of Corporate Treasurers

Merci to Jerome Bloch for having us at 360Crossmedia