BankingCash & Working CapitalESG
November 29, 2023

Cashing In: Trade Finance Fuels Working Capital, Boosts Sales

How HSBC helped an energy company optimize working capital, boost sales and keep a key client happy about payment terms. Earlier this year, the treasurer at a clean energy company found himself in a precarious position: he needed to get cash in the door faster to fund operating expenses, but the corporate’s annual revenue is heavily reliant on a few large clients who had negotiated long payment terms. At a recent session of NeuGroup for ESG, the treasurer dug into the…
Cash & Working CapitalESG
July 19, 2023

Walmart Spurs Suppliers To Cut Carbon With Special Finance Terms

The retailer’s Sustainable SCF program via HSBC helps suppliers access capital and reduce its Scope 3 emissions. The toughest nut to crack for many corporates committed to reducing their carbon footprint is so-called Scope 3 emissions generated by their suppliers. To address the challenge and encourage its suppliers to cut carbon, NeuGroup member Walmart established a Sustainable Supply Chain Finance (SCF) program with HSBC through which companies can access more favorable conditions than available in traditional SCF offerings. To qualify,…
Capital MarketsESG
February 23, 2023

How GM Treasury Drives the Company to a Sustainable Future

GM’s aims for carbon neutrality by 2040 will rely on treasury’s contributions—from acquisitions to green bonds. Treasury at General Motors is playing an active role and working closely with the business as the automaker moves away from producing vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) and pushes deeper into manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs). Speaking at the pilot session of NeuGroup for Auto and Transportation, GM assistant treasurer Gustavo Vello described how treasury is helping the automaker achieve its strategic goals. Gustavo…
D&IESG
January 5, 2023

Not Yet in Writing: Most Treasuries Do Not Have a Formal D&I Policy

D&I financing and investing activities at many companies are governed by informal guidelines. New NeuGroup research reveals that 86% of treasuries do not have a formal policy to govern engagement with diversity firms, but a majority (54%) work within informal guidelines. NeuGroup conducted the November 2022 survey in partnership with the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP), Fitch Ratings and Sustainable Fitch. The responses came from members of NeuGroup for Cash Investment Managers, Pension Managers, Capital Markets and our extensive D&I working group. Doing more,…
Cash & Working CapitalESG
September 29, 2022

A Finance Treat to Tame the Scope 3 Elephant in the Climate Room

HSBC and one member established a supply chain finance program that rewards ESG-friendly suppliers. Corporates striving to reduce their carbon footprints amid investor pressure and growing disclosure regulations face a daunting challenge when it comes to reducing emissions by suppliers and customers. These so-called scope 3 emissions do not originate from the business itself but are an indirect consequence of the corporate’s value chain. Enter ESG-linked supply chain financing programs like HSBC’s sustainable supply chain financing program, which incentivizes suppliers to have fewer emissions…
ESGInternal Audit ExecutivesRisk Management
June 2, 2022

Internal Auditors Shine a Brighter Light on Climate Data Sources

Pending regulations prompt IA to validate companies’ climate-related claims and incorporate first and second lines of defense. Several members of NeuGroup for Internal Audit Executives have recently or will soon conduct the first audits of their companies’ climate impact reports, and in a recent meeting they generally concluded that ESG group leaders may not understand much of the data behind their reports. The vice president of internal audit at a corporate with supply chains stretching worldwide discussed his company’s annual climate impact…
ESGThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
May 20, 2022

NeuGroup’s Strategic Finance Lab Podcast, Episode 4: ESG Investing: An Interview with Marina Severinovsky of Schroders

Step into a lab where innovation and digital transformation empower senior finance executives to become true strategic partners. Investors who don’t acknowledge that countries and companies are decarbonizing as they commit to net-zero emission goals will find themselves on the “wrong end of a massive flow of capital.” That pragmatic approach to sustainable investing is among the insights you’ll hear in this podcast featuring Marina Severinovsky, Head of Sustainability for North America at Schroders. In an interview with Nilly Essaides,…
ESG
April 21, 2022

A New Approach for Corporates Reducing Carbon Footprints: Investing in Renewable Energy Private Equity Strategies

PE funds producing returns and carbon credits may attract corporates with business, suppliers and cash in China. Mounting pressure on corporates to achieve net-zero carbon emissions or carbon neutral targets is prompting more of them to consider investing in private equity (PE) strategies focused on renewable energy assets. The trend is in its early stages, and companies need to thoroughly vet impact fund managers and understand regional investment characteristics before taking the plunge. But it’s clear that treasury and finance…
ESGInvestment Management
March 24, 2022

Mega-Cap Treasurers Mastering the Carbon Reduction Calculus

At Starbucks and other ESG leaders, treasury is using a range of financial tools and promoting the creation of others to reach net-zero. Treasurers at multinational corporations including Starbucks that have made ambitious, public commitments to cut carbon emissions are becoming experts in a range of tools, techniques and topics so they can better assist companies achieve net-zero and other carbon reduction goals. That takeaway emerged at a recent meeting of NeuGroup for Mega-Cap Treasurers, where Starbucks treasurer Peter Filipovic outlined…
ESG
March 17, 2022

NeuGroup’s Strategic Finance Lab Podcast, Episode 1: Finance and ESG Reality

Step into a lab where innovation and digital transformation empower senior finance executives to become true strategic partners: Nilly Essaides interviews Stephen Ferguson from The Hackett Group on the role of finance leaders in ESG initiatives. NeuGroup is launching the Strategic Finance Lab podcast by zeroing in on the need for finance leaders to take a comprehensive approach to helping corporations make good on achieving their net-zero carbon reduction goals and ESG metrics. The pressure companies are feeling now will…