Category

Investment Management

Cash & Working CapitalInvestment Management
September 7, 2023

Collaboration with Treasury as Key to Improving Working Capital

Breaking down silos between treasury, AP and procurement to optimize invoice processing and strategic liquidity management. With interest rates likely to remain higher for longer, opportunistic treasury teams want to invest excess cash where it can earn attractive yields. One obstacle standing in the way at some companies stems from differing priorities between accounts payable (AP), which often aims to pay invoices as soon as possible, and treasury, which has a more strategic view of liquidity. At a recent session of NeuGroup…
Justin Jones
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Capital MarketsInvestment Management
August 9, 2023

Gear Shift: Cash Investment Managers Eying Eventual Rate Cuts

With the end of Fed rate hikes in view, some managers are now talking about extending investment duration. When 2023 began, corporate cash investment teams were battening down the hatches, keeping maturities very short in anticipation of more interest rate hikes. Almost eight months later, the discussion has shifted to when the Fed might start cutting rates, leading to a flatter and eventually steeper yield curve, opening the door to extending duration. “Short-term rates may exceed or be more optimal than investing…
Justin Jones
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Investment ManagementTechnology
May 25, 2023

Plugging Into ChatGPT To Improve Qualitative Investment Analysis

A portfolio manager at a forward-thinking tech company seeks an edge by tapping the power of generative AI. Turning the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into a competitive edge by using tools including ChatGPT is a top priority of one member of NeuGroup for Cash Investment. He has begun using the technology’s ability to analyze massive amounts of text using natural language processing, with the goal of improving qualitative investment analysis. That sets his company apart: While many finance orgs…
Justin Jones
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D&IInvestment Management
April 6, 2023

Driving Diversity: A Company’s DEI Scorecard for Asset Managers

One corporate uses data on firms’ racial and gender representation relative to the US Census and their peers. A dearth of minority-owned firms that manage fixed-income assets—and a desire to hold all its asset managers accountable on diversity initiatives and metrics—led the treasury team at one NeuGroup member company with a large cash balance to develop a scorecard for diversity, equity and inclusion. The company’s treasurer shared it with peers at a recent meeting of NeuGroup for Mega-Cap Treasurers. The treasury team’s asset…
Justin Jones
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Capital MarketsInvestment Management
February 16, 2023

Strengthening Bonds With Fixed-Income Investors Pays Dividends

A strong commitment to fixed-income investor relations in good times helps one company prepare for rough patches. Say “investor relations” and most people immediately think of equity investors. But not the director of capital markets at a large manufacturer that has more than $100 billion outstanding in unsecured, asset-backed and convertible debt—and who has two team members dedicated solely to fixed-income investor relations (IR). At a fall meeting of NeuGroup for Capital Markets sponsored by Deutsche Bank, the director described his company’s…
Justin Jones
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D&IInvestment Management
February 9, 2023

Investing in Diversity: D&I Performance Metrics in Action

A NeuGroup survey shows treasury prioritizes risk management and performance against a benchmark when evaluating diverse-owned firms.Eighty-six percent of respondents to NeuGroup’s D&I Financing and Asset Management Survey do not have a formal D&I policy, but 54% work within informal guidelines. Regardless of approach, the overall investment policy requires that treasury apply performance metrics when it selects external managers for investment of cash and evaluates their success over time. The survey reveals treasury applies the same performance measures to diverse-owned investment…
Justin Jones
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Capital MarketsD&IInvestment Management
February 2, 2023

Reaching Out: Treasury Leads Engagement With Diverse-owned Firms

NeuGroup research reveals treasury is the primary driver of greater engagement with minority-owned banks, brokers and asset managers.  As chief procurer of financial services, treasury is at the epicenter of a complex ecosystem of financial partners, from banks to brokers to pension and cash investment managers. According to NeuGroup’s D&I Financing and Asset Management Survey, treasury is not only seeking greater engagement with minority-owned firms but is the driving force behind companies’ efforts to build more expansive financial relationships with these…
Justin Jones
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Capital MarketsInvestment Management
December 8, 2022

Cash Investment Managers Watch and Wait for the Fog to Clear

Many NeuGroup members are shortening duration and some are avoiding maturities beyond six months. “This is the most uncertain time I’ve ever seen,” said a representative of Allspring Global Investments at the fall meeting of NeuGroup for Cash Investment 2, aptly capturing the sentiment of many members. Uncertainty and a sense that interest rates will keep rising despite fears of recession are among the reasons many of them are keeping average portfolio duration short amid the extreme inversion of the yield curve.…
Justin Jones
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Capital MarketsInvestment Management
November 17, 2022

Kicking the Tires: Investing Cash in Working Capital Finance

Supply chain finance offers attractive yields uncorrelated to other assets, but non-IG funds present an obstacle. The search for attractive yields uncorrelated with—and more resilient than—other fixed-income investments led the investment arm of a large, privately-held multinational corporation to a fund that invests globally across trade receivable, payable and inventory finance assets. Representatives from Koch Investments Group and Pemberton Asset Management, a specialist alternative credit manager, discussed the benefits of the working capital finance asset class at a recent NeuGroup session…
Justin Jones
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BankingInvestment Management
October 13, 2022

Insist and You May Receive: Higher Rates on Bank Deposits

A low overnight deposit rate prompted one company’s treasury to push back and ask for a higher rate. The bank doubled it. Corporates that want to keep some cash in bank deposits as the Fed hikes interest rates but don’t like the rates they’re being offered should consider an inspirational example described by one assistant treasurer who said her treasury team told some of its banks, in essence, “Your rates aren’t good enough.” The AT discussed the approach during a…
Justin Jones
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