The New Protector: Treasurers’ Strategic Advantage

In times of economic and financial turbulence, the role of the corporate treasurer really comes to the fore. Market volatility, the impact of tariffs, and high costs of funding during a period of uncertainty over monetary policy, are just some of the challenges that a treasurer can protect against.

“The role of the corporate treasurer is very multi-faceted. They have to make cash work by bringing in yield, they oversee risk, and they are often involved in broad business transformations. All these functions are very important in the current environment,” said Uma Bohne-Gill, Head of Institutional Sales, Asia Pacific, Global Payment Solutions, HSBC.

She was speaking as a moderator of a treasury panel at HSBC’s Asia Credit Conference, which brought together treasurers from the financial sector to discuss how they are addressing the myriad of challenges in 2025.

If there is a single issue that is front of mind for the treasurers of international businesses, it is tariffs. And these barriers to trade are already having a notable impact, according to HSBC’s Global Trade Pulse Survey, which was published in May¹.

Around two thirds of the survey’s 5,700 respondents said that they have already experienced cost increases due to tariff and trade uncertainty, with many seeing this not only as a short-term phenomenon, but also one that will extend into the long term. The survey also found that many companies are facing significant logistical challenges, which again, translates into higher costs.

"We’ve been having client conversations that straddle the needs of securing working capital, managing inventories; and in some cases, deferring large material investment plans." said Rakesh Patwari, Regional Head of Solution Structuring, Asia, Global Trade Solutions, HSBC.

But on the flipside, around 70% of the respondents said the new trading environment is prompting them to make their business more resilient. And perhaps the most promising finding was that market stress is a catalyst of innovation, as 77% of companies say that it has encouraged them to evolve and seek new opportunities.

“Do companies believe that they will go back to the pre-tariff era? No, the change is permanent. But there are a lot of positives coming out of it,” said Mr. Patwari.

Before they can grasp the opportunities, treasurers need to be ready to weather the storm. Tariffs are just the most recent disruption to hit global commerce in recent years – the pandemic disrupted businesses across the world, while conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are regional events with global effects.

“A company can’t be 100% ready for a black swan event,” said Jitka Kulirova, Senior Director, Debt, CP and Central Investments, Group Treasury, Prudential. "You can never be completely prepared and there will always be something that will surprise you. That’s why it’s important to focus on having an agile, thoughtful and robust defence strategy."

Recent events have helped vindicate the time and effort treasurers have put into protecting the business. Ms. Kulirova described how her team was able to ensure that the company had adequate liquidity on hand to manage variation margin calls on interest rate derivatives. And on the funding side, they are always prepared for the worst-case scenario, which means the company was able to keep an open line to external funding channels, maintaining the ability to issue debt every single day.

More broadly, the perception of corporate treasury within the company is changing: from a purely financial function to one that can act as a partner to the business, as a growth enabler. One way they are able to do this is by carefully managing cash that can be utilised in acquisition. Another is by providing information to the business in a timely manner so that it can quickly make informed decisions.

Technology has an important role to play in the evolving role of the treasurer. Robert Watts, COO and Head of Finance, APAC, Marex, described the solutions that a treasurer has to hand as a “toolkit” that can adapt to the times: “it has to be flexible, it has to be malleable, and it has to provide more than what you originally intended for it. In that way it becomes more like a plug and play system.”

He highlighted the growing need for real-time payments, as younger clients expect from their provider of securities trading solutions the kind of payment speed that they get in their day-to-day life.

Being able to deliver such a service requires always having sufficient liquidity where it needs to be, which can require the blending together of different payment solutions. But putting real-time payments in place can be worth the effort, as a securities trading company that can quicky provide cash to its clients will stand out from competitors that cannot.

“Providing a highly adaptable treasury management system is a key responsibility of a treasurer’s service provider,” said Ms. Bohne-Gill. “At HSBC, we work hard to deliver a tech-driven treasury toolkit that can expand in functionality as the market requires, enabling the treasurer to have an impact that is felt across the business.”

In the face of today’s global uncertainty, treasurers need a robust defence strategy and adequate liquidity as a buffer in case of black swan events. But there are also unique opportunities that can be taken advantage of if there are the right tools and analytics in place to make informed decisions and act swiftly.

Contact HSBC to discover more about how we can help you build an effective treasury toolkit.