CPA Member: Sean Grace

Title: Group Treasurer
Company: Securitas
Qualifications: Leaving Certificate, MSc in Investment and Treasury (1st class hons), CPA Qualification

 

Route to CPA Qualification

I had a poor Leaving Cert and no primary degree and really struggled to gain promotion.  The ESB sponsored my CPA studies and I am very grateful to them for the encouragement and support.  And I really enjoyed the learning experience.  Passing the CPA (and achieving first place!) had an immediate dramatic effect and within a year or two I was promoted several times and catapulted into the corporate treasury space which changed my life. 
 

 

A day in the life 

Securitas is a leading provider of security services around the world, with 350,000 personnel in 45 markets.  I lead the Group Treasury Centre in Dublin where we manage all the treasury activities of the Group.  The Corporate Treasurer’s role is wide ranging and every day is different - from devising policy and strategy to issuing debt to managing daily treasury operations.  We are a small team of 9 people located in a standalone office in Dublin’s IFSC.

Early morning – email catch-up and chats with the front and back office teams.  Check market news, how are our bonds trading, our share price etc.   
Review the risk reports.  These are daily reports produced by our accounting team.   It is a suite of reports covering all the operations from the day before.  It identifies any issues relating to bank reconciliations, unhedged FX positions, settlements, breaches of limits, potential sanctions hits by one of our counterparties etc., allowing us to take corrective action if necessary.

Mid-morning – internal meetings to include monthly finance net review, funding meetings, systems review meetings.  Modern communications have made virtual meetings the norm rather than the exception, dramatically improving productivity and efficiency and cutting down on unnecessary travel time.   Regarding the finance net review, our interest budget is significant and has grown dramatically given our recent large acquisition and rising interest rates.  Careful management and monitoring is more critical now than ever.  For many years we have been spoiled with low interest rates and that has all changed. 

Lunch meeting with visiting bank.  We have 11 core international relationship banks who provide us with all our banking needs.  Managing the Group’s bank relationships is an important aspect of the job.  We review the bank relationship for the past year and explore areas we can work together on funding, risk management, cash management, credit cards.

Afternoon – Prepare for captive insurance board meeting.  As this is a regulated entity there is a strong emphasis on reporting, corporate governance and prudence.  I act as Chairman of the Company.

Prepare for quarterly review of Treasury with our CEO and CFO.  This is a comprehensive one hour review of all treasury highlights during the previous quarter.  Also a forum to discuss high level funding strategy and approvals required from Board etc.
Prepare the logistics around our next bond issue.  We are active in the Eurobond and Swedish bond markets.
 
 

Fun fact 

 I have 5 grandchildren under 4 years of age and I travel to work on my  Harley Davidson motorbike! 

Advice for someone considering the CPA Qualification

I would not hesitate.  Attend physical lectures whenever possible as collaboration and personal contact is very important.  It also allows you to benchmark yourself against your peers.