Survey says treasury climate calmer, but still challenging.

• Author: Carmody, Daniel J.
• Position: Treasury - Survey

Corporate treasurers are enjoying the fruits of a relatively calm but still difficult treasury management environment. This is one of the conclusions of TreaSo-lution's Annual Treasury Survey, which surveyed more than 100 corporate practitioners nationwide. More than 80 percent of the respondents hold the title of "treasury manager" or higher and more than 61 percent of survey respondents were from organizations with greater than $1 billion in annual revenue.

Survey results are separated into five main categories: The Financial Crisis, Bank Relationship Management, Bank Fee Management, Treasury Technology and Treasury Staffing.

The Financial Crisis

Overall, treasury practitioners are optimistic about the economy, job security, annual compensation and the strategic value of their treasury department. Regarding the overall economy, more than 64 percent indicated that this year will be either "moderately" or "much better" than 2009.

A a time of approximately 10 percent unemployment nationwide, treasury practitioners have high (41 percent) job security and more than 61 percent expect their annual compensation to increase up to 5 percent.

Though they express optimism about the economy and their jobs, their day-today responsibilities are becoming more difficult, the survey found. Overall, treasury practitioners indicated that every job function has become more difficult since the beginning of the financial crisis.

Among the responsibilities that increased the most in difficultly during this period are bank relationships, financial risk, debt and investment management.

Most notably, treasury practitioners say they are being seen as a strategic resources for C-Level executives. In fact, since the beginning of the financial crisis, nearly 80 percent of the survey respondents said their treasury department's strategic value has increased.

Bank Relationship/and Bank Fee Management

Three banks dominate the cash management environment in the United States, with two-thirds of survey respondents indicating that Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase Corp. and Wells Far-go/Wachovia Co. provide their main cash management banking services.

Analyzed by revenue sub-categorization, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have a large market share of the sub-$ 1 -billion revenue range. Between $1 billion and $5 billion, Wells Fargo/ Wachovia has the largest market share (34 percent). Finally, for those over $5 billion, both Bank of America (39 percent) and JPMorgan...