Strategic Finance Lab

NeuGroup
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Business

Enter a lab where innovation and digital transformation empower senior finance executives to become true strategic partners of the business. NeuGroup’s Strategic Finance Lab delivers thought leadership through conversations with finance executives at leading companies and finance industry experts. Hear how practitioners are advancing finance’s transformation into a strategic partner to the business and driver of enterprise performance by providing data-driven insight to support decision-making. Our vision: to promote a free-flowing knowledge exchange and be a source of innovative solutions.

  1. Jul 29

    The Convertible Bond Boom: An Expert Looks Under the Hood

    The race to fund AI has corporations raising capital across every market available to them, and a growing number are turning to the convertible bond. Issuance of convertibles set a record in 2025 and is running faster still this year, as companies weigh the lower coupons they offer against a potential obstacle: because investors can convert the bonds into stock at a preset price, a rising share price can dilute existing shareholders. In this sponsored episode of NeuGroup's Strategic Finance Lab podcast , peer group leader Andrew Weber speaks with Raj Imteaz, head of convertible and equity derivative advisory at ICR Capital, to break down what's fueling the surge, how a treasury team can tell whether a convertible fits its balance sheet, and how to handle what can be a complex execution process. Much of what's driving the boom, Mr. Imteaz says, is the enormous capital that high-performance computing and AI (HPC-AI) build-outs demand, pulling a widening set of issuers into a market long dominated by high-growth and tech names. Against straight debt or equity, the pitch is straightforward: a far lower coupon than regular bonds, and much less dilution than an equity raise. But Mr. Imteaz is clear that a convertible is just a tool in the toolkit, not necessarily fit for every balance sheet. He unravels the intricacies of the capped call, also known as a call spread, an overlay companies buy to push out the point at which a rising stock creates new shares—essentially, an insurance policy to mitigate stock dilution.

  2. Jul 8

    How an Auditor-Turned-Treasurer Creates Value From the Ground Up

    Lam Research treasurer Adam King discusses the company’s global expansion, AI and the lessons from audit that continue to shape his approach to treasury. Treasury leaders often talk about becoming a strategic partner to the business. Mr. King believes the path there is more straightforward than many may realize: focus first on operations, efficiency and controls. In the latest episode of the Strategic Finance Lab podcast, Mr. King explains to NeuGroup's Justin Jones how his experience in controllership and internal audit shaped that philosophy and why day-to-day excellence builds the credibility needed to influence broader business decisions. "If we can build efficiencies internally, the team has more time to go off, sit down with business partners and get ahead of things,” he says in the podcast. “By doing that and getting in front of things, it's going to alleviate a ton of work for our team.” He explores how Lam's treasury team supports the company's global expansion by getting involved early in new projects, helping business partners anticipate banking, KYC, tax and cash management requirements before they become bottlenecks. In one example, Mr. King shares how that rapid growth created an unexpected credit-limit challenge—and how his team got ahead of it. The episode also examines how Lam is approaching AI in treasury, from developing specialized agents for insurance and letters of credit to encouraging treasury professionals and systems experts to collaborate in redesigning long-standing processes. Throughout the discussion, Mr. King returns to a simple idea: treasury earns a strategic seat at the table not by pursuing strategy for its own sake, but by consistently helping the business execute more effectively.

  3. Jun 3

    AI Boom, Geopolitical Risk: Navigating Debt Market Crosscurrents

    Investment-grade debt issuance fueled by hyperscalers continues at a record pace, and a new wave of AI-related IPOs—including filings and preparations by Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX—is cause for cautious optimism among investors and corporates. Despite persistent market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, strong investor demand is creating opportunities for companies both within and beyond the AI ecosystem, according to Sidney Dillard, partner and head of corporate investment banking at Loop Capital. In the latest episode of NeuGroup's Strategic Finance Lab podcast available on Apple and Spotify, she discusses with NeuGroup's Justin Jones why investment-grade debt markets remain resilient, how private capital is changing the IPO equation and what treasury teams should be doing now to stay prepared. In the podcast, Ms. Dillard discusses: The strong pace of investment-grade debt issuance, supported by healthy demand and financing needs tied to AI infrastructure, M&A and refinancing activity.Why hyperscaler debt issuance is not necessarily crowding out other issuers.The opportunity provided by private capital, allowing many firms to stay private longer while still accessing growth capital and liquidity.How treasury teams should think about timing market access amid geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility.Loop Capital's approach to helping clients manage both financing and investment needs.

  4. May 6

    A Treasury Tech Leader on Where AI Can Add Value Today

    Treasury teams are being asked to move quickly to digitalize, with AI only adding to the pace as the number of tools, use cases and ideas keeps expanding. The challenge for many NeuGroup members is figuring out where to start and what will actually make a difference. In this episode, Dan Morrison, Global Treasury Digital and Performance Manager at SLB, formerly Schlumberger, joins NeuGroup's Justin Jones to discuss how treasury teams can make AI useful without getting overwhelmed. For Mr. Morrison, the future of treasury starts with consolidating information in tools like SAP Central Finance, a system that consolidates financial data from multiple enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems into a single platform. From there, the focus shifts to how the data is used. Across SLB, teams have built dashboards in Microsoft’s Power BI, often referred to internally as PBIs, to visualize cash positions, exposures and other key metrics. Some are highly effective, but they are not always consistent across regions. Part of his role is identifying what works, standardizing it and scaling it, so treasury teams are working from the same data and definitions. As more processes become automated, Mr. Morrison emphasizes the need for clear ownership. That includes using frameworks like RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted and informed) to define who owns data, who validates it and how issues are escalated. Structure becomes more important as AI is layered in. If the data is inconsistent or ownership is unclear, the tools will only amplify the problem. Listen to the full episode for Mr. Morrison’s insights on how AI is reshaping treasury, where to focus now and how teams can keep pace.

  5. Jan 14

    Treasury Should Expect and Embrace Change, Not Just React to It

    Moody’s Corp. Chief Treasury Officer Deepali Chawla joins NeuGroup’s Justin Jones on the Strategic Finance Lab to share how agility, curiosity and a willingness to pivot have shaped her career—and helped drive an award-winning AI transformation in treasury. Early in her career, Ms. Chawla found herself navigating both a new country and a different job in corporate finance. The experience shaped her approach to change: stay agile, stay curious and stay prepared to pivot. It’s a mindset she’s carried into senior roles across companies and continents, and one she brings today. In this episode, Ms. Chawla explains how the adaptability she honed early in her career shapes her leadership—which helped power her team to win the 2025 Treasury Management International award for Best AI Automation. “I think the two things which have got me here were my agility and the quick adaptability approach and mindset,” she says. “That shift, in terms of going with the flow, I think will still take me where I want to go in the future.”

  6. 11/05/2025

    Private Credit Goes Mainstream for Investment-Grade Corporates

    Private credit’s rapid rise is reshaping corporate finance. Once a tool for middle-market borrowers, it’s now a mainstream funding option for investment-grade companies seeking customized, long-term capital solutions. That shift—and what it means for treasury—is the focus of our newest episode, featuring Apollo Global Management COO of Global Origination Adam Kostrinsky. Mr. Kostrinsky tells NeuGroup’s Justin Jones that many corporates are turning to Apollo for large-scale, long-duration projects—from energy transition to data centers—because the firm can “really be a long-term partner, offering differentiated financing solutions" that extend beyond the typical time horizons available in public markets.

  7. 10/01/2025

    For Treasury4, the AI-Driven Future of Finance Starts With Data

    Artificial intelligence is everywhere in finance conversations, including at NeuGroup meetings, where members are eager to understand how the technology will shape treasury. But as Ed Barrie and Randy DeVita of Treasury4 explain to NeuGroup’s Justin Jones in this episode of the Strategic Finance Lab podcast, AI is only as good as the data behind it. Mr. Barrie, Treasury4’s co-founder and chief product officer, and Mr. DeVita, its vice president of customer success, describe how the company’s cloud-based analytics platform helps corporates transform fragmented information into structured insights that improve forecasting, reporting and reconciliation. They outline how years of banking history can be rapidly onboarded, defined and organized, creating the foundation for AI and machine learning to deliver meaningful forecasts and new visibility for treasury teams. Both emphasize that adopting AI in treasury is a journey, not a flip of a switch. With the right structure, data moves from scattered puzzle pieces to a clear picture that allows corporates to connect transactions, spot exceptions and generate insights that support better decision-making.

  8. 09/03/2025

    A Fintech Aiming to Make Investing Cash in Repos Easier

    TreasurySpring CEO Kevin Cook joins NeuGroup Insights editor Antony Michels on the Strategic Finance Lab to discuss how his fintech is reshaping cash investing through its innovative fixed-term funds (FTFs). Born from lessons learned in the 2008 financial crisis, TreasurySpring’s platform offers institutional investors safety, diversification and simplified access to repo markets and other high-quality cash investment options. Mr. Cook explains how FTFs work, why they remove “run risk,” and how TreasurySpring has already issued more than $250 billion across 700 clients in 28 countries. He also makes the case for why corporates should consider repo as a lower-risk alternative to unsecured deposits—and how TreasurySpring reduces the barriers to entry from years to minutes. Listen to learn how technology and a new investment vehicle are giving treasury teams more options when investing corporate cash.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Enter a lab where innovation and digital transformation empower senior finance executives to become true strategic partners of the business. NeuGroup’s Strategic Finance Lab delivers thought leadership through conversations with finance executives at leading companies and finance industry experts. Hear how practitioners are advancing finance’s transformation into a strategic partner to the business and driver of enterprise performance by providing data-driven insight to support decision-making. Our vision: to promote a free-flowing knowledge exchange and be a source of innovative solutions.

Information

  • Creator
    NeuGroup
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    47
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © NeuGroup
  • Show Website
    Strategic Finance Lab

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