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click on questions below to view answersMoney Funds
Question: Can someone provide info on any SEC proposals on money fund reform?
Answer: Sure, this might help: In June 2013, the SEC came out with three proposals:
1) floating NAV on institutional prime money and municipal funds
2) redemption gates and fees for institutional prime and municipal money funds pending on a fund’s 7 day liquidity %
3) combination of both proposals on institutional prime and municipal money funds The SEC has left out of this proposal the government, treasury and treasury only funds. You might check the SEC official website: www.sec.gov
1) floating NAV on institutional prime money and municipal funds
2) redemption gates and fees for institutional prime and municipal money funds pending on a fund’s 7 day liquidity %
3) combination of both proposals on institutional prime and municipal money funds The SEC has left out of this proposal the government, treasury and treasury only funds. You might check the SEC official website: www.sec.gov
Question: How will it affect me as an investor in institutional prime funds?
Answer: Among the many things to consider, the first would be whether your money fund accounting system can handle a fluctuating money market NAV and also whether your investment policy includes investments with fluctuating NAV?
Investment Policy
Question: I am about to begin to update our company’s investment policy guidelines which has not been updated in several years. Can someone provide advice on best practices in executing an updated conservative yet somewhat flexible investment policy?
Answer: I have recently accessed the AFP website which has a great resource on investment policies so you might start there. www.afponline.org
Bank Relationships
Question: We are considering changing our operating bank. Where would I find guidance in creating an RFP for all our operating services? We use 3 banks today.
Answer: If you are a member of the Association for Financial Professionals, you can access RFP Resource Center, www.afponline.org/pub/res/brm/rfp/rfp.html for free to get standard RFPs or pay for them if you are not a member. Also, you can check out the consulting firm websites listed here on New England AFP site as several of them could create a customized RFP to ensure you request a response that will exactly meet your treasury’s specific banking needs. Hope this helps.
Question: I am trying to understand the impact of the increased capital requirements on banks as outlined in the Basel III and the impact on my banks and wonder if anyone has a good resource for me to access?
Answer: The AFP website has a search capability where you can enter “basel” and a great amount of information is available there which I have found to be very helpful. There is a lot there, and very up to date, so you have to pick and chose what specifically you want.
Other
Question: I have just hired two recent graduates to join my treasury team as analysts and was wondering if you can recommend any training specifically in treasury management?
Answer: You should check out the Fundamentals course offered by New England AFP which is a one day class held in the Boston area where basics of several topics are covered by experts and practitioners from companies in the region. The cost is very reasonable. There is also an Intermediate course now being offered where those with more experience can come to learn about more advanced subjects. Check out the calendar on this website for dates.
Question: I want to get more involved in the industry but cannot commit a lot of volunteer time yet. Are there any opportunities to get involved without a big time commitment?
Answer: The New England AFP has many opportunities for volunteering on committees such as the membership committee, or you can be a speaker at any of the educational sessions or conferences that are held bi-monthly or annually. You can also volunteer to introduce sessions at the annual conference where you can increase your contacts in the industry while sitting in sessions that you are interested in.