Wednesday, 15 September evening saw nearly 20 CFOs and high level finance professionals attend Azure Group’s CFO Networking evening held in conjunction with the Institute of Chartered Accountants at their office on Erskine Street in Sydney’s CBD.
The topic of the event was debt raising and the interest rate outlook in today’s market and the event featured two highly esteemed speakers, Grant Turley from ANZ and John Munton from Corrs Chambers Westgarth Lawyers.
First up was Grant Turley, a senior foreign exchange strategist from ANZ Bank. Grant spoke on the interest rate outlook for the Australian market in relation to the rest of the world and key indicators and forecasts for the coming 12 months. Grant’s presentation can be viewed below.
Following Grant was John Munton [i], a partner at one the country’s top law firms, Corrs Chambers Westgarth. John spoke about debt financing options and terms which included types and general characteristics of various debt facilities, characteristics of various debt arrangements, repayment and also mandatory and voluntary prepayments.
Initiated by Azure Group, the purpose of the CFO Network events is to provide CFOs working with small and medium sized enterprises the opportunity to network with fellow colleagues and draw on each other’s knowledge and expertise.
Being a CFO of a SME brings its own set of challenges. More often than not they operate independently with limited interaction with other CFOs and at times they lack the opportunity to access ideas, feedback and advice from their peers.
In 2011 we’ve got some exciting plans for the CFO Network, including more networking evenings with some great topics, round table discussion groups and also some online avenues, all with the idea of bringing together CFOs and finance professionals to share ideas and experiences.
Once more we’d like to express our appreciation to the Institute of Chartered Accountants for their support and cooperation in bringing the CFO Network to life.
[i] John Munton has practised as a solicitor for over 30 years and has experience largely in banking and finance. John has extensive knowledge and experience in the areas of banking, finance and securitisation. He has assisted clients in major capital market transactions and securitisation programs both in Australia and internationally.
He presents lectures on securitisation at the University of New South Wales and on general banking and finance for the UNSW Continuing Legal Education Series. He is a member of the Banking and Financial Services Law Association, the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association, the Australian Securitisation Forum and holds consultative membership of the Australia Financial Markets Association.
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