Ward: I actually think it might be more unique given my background to talk about a Strategic Finance moment that related to a position I was in when I was in, in actually Investment Management, which relates to those scenarios I was talking about. So while I was working in mass, Mutual’s Investment Management subsidiary, now called bearings, I was asked by our MassMutual CEO at the time, just as the very beginning of the financial crisis, if I would think about and lead whatever group I wanted to put together an A study of adverse scenarios that would help us to learn and be better prepared to manage through any of a number of different scenarios that might affect MassMutual, more so than than another company, so that again, we’d be better prepared. And he said, Don’t come back in a couple of weeks. So I want you to really kind of dig into this adverse scenario analysis. I loved the project, I loved having the freedom to define the scenarios, to define who was working on it. And to be free to look at these scenarios, not just for asset management and the asset portfolio, but to look at it for MassMutual as a whole.
Read MoreSo indeed, what I did was go out and work with the risk management department, the investment management department, the actuarial department, the finance department, and looked at what sort of risks we saw how we would go about modeling them, and then looked at how they would affect MassMutual. But then I also needed to bring it needed to bring in the competitor angle to and how it would how we thought we would compare such that we then what, what would we do next, what was the recommendation about what we needed to do next to better protect ourselves. And indeed, what I what I looked at were concentrations in some parts of our asset portfolio concentrations in our insurance, product and protection portfolio, as well as potential external factors and what that that would do. It was great fun. I also showed what the accounting impact would be because I was working with with finance, I then presented this information and after four months of work on it with the team presented it to senior management. And they had said, this is exactly the kind of analysis we want to see. And as a result of that, I did more of that when I was in risk management. But I’ve done more of that. And I brought it more of that analysis, the data driven analysis we were talking about to finance, because while in risk, you’re very much focusing on these tail risks. In corporate finance, I believe it’s very important to look at, where do you think the company is going around the baseline scenario? So don’t don’t look for the crazy tail risks, focus on what are the different things that can happen now. And as a result of doing that scenario analysis and showing how I like to do it, as well as how I thought it should and could be done. We do that regularly and have done it. For example, in the COVID crisis. What might happen if this is a pandemic, like, like 98 team, what happens? What else might it costs, we did some of that scenario analysis at the beginning of COVID. And I would argue that we were better prepared because of some of the work I’ve done in my past, bringing that finance moment into into now.
CFO GUEST: Betsy Ward of MassMutual
MADE POSSIBLE BY VERSAPAY The first Collaborative Accounts Receivable Network. Our AR automation solutions and next-generation B2B payments network make billing and payments easier for enterprises, increasing efficiencies, accelerating cash flow, and dramatically improving the customer experience. Based in Toronto with offices in Atlanta, Cleveland, Baltimore, LA, and Las Vegas, Versapay is owned by Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based technology investment firm. Visit us www.versapay.com