Rising interest rates. Regulatory and legislative changes. Geopolitical risk. In today’s ever-changing business environment, these factors are on the minds of treasury and finance professionals. Lucky for you, the Capital Markets and Investments track at AFP 2018 boasts an array of sessions that will help you navigate this complex new paradigm.

Clearly, interest rates are top of mind this year, given that the Federal Reserve has already raised rates this year and signaled that more increases are coming. This year's agenda addresses financial professionals’ concerns, with sessions on how rising rates could lead to unrealized losses on fixed income investments, tips on refinancing credit facilities amid changing rates, and strategies for constructing diversified corporate cash portfolios in a rising rate environment.

Brad Larson, CTP, Principal, ReCa Treasury Services and a member of the AFP 2018 Planning Task Force, help put together the Capital Markets and Investments track. He noted that the changes that are expected in interest rates could dramatically impact treasury and finance professionals’ jobs. Whether that impact is positive or negative depends on how prepared those practitioners are.

“We’re in period now that if we don't stay on top of these things and then get out in front of them, we’re not going to look great,” Larson said. “And I’d much rather look great than have somebody come to me and say, ‘Why didn't you think of that?’”

Regulatory and legislative shakeups are also key concerns for treasury and finance professionals today. The Capital Markets and Investments track features sessions on how factors like corporate tax cuts in the United States, EU money market fund reform and Brexit will impact cash and liquidity management and intercompany financing activities.

Larson noted that attending AFP 2018 should help financial professionals gain new insights that will help them avoid being caught off guard in this changing environment. “The AFP conference is a way to learn what other people are experiencing; they experience things sometimes before I do, and I can get out ahead of the ball,” he said.

See the full list of sessions on the Capital Markets and Investments track here. Register for AFP 2018 here.