Active Balance Sheet Management (ABSM) - a Treasury Perspective is the outcome of the experiential learning of the author as an asset liability management (ALM) professional in the dealing room during the Lehman crisis (aka global financial crisis) when the "too big to fail" theories went for a tailspin due to liquidity crunch in money markets. While the boiler room environment as a dealer gave a pragmatic perspective on the financial crisis and day-to-day operational challenges of funding the balance sheet and quoting interbank (LIBOR, EIBOR, MIBOR, etc.) rates, the author realized the bigger challenges in orchestrating the holistic balance sheet management framework as head of ALM in a bank treasury. While governing the ALCO and being a credit committee member, the author implemented the stress testing and contingency planning exercises along with experiencing the importance of the mantle of leadership in large organizations, which typically fails to ask the tough questions. The purpose of the book is the transfer of these ABSM best practices to nonfinancial sector finance managers, business and management academic programs, and management consultants wanting a bird's-eye view of the technical and tactical aspects of balance sheet management. This book will give a holistic framework and market-driven perspective on actively governing the balance sheet of a company using different diagnostic and execution frameworks. The ultimate message of the book is to drive home the point that leadership and management caliber ultimately weighs on the ABSM technical framework and envisioning without executing is hallucinating.
