My Life in Treasury
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My Life in Treasury: Lionel Jouve, Printemps


L
ionel Jouve, Head of Treasury and Financing, Printemps had an epiphany in 2001 after 9/11 and the Enron scandal. He realised he wanted to ‘hedge the business of a company rather than earn money by speculating’. As a result, he constantly strives to step outside his comfort zone and admits he has been motivated by curiosity throughout his career.

How did you come into treasury and what attracted you to the profession?

Like the myth that cats have nine lives, I had the great chance to live several lives before treasury. Throughout my student years I always wanted to be a trader. During my university course, I created several trusts to learn the equity market with friends. I was fascinated by the financial market, its creativity and the way it responds to corporates’, banks’ and investors’ needs. I was young and probably far too immersed in the economic theories, though!

I was a foreign exchange trader for seven years with a trading company – seven incredibly interesting years. I even gained a little experience in bandwidth trading just a few days before 9/11 and the Enron scandal.    

After those two events, I had an epiphany. What I loved the most about my job was to hedge the business of the company rather than earning money by speculating.