Make Every Basis Point Count: Building a Reliable & Resilient 2026 Cash Strategy

Key Takeaways

• Treasurers today are navigating a complex cash landscape shaped by ongoing rate uncertainty, evolving tax regulations, and pressure to optimize yield without compromising safety or liquidity.

• After-tax returns, operational feasibility, and risk exposures all play a role in determining the right strategy.

• Finance leaders are sharpening their focus on budgeting, using it as the foundation for cash strategy. Expense visibility and predictability are critical, especially in uncertain environments.

• Investors are prioritizing cash vehicles that offer immediate liquidity. Instruments with redemption constraints or exit friction are less attractive, even if they offer tax advantages. For example, municipal bonds, while offering attractive tax-exempt income, often lack the same level of liquidity as T-bills.

• U.S. Treasury bills provide a particularly attractive after-tax return for foreign investors, as the income is generally exempt from U.S. withholding tax. 

• Direct investments in T-bills may offer better tax efficiency for certain institutions compared to investing through Treasury Money Market Funds (MMFs). With MMFs, the investor is a shareholder of the fund and may not receive the same state tax exemptions that a direct holder of the underlying securities would, depending on their jurisdiction and tax profile.

Why This Matters

As of September 2025, when this webinar aired, the Fed is facing renewed pressure to cut interest rates, and many treasury teams are reevaluating where and how they allocate cash to balance safety, liquidity, and yield. In this environment, understanding the after-tax impact of different instruments is essential. With budgets tightening and scrutiny increasing, every basis point counts, and the right tax strategy can materially improve returns without increasing risk.

Watch the Webinar

Speakers

Rachel Green - Senior Sales Executive, Jiko

Driven by a passion for empowering treasurers, Rachel is dedicated to helping businesses unlock safe strategies for optimizing corporate cash. With experience across financial advising, asset management, and fintech, she brings practical insight into secure, yield-focused investments, especially in today's volatile markets. Rachel is on a mission to make treasury a strategic force alongside the CFO and a true guardian of liquidity and value.

Lenny Gravier - Managing Director, HLB Global

Lenny Gravier is currently Managing Director of HLB Global and is based in Miami and Denver. Lenny is the head of International Tax and is an Adjunct Professor for the Graduate School at the University of Miami. He has been a speaker at Endeavor, Brookings Institute, and Special Policy Advisor for the US Treasury in Washington, D.C. His work experience in International Tax and Policy began in 1985 for Arthur Andersen, LLP.