Sunshine brought Van Bui, the treasurer at Genentech, to South San Francisco from the Windy City, but the challenging treasury work keeps this former actuary motivated. Bui, 37, joined biotech company Genentech in 2000 in computer systems support. A chance meeting with the company's then-treasurer, Thomas Thomas, who was impressed with her actuarial background, shifted her career path.

“Treasury was so exciting,” she says. “It brought in the financial aspects of an actuary, but it's a different spin on finance. I was really intrigued by it. The learning curve is almost addictive for me, and it was huge learning curve.”

Bui's first role in Genentech's treasury was as a portfolio manager for a $10 billion fixed-income short duration portfolio. When Roche Holding bought Genentech for $46.8 billion two years ago, Bui led the treasury integration, including cash pooling, foreign exchange and investments.