Stubbornly low short-term interest rates have encouraged some corporate treasurers to reach for more yield by moving to longer-term investments or those with slightly lower credit quality. But the prevailing mode still seems to be caution, according to bankers and investment managers, with treasury teams putting a premium on safety rather than yield.

To the extent that companies have invested farther out the curve, they're likely to unwind those investments before short-term rates begin to rise.

The extent of the caution among corporate treasuries is evident in the Association for Financial Professionals' 2013 Liquidity Survey, released in July, which showed 50% of companies' cash is in bank deposits, up from 25% in 2008.

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Susan Kelly

Susan Kelly is a business journalist who has written for Treasury & Risk, FierceCFO, Global Finance, Financial Week, Bridge News and The Bond Buyer.

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