Investment Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Treasury Managers, Investment Analysts and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-TI-008

Before you join: Participants should understand financial statements, basic time value of money, interest calculations and common business finance terms.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Investment decisions must convert a client or institution’s objectives, liabilities, risk limits and liquidity needs into a portfolio that can be explained, monitored and governed. Treasury teams, pension funds, insurers, endowments, family offices and corporate investment functions face difficult trade-offs between return targets, capital preservation, duration risk, credit exposure, market volatility and cash requirements. Weak policy design or poorly documented decisions can produce unsuitable portfolios, unexpected losses and challenge from boards, auditors or regulators.

This course develops the practical investment management skills needed to construct and manage multi-asset portfolios. Participants examine investment policy statements, capital market assumptions, strategic and tactical asset allocation, equity and fixed-income analysis, collective investments, alternatives, derivatives, portfolio risk, performance measurement and manager selection. They apply Modern Portfolio Theory, CAPM, Black-Litterman allocation methods and GIPS principles to realistic institutional investment decisions.

Teaching combines short technical briefings with worked calculations, portfolio cases, group discussions, investment committee simulations and structured review of participant decisions. Participants progressively build an institutional portfolio file from the first week, adding policy constraints, asset-allocation choices, security analysis, risk controls, performance reporting and governance documentation. They leave with a reusable investment policy statement template, asset-allocation model, due-diligence checklist and investment committee reporting pack.

The course suits finance professionals who contribute to treasury investments, pension assets, reserve portfolios, endowment funds, insurance assets or client portfolios. It is particularly useful for professionals moving from accounting, treasury, banking operations or financial analysis into investment roles requiring defensible recommendations and disciplined portfolio oversight.

What you will be able to do

  • Draft an investment policy statement specifying objectives, constraints, governance and rebalancing rules
  • Construct strategic asset allocations using return assumptions, correlations and portfolio optimisation outputs
  • Evaluate equities using financial statement analysis, valuation multiples and discounted cash flow methods
  • Analyse bond prices, yields, duration, convexity, credit spreads and interest-rate scenarios
  • Compare collective investment vehicles, alternatives and derivatives against portfolio objectives and limits
  • Measure portfolio risk using volatility, beta, Value at Risk and stress-testing scenarios
  • Calculate and interpret time-weighted returns, money-weighted returns and risk-adjusted performance measures
  • Present a complete investment recommendation with governance, monitoring and implementation controls

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce defensible investment recommendations for committees, clients and senior finance leaders
  • Interpret portfolio risk reports beyond headline return figures
  • Assess fund managers and investment products using consistent due diligence criteria
  • Build confidence discussing duration, valuation, diversification and performance attribution
  • Create an investment portfolio file suitable for workplace adaptation

For your organisation

  • Improves documentation of investment objectives, limits, authorities and review responsibilities
  • Reduces unsuitable concentration, liquidity and interest-rate exposures in investment portfolios
  • Strengthens challenge of external managers, fund proposals and product recommendations
  • Produces clearer investment committee reporting on returns, risks and mandate compliance
  • Supports more disciplined allocation of reserves, pension assets and long-term funds

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can define investment mandates, decision rights and governance controls for an institutional portfolio.

  • Investment objectives linked to liabilities, spending needs and capital preservation
  • Governance structures for boards, investment committees, advisers and delegated managers
  • Fiduciary duties, prudent-person principles and documented decision-making responsibilities
  • Segregation of duties across dealing, custody, valuation and portfolio oversight
  • Mandate breaches, escalation routes and corrective-action documentation requirements
  • Investment governance calendar covering reviews, reporting, rebalancing and manager meetings

Participants can draft an investment policy statement with measurable objectives and operating constraints.

  • Investment policy statement sections, approval authorities and annual review triggers
  • Return objectives expressed as nominal, real or liability-relative targets
  • Liquidity constraints derived from forecast cash outflows and contingency reserves
  • Time horizon definitions for operating cash, reserves and perpetual capital
  • Permitted instruments, prohibited exposures and delegated authority limits
  • Rebalancing bands, benchmark choices and exception approval procedures

Participants can form and challenge capital market assumptions used in portfolio planning.

  • Macroeconomic indicators affecting inflation, growth, policy rates and risk premia
  • Business-cycle analysis connecting economic conditions to asset-class return expectations
  • Inflation assumptions separated into expected, unexpected and regime-change components
  • Yield curve signals interpreted for growth, recession and monetary-policy expectations
  • Currency considerations for domestic investors holding foreign assets and liabilities
  • Capital market assumptions documented with sources, ranges and review dates

Participants can quantify basic portfolio risk-return relationships and diversification effects.

  • Arithmetic and geometric returns calculated from periodic portfolio valuation data
  • Standard deviation used to measure dispersion around expected investment returns
  • Correlation matrices interpreted for diversification benefits and concentration concerns
  • Systematic and idiosyncratic risk distinguished within portfolio holdings
  • Modern Portfolio Theory efficient frontier constructed from expected returns and covariances
  • Risk tolerance aligned with loss capacity, liquidity needs and governance limits

Participants can build strategic asset allocations consistent with policy objectives and constraints.

  • Strategic allocation sets long-term weights across cash, bonds, equities and alternatives
  • Mean-variance optimisation tested against practical constraints and estimation error
  • Black-Litterman model combines market equilibrium returns with documented investment views
  • Asset-class ranges established for growth, income, liquidity and capital protection
  • Liability-aware allocation considers duration, inflation sensitivity and funding requirements
  • Scenario comparisons test allocation resilience under adverse market conditions

Participants can recommend tactical positioning and rebalancing actions within mandate limits.

  • Tactical allocation distinguishes temporary market views from strategic policy weights
  • Valuation signals include earnings yields, credit spreads and real yields
  • Momentum indicators assessed alongside valuation and macroeconomic evidence
  • Rebalancing triggers based on tolerance bands, cash flows and market movements
  • Transaction costs, taxes and market liquidity considered before allocation changes
  • Trade rationales recorded for committee approval and post-decision review

Participants can assess equity investments using business, financial and market evidence.

  • Equity return drivers include earnings growth, dividends, valuation and sentiment
  • Industry analysis examines competition, pricing power, regulation and cyclicality
  • Financial statements reviewed for revenue quality, margins, leverage and cash conversion
  • Common-size analysis identifies trends within income statements and balance sheets
  • Management quality assessed through capital allocation, incentives and governance practices
  • Equity research notes distinguish facts, assumptions, risks and investment conclusions

Participants can value equities using multiples, dividend models and discounted cash flows.

  • Price-earnings multiples adjusted for growth, margins, risk and accounting quality
  • Enterprise-value multiples compare firms with different capital structures
  • Dividend discount models applied to stable dividend-paying companies
  • Discounted cash flow valuation built from operating forecasts and terminal value
  • CAPM estimates required return using beta, risk-free rate and market premium
  • Sensitivity tables test valuation exposure to growth, margins and discount rates

Participants can analyse bond cash flows, yield measures and curve-related market risks.

  • Bond cash flows identified for fixed, floating, zero-coupon and inflation-linked securities
  • Clean price, dirty price and accrued interest calculated between coupon dates
  • Yield to maturity compared with current yield and holding-period return
  • Spot rates and forward rates extracted from the government yield curve
  • Yield curve shapes interpreted for expected rates and economic conditions
  • Government, corporate and supranational bonds compared by issuer risk

Participants can assess interest-rate and credit risk within bond portfolios.

  • Modified duration estimates bond price sensitivity to parallel yield changes
  • Convexity improves price estimates for larger interest-rate movements
  • Key rate duration identifies exposure at specific yield-curve maturities
  • Credit spreads separated into default, liquidity and risk-premium components
  • Issuer credit analysis reviews cash flow, debt service and covenant protection
  • Bond portfolio duration matched against liabilities, benchmarks and rate views

Participants can structure short-term investment portfolios around cash requirements and capital security.

  • Treasury bills, commercial paper and certificates of deposit compared
  • Money market fund structures, fees, liquidity terms and credit exposure
  • Laddered maturity schedules align investments with forecast operating cash needs
  • Counterparty limits set using ratings, exposure aggregation and approved lists
  • Liquidity stress scenarios model delayed receipts, margin calls and emergency spending
  • Settlement conventions, cut-off times and custody instructions reduce operational risk

Participants can evaluate mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and pooled mandates.

  • Open-ended funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-ended vehicles compared
  • Fund prospectuses reviewed for objectives, fees, dealing terms and restrictions
  • Tracking error distinguishes benchmark replication from active management
  • Active share interpreted alongside concentration, turnover and style exposure
  • Manager due diligence covers people, process, philosophy, performance and risk
  • Fee schedules assessed using management fees, expenses and performance fees

Participants can assess alternative investments for return sources, liquidity and governance demands.

  • Private equity structures assessed for capital calls, distributions and valuation timing
  • Real estate returns separated into income, appreciation, leverage and illiquidity
  • Infrastructure investments examined for contracted revenues, regulation and inflation linkage
  • Hedge fund strategies classified by equity, macro, relative-value and event-driven approaches
  • J-curve effects modelled for private-market commitments and cash planning
  • Alternative allocation limits reflect liquidity budgets, fees and valuation uncertainty

Participants can identify appropriate derivative uses and controls within investment mandates.

  • Futures contracts used for equitisation, duration adjustment and market hedging
  • Interest-rate swaps exchange fixed and floating cash-flow exposures
  • Options payoffs analysed for protective puts, covered calls and collars
  • Forward contracts hedge foreign-currency exposures from international investments
  • Margining, collateral and counterparty exposure monitored under derivative agreements
  • Derivative policy limits define permitted purposes, approvals and reporting

Participants can measure portfolio risks and communicate scenario-based loss exposures.

  • Value at Risk estimated using historical, parametric and simulation approaches
  • Expected shortfall captures average losses beyond a selected confidence threshold
  • Beta measures portfolio sensitivity to movements in a chosen market benchmark
  • Concentration risk measured by issuer, sector, country, currency and asset class
  • Stress tests model rate shocks, equity declines, spread widening and liquidity events
  • Risk dashboards connect exposures, limits, breaches and management actions

Participants can calculate investment performance and explain its principal return drivers.

  • Time-weighted return isolates manager performance from external cash flows
  • Money-weighted return measures investor experience including contribution timing
  • Benchmark selection reflects mandate objectives, investable universe and risk profile
  • Brinson attribution separates allocation, selection and interaction return effects
  • Sharpe ratio compares excess return with total portfolio volatility
  • Information ratio relates active return to tracking error against benchmark

Participants can prepare investment reports that support oversight, comparability and informed decisions.

  • Investment committee reports present returns, risks, attribution and mandate compliance
  • GIPS principles support consistent presentation of composite performance information
  • Performance records reconciled to custodian valuations and approved accounting data
  • Benchmark changes documented with rationale, effective date and historical treatment
  • Exception reports identify breaches, root causes, remediation and owner accountability
  • Board reporting distinguishes market movement from manager decision effects

Participants can plan controlled portfolio implementation from approved recommendation to settlement.

  • Trade implementation considers market impact, liquidity, timing and execution venues
  • Best-execution evidence records quotes, broker selection and fill quality
  • Pre-trade compliance checks test mandate limits and restricted-security lists
  • Post-trade controls reconcile confirmations, settlements, positions and cash movements
  • Custody arrangements protect assets through segregation, reporting and asset verification
  • Valuation policies specify pricing sources, hierarchy and stale-price escalation

Participants can incorporate ethical conduct, suitability and responsible-investment considerations into recommendations.

  • Conflicts of interest identified across gifts, personal trading and manager relationships
  • Suitability assessments match investment recommendations to objectives and loss capacity
  • Responsible investment policies define exclusions, stewardship and material risk factors
  • Environmental, social and governance factors assessed within issuer research
  • Proxy voting records document engagement priorities, decisions and escalation
  • Ethical reporting separates verified information from forecasts and personal opinions

Participants can build, review and present a complete institutional investment portfolio recommendation with policy, allocation, risk and monitoring evidence.

  • Client mandate translated into objectives, constraints, governance and investment policy
  • Capital market assumptions selected and justified using stated economic scenarios
  • Strategic allocation constructed with expected returns, risk limits and liquidity budget
  • Security, fund and manager selections supported by documented due diligence
  • Risk report tests concentration, duration, drawdown and adverse market scenarios
  • Investment committee presentation defends implementation, monitoring and rebalancing decisions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Investment policy statement template
  2. Strategic asset-allocation model
  3. Capital market assumptions worksheet
  4. Manager due-diligence checklist
  5. Portfolio risk dashboard template
  6. Investment committee reporting pack

Who should attend

  • Treasury Managers — responsible for investing surplus cash within approved risk and liquidity limits
  • Investment Analysts — required to research securities, funds and portfolio allocation recommendations
  • Finance Managers — overseeing reserves, pension assets or long-term investment balances
  • Pension Fund Officers — supporting trustee decisions, manager oversight and funding-related investment choices
  • Private Banking Relationship Managers — discussing portfolio proposals and investment suitability with clients
  • Internal Auditors — reviewing investment controls, valuation evidence and governance records

Skills and tools covered

Investment policy designAsset allocationSecurity valuationFixed-income analysisPortfolio risk measurementPerformance attribution

Tools and standards

Modern Portfolio Theory, Capital Asset Pricing Model, Black-Litterman model, Global Investment Performance Standards

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish methods and terminology, followed by worked portfolio calculations and sector-based cases. Participants assess institutional mandates, construct allocations, review securities and funds, and discuss decisions in investment committee simulations. Group exercises test competing return, liquidity and risk priorities using changing market assumptions. Each participant develops a portfolio file through the course, with instructor feedback on policy wording, analysis, reporting and implementation planning. Live online delivery uses facilitated breakout work and shared calculation templates.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand financial statements, basic time value of money, interest calculations and common business finance terms. Experience in treasury, banking, accounting, corporate finance, pensions, insurance, financial analysis or investment operations is useful. Participants should be comfortable using spreadsheets for calculations and interpreting charts and tables. Prior portfolio management experience is not required. Detailed knowledge of derivatives pricing, econometrics, programming, securities regulation or advanced mathematics is not assumed. A financial calculator or spreadsheet application is helpful but not mandatory.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic financial statements, time value of money and common finance terminology. Prior investment management experience is helpful but not required; the course develops portfolio methods from first principles before moving into analysis and decision-making.

Bring a laptop with spreadsheet software if possible, as participants work with portfolio calculations and reusable templates. You may also bring a non-confidential investment policy, portfolio report or treasury investment question from your workplace.

It suits treasury, finance, pension, insurance, banking, investment operations and analyst professionals who contribute to investment decisions or oversight. It also suits managers responsible for reserves, endowment assets or externally managed portfolios.

Corporate finance focuses on funding, capital structure and investment appraisal, while treasury management commonly concentrates on liquidity, cash and financial risk. This course focuses on constructing, selecting, monitoring and governing investment portfolios across asset classes.

Participants can use the policy template, allocation model, risk dashboard and reporting pack to review an existing mandate or prepare a new recommendation. The methods also support stronger challenge of external fund managers and investment advisers.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The first week establishes policy, allocation and asset-class analysis; the second week covers risk, reporting, controls and a final portfolio recommendation capstone.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

Related courses in Treasury & Investment