Investment Risk Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Portfolio Managers, Investment Risk Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-RM-077

Before you join: Participants should have working familiarity with investment products, financial statements and basic percentage calculations.

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 expose institutions to market losses, credit deterioration, liquidity pressure, model error, counterparty failure and operational breakdowns. These risks often interact: a rate shock can reduce asset values, trigger collateral calls, widen bid-ask spreads and force sales into weak markets. Risk managers, treasury teams, portfolio managers and investment oversight staff need more than performance reporting. They need a disciplined process for identifying exposures, measuring downside, setting limits, testing assumptions and escalating decisions before losses exceed mandate tolerances.

This five-day Investment Risk Management Training Course develops that process. Participants examine investment governance, risk appetite, return and risk measurement, market-risk sensitivities, Value at Risk, expected shortfall, stress testing, credit risk, counterparty exposure, liquidity risk, derivatives, hedging and portfolio risk budgeting. The course also addresses risk reporting for investment committees, limit monitoring, model risk and the documentation needed to support challenge and oversight. Participants learn to interpret risk measures rather than treat them as automatic answers, and to connect quantitative outputs with mandate objectives, liquidity needs and management actions.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with worked calculations, sector-based cases, group analysis, risk-reporting simulations and structured application planning. Cases reflect realistic issues such as pension fund duration risk, bank treasury liquidity pressure, asset-manager concentration risk and counterparty exposure under volatile markets. Participants leave with a reusable investment risk management toolkit: governance and limit-setting templates, risk-measure selection guidance, stress-testing structures, reporting formats and a 90-day application plan. The course is available as instructor-led classroom training in more than 50 cities or live online. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

What you will be able to do

  • Define investment risk appetite, governance roles, limits and escalation arrangements
  • Calculate and interpret return, volatility, drawdown, tracking error and risk-adjusted performance measures
  • Measure interest-rate, equity, currency, spread and correlation exposures using risk-factor analysis
  • Compare parametric, historical simulation and Monte Carlo Value at Risk methods
  • Design stress tests, sensitivity analyses and reverse stress-testing scenarios for investment portfolios
  • Assess credit, counterparty, collateral, liquidity and operational risks within investment activities
  • Evaluate derivatives exposures and hedge effectiveness using Greeks, duration matching and hedge ratios
  • Produce investment risk dashboards, breach reports and action plans for investment committees

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Interpret risk reports with greater confidence when challenging portfolio decisions
  • Build credible Value at Risk, stress-testing and limit-monitoring analyses
  • Recognise weaknesses in benchmark selection, correlations, pricing data and model assumptions
  • Contribute more effectively to investment committee and risk committee discussions
  • Create a practical 90-day plan for improving investment risk controls

For your organisation

  • Stronger alignment between investment mandates, risk appetite and delegated authorities
  • Earlier identification of concentration, liquidity, counterparty and limit-breach exposures
  • More meaningful stress testing linked to management actions and decision rights
  • Clearer risk reporting for boards, investment committees and senior management
  • Better challenge of model outputs, valuation assumptions and hedge effectiveness

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can establish investment risk governance, appetite statements, limits and escalation responsibilities.

  • Investment policy statements: objectives, constraints, governance and permitted instruments
  • Risk appetite statements translated into limits, triggers and escalation routes
  • ISO 31000 principles applied to investment risk governance
  • Three lines model defining ownership, challenge and assurance responsibilities
  • Delegated authority matrices for trading, valuation and exception approvals
  • Board reporting requirements linked to mandate objectives and fiduciary duties
  • Risk registers connecting causes, events, impacts, controls and owners

Participants can calculate and interpret investment returns, risk measures and performance ratios.

  • Arithmetic, geometric and money-weighted returns reconciled for portfolio reporting
  • Return attribution separating allocation, selection, interaction and currency effects
  • Volatility, downside deviation and tracking error calculated from return series
  • Sharpe, Sortino and information ratios interpreted against stated benchmarks
  • Beta, alpha and R-squared estimated through regression diagnostics
  • Maximum drawdown and recovery periods assessed against client tolerance
  • Benchmark construction issues: rebalancing, survivorship bias and stale prices
  • Annualisation assumptions tested for monthly, daily and irregular observations

Participants can map portfolio risk factors and quantify major market sensitivities.

  • Risk-factor mapping for rates, spreads, equities, currencies and commodities
  • Duration, modified duration and DV01 for fixed-income price sensitivity
  • Convexity effects incorporated into larger interest-rate shock estimates
  • Equity beta exposures decomposed by sector, country and style factors
  • Foreign-exchange translation and transaction exposures separated within portfolios
  • Basis risk identified where hedges and underlying exposures diverge
  • Correlation breakdown examined during market stress and liquidity withdrawal

Participants can select, calculate and challenge Value at Risk and expected shortfall measures.

  • Parametric Value at Risk calculated using volatility, correlations and confidence intervals
  • Historical simulation Value at Risk built from reordered portfolio return observations
  • Monte Carlo simulation applied to nonlinear payoffs and fat-tailed distributions
  • Expected shortfall compared with Value at Risk for tail-loss measurement
  • Backtesting exceptions classified using traffic-light and Kupiec approaches
  • Stressed Value at Risk assumptions challenged against concentration and regime changes
  • Model risk documented through data lineage, validation and limitations

Participants can design stress scenarios that link market shocks to portfolio vulnerabilities and actions.

  • Scenario design linking macroeconomic shocks to portfolio risk factors
  • Sensitivity analysis isolates single-variable effects on valuations and liquidity
  • Reverse stress testing identifies conditions causing mandate breach or loss
  • Historical crises adapted without assuming identical market transmission mechanisms
  • Correlation, volatility and spread shocks combined in coherent scenarios
  • Second-order effects assessed through collateral calls and forced selling
  • Management actions specified with triggers, decision rights and execution constraints

Participants can assess credit, counterparty and collateral exposures within investment portfolios.

  • Probability of default, loss given default and exposure at default
  • Credit migration matrices used to estimate rating-transition losses
  • Expected credit loss concepts distinguished from market-implied spread risk
  • Counterparty exposure measured using replacement cost and potential future exposure
  • Collateral haircuts, margin terms and netting agreements assessed
  • Wrong-way risk identified between counterparty quality and exposure values
  • Concentration limits set by obligor, sector, rating and geography

Participants can evaluate portfolio liquidity, funding needs and operational control weaknesses.

  • Liquidity horizons estimated from market depth, bid-ask spreads and settlement cycles
  • Redemption terms matched against asset liquidity and liquidation costs
  • Liquidity-adjusted Value at Risk incorporates exit costs under stressed trading conditions
  • Cash flow ladders identify funding gaps, collateral needs and buffers
  • Operational risk scenarios cover valuation errors, fraud and technology failures
  • Trade lifecycle controls address confirmations, reconciliations and failed settlements
  • Business continuity arrangements tested for market disruption and key-person absence

Participants can assess derivatives exposures and evaluate hedge design and effectiveness.

  • Forward, futures, swap and option payoffs mapped to underlying exposures
  • Delta, gamma, vega and theta explain option risk sensitivities
  • Hedge ratios estimated using duration matching and regression methods
  • Cash-flow hedges distinguished from economic hedges and speculative positions
  • Basis, rollover and counterparty risks assessed before hedge execution
  • ISDA documentation, collateral agreements and close-out provisions reviewed
  • Hedge effectiveness monitored against objectives, costs and residual exposures

Participants can assess portfolio construction choices through diversification, concentration and risk-budgeting methods.

  • Strategic asset allocation tested against objectives, liabilities and liquidity needs
  • Mean-variance optimisation challenged for estimation error and unstable correlations
  • Risk budgeting allocates volatility or expected shortfall across mandates
  • Marginal and component Value at Risk identify each holding's risk contribution
  • Concentration measured by issuer, factor, geography, asset class and liquidity
  • Rebalancing rules balance transaction costs, tax effects and risk drift
  • Active risk monitored through tracking error, active share and attribution

Participants can produce decision-ready investment risk reports and prioritise risk management improvements.

  • Risk dashboards connect exposures, limits, breaches, trends and management actions
  • Key risk indicators selected with thresholds, owners and reporting frequency
  • Limit breaches documented through escalation, remediation and closure evidence
  • Independent valuation and model validation findings incorporated into governance reports
  • Risk-adjusted performance reports combine returns, drawdowns and capital usage
  • Investment committee packs distinguish decisions, assumptions, uncertainties and recommendations
  • 90-day application plan assigns priorities, stakeholders and review milestones

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

What you take back to work

  1. Investment risk appetite and limit-setting template
  2. Portfolio risk-measure selection guide
  3. Stress-testing and reverse stress-testing scenario template
  4. Liquidity and counterparty risk assessment checklist
  5. Investment committee risk dashboard template
  6. 90-day investment risk management application plan

Who should attend

  • Portfolio Managers — need to relate investment decisions to risk budgets, limits and drawdown tolerance
  • Investment Risk Managers — need consistent methods for measuring, challenging and reporting portfolio exposures
  • Treasury Managers — need to control interest-rate, liquidity, funding and counterparty risks
  • Financial Analysts — need to interpret portfolio risk measures and support investment committee reporting
  • Asset Management Operations Managers — need stronger controls over valuation, settlement and liquidity risks
  • Internal Auditors and Compliance Officers — need to assess investment risk governance, controls and exceptions

Skills and tools covered

Portfolio risk measurementValue at RiskStress testingLiquidity risk analysisCounterparty risk controlRisk reporting

Tools and standards

ISO 31000, COSO ERM Framework, Value at Risk, Monte Carlo simulation

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce methods, followed by worked calculations, case analysis, group exercises, reporting simulations and application planning. Participants assess realistic portfolio situations involving duration shocks, fund redemptions, concentrated equity positions, margin calls and deteriorating counterparties. Instructor guidance focuses on selecting appropriate measures, challenging assumptions and translating results into limits or management actions. Discussions compare approaches used by asset managers, banks, pension funds and corporate treasury teams. Participants build an application plan for their own investment risk responsibilities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have working familiarity with investment products, financial statements and basic percentage calculations. Experience in portfolio management, treasury, investment analysis, risk, finance, audit or compliance is useful. Participants should understand the distinction between bonds, equities, funds, cash instruments and derivatives at a basic level. Prior experience with Value at Risk models, statistical programming or advanced mathematics is not required. The course explains calculations conceptually and uses practical examples, but it is not intended for participants with no exposure to financial markets or investment decision-making.

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

Participants need working familiarity with investment products and basic financial calculations. Prior Value at Risk modelling, statistical programming and advanced mathematics are not required.

Bring a laptop or device suitable for reviewing calculations and course materials. Participants may also bring anonymised investment policies, risk reports or portfolio issues they want to examine during application planning.

It is suited to portfolio managers, investment risk professionals, treasury staff, analysts, operations managers, auditors and compliance staff. The content is designed for professionals who oversee, measure or challenge investment-related risks.

Portfolio management courses usually focus on security selection and asset allocation, while financial modelling courses focus on valuation and forecasts. This course concentrates on identifying, measuring, controlling and reporting the risks created by investment decisions.

Participants can use the templates to review risk appetite, limits, stress tests, liquidity assessments and committee reporting. The final application plan identifies priorities, stakeholders and milestones for workplace implementation.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided among instructor briefings, calculations, cases, group work, simulations, discussion and application planning across the ten modules.

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

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