Pension Fund Investment Management Training Course

Participants can analyse liability characteristics and explain their effect on investment decisions.

• Projected benefit payments modelled from membership, salary and mortality assumptions
• Duration, convexity and inflation sensitivity measured for liability cash flows
• Discount-rate choices and yield-curve movements affecting funded status
• Cash-flow matching compared with duration matching for mature schemes
• Longevity, salary and demographic risks separated from investment risks
• Funding-ratio paths analysed under deterministic liability valuation scenarios

Participants can set return objectives and select measures appropriate to pension mandates.

• Time-weighted returns distinguished from money-weighted returns and cash-flow effects
• Volatility, downside deviation and tracking error calculated from return series
• Sharpe ratio, information ratio and maximum drawdown interpreted together
• Benchmark construction aligned with mandate, currency and rebalancing rules
• Nominal returns converted into real returns using relevant inflation indices
• Return objectives tested against required return and funding constraints

Participants can create and challenge long-term assumptions for strategic allocation decisions.

• Capital market assumptions built for returns, volatility, correlations and inflation
• Arithmetic and geometric return assumptions reconciled over long horizons
• Expected-return building blocks separated into income, growth and valuation change
• Correlation matrices challenged for regime shifts and concentration effects
• Scenario ranges documented with sources, ownership and annual refresh procedures
• Assumption governance prevents false precision in strategic allocation decisions

Participants can develop a strategic asset allocation linked to pension liabilities and risk appetite.

• Strategic asset allocation linked to liabilities, return objectives and risk budget
• Mean-variance optimisation tested against estimation error and practical constraints
• Efficient-frontier outputs translated into implementable asset-class weights
• Risk budgets allocated across growth, matching, liquidity and manager risks
• Asset-allocation ranges, tolerance bands and rebalancing triggers documented
• Strategic benchmarks specified for total fund and component portfolios

Participants can construct diversified pension portfolios while controlling unintended exposures.

• Core-satellite structures balance broad market exposure and active conviction
• Factor exposures measured across equity, credit, rates and inflation assets
• Value, quality, momentum and low-volatility factor tilts assessed
• Concentration limits applied by issuer, sector, geography and counterparty
• Currency exposure separated from underlying foreign-asset return sources
• Portfolio constraints reconciled with liquidity needs and governance capacity

Participants can design hedge arrangements that manage interest-rate and inflation risks.

• Liability-driven investment objectives translated into hedge-ratio targets
• Government bonds, swaps and inflation-linked bonds compared for matching
• Key-rate duration identifies yield-curve mismatches between assets and liabilities
• Hedge effectiveness monitored against discount-rate and inflation sensitivity changes
• Collateral requirements incorporated into derivative-based matching portfolios
• Credit allocation assessed for spread income, downgrades and liquidity

Participants can evaluate equity allocations, mandate structures and equity-related funding risks.

• Public equity mandates compared by market-cap, factor and regional exposures
• Active management evaluated through skill, fees, capacity and benchmark-relative risk
• Passive implementation assessed for tracking difference, securities lending and index rules
• Dividend income, withholding tax and voting rights considered in net returns
• Equity drawdowns connected to funding-ratio volatility and contribution pressure
• Regional diversification tested against home bias and currency policy

Participants can assess private-market allocations, pacing requirements and illiquidity risks.

• Private equity, infrastructure and real estate cash-flow profiles compared
• Commitment pacing models forecast capital calls, distributions and NAV development
• J-curve effects and vintage-year diversification inform private-market pacing
• Illiquidity premiums examined against governance, valuation and liquidity costs
• Fee waterfalls, carried interest and fund expenses reconstructed from terms
• Secondary-market options considered for portfolio pacing and liquidity management

Participants can oversee derivative overlays, collateral processes and counterparty exposures.

• Interest-rate swaps, inflation swaps and futures support liability hedging
• Overlay portfolios separate beta management from underlying manager mandates
• Initial margin, variation margin and collateral waterfalls mapped
• ISDA documentation, eligible collateral and counterparty terms reviewed
• Derivatives exposures aggregated using notional, delta and stress measures
• Counterparty limits and collateral disputes governed through escalation procedures

Participants can control implementation costs, transition risk and rebalancing decisions.

• Transition management plans control market impact, timing and operational risk
• Implementation shortfall separates delay cost, market impact and explicit costs
• Rebalancing methods compared: calendar, threshold and cash-flow approaches
• Trading governance establishes authorised brokers, limits and exception approvals
• Foreign-exchange execution policies address hedging, roll costs and settlement
• Securities lending revenues, indemnities and collateral risks evaluated

Participants can select, appoint and monitor external investment managers using structured evidence.

• Manager searches begin with mandate design, universe definition and evaluation criteria
• Due diligence tests organisation, investment process, people and operational controls
• Track records analysed for style consistency, capacity and survivorship bias
• Fee proposals compared using management fees, performance fees and expenses
• Side letters, liquidity terms and termination rights reviewed before appointment
• Scorecards connect manager monitoring to mandate objectives and escalation

Participants can interpret portfolio performance and identify the sources of results.

• Performance measurement applies GIPS principles, valuation policies and composite controls
• Brinson attribution separates allocation, selection and interaction effects
• Fixed-income attribution decomposes duration, curve, spread and security effects
• Factor attribution distinguishes intended tilts from unintended portfolio exposures
• Peer-group comparisons adjusted for mandate differences and survivorship bias
• Performance reports explain results, risks, fees and forward actions

Participants can develop pension risk controls using stress tests, limits and escalation rules.

• Risk registers connect market, liquidity, credit, operational and governance exposures
• Value at Risk limitations assessed for long-horizon pension portfolios
• Stress tests model equity crashes, rate shocks and inflation surprises
• Reverse stress testing identifies conditions threatening funding or liquidity
• Liquidity ladders combine benefit payments, collateral calls and asset-sale horizons
• Risk appetite statements define limits, indicators, owners and escalation

Participants can incorporate stewardship and sustainability considerations into pension investment oversight.

• Stewardship policies set voting priorities, engagement objectives and reporting evidence
• Climate scenario analysis tests transition, physical and valuation risks
• ESG integration distinguished from exclusions, screening and impact allocations
• Materiality assessments connect sustainability factors to long-term financial outcomes
• Greenwashing controls test manager claims, data sources and mandate language
• Regulatory duties mapped to jurisdiction, fund type and disclosure obligations

Participants can assess operational controls, valuation practices and investment reporting requirements.

• Investment operations map trade capture, confirmation, settlement and reconciliation controls
• Custodian oversight covers asset safekeeping, corporate actions and reporting
• Data-quality checks reconcile manager, custodian, administrator and consultant records
• Fair-value hierarchies and stale-price controls address private asset valuations
• IAS 19 disclosures connect plan assets, obligations and investment reporting
• Operational due diligence identifies cyber, valuation and business-continuity weaknesses

Participants can integrate funding strategy, sponsor strength and investment risk capacity.

• Actuarial valuation results translate into investment and contribution decisions
• Sponsor covenant strength influences risk capacity and recovery-plan design
• Funding triggers link deficit levels to de-risking or contribution actions
• Integrated risk management connects funding, investment and employer risks
• Journey plans specify target funding levels, hedge ratios and milestones
• Surplus management considers benefit security, sponsor affordability and governance

Participants can prepare investment decision processes for market and liquidity stress events.

• Market crisis playbooks define decision rights, data sources and communications
• Rebalancing under stress weighs valuation opportunity against liquidity preservation
• Collateral stress scenarios test liquidity buffers and asset-sale sequencing
• Manager watchlists identify underperformance, organisational change and mandate breaches
• Contingency funding sources assessed for timing, cost and governance
• Post-event reviews convert decisions into revised controls and thresholds

Participants can prepare decision-focused reporting for trustees and investment committees.

• Board reporting combines funding, performance, risk, liquidity and decisions
• Investment committee packs distinguish decision information from background commentary
• Dashboard thresholds highlight exceptions requiring trustee attention or approval
• Recommendations frame alternatives, trade-offs, implementation steps and accountable owners
• Meeting minutes record rationale, challenges, resolutions and follow-up actions
• Annual investment reviews test policy relevance against changed circumstances

Participants can build, review and present a complete pension investment management plan for committee approval.

• Investment policy statement integrates objectives, governance, constraints and strategic allocation
• Liability analysis supports funding targets, hedge ratios and liquidity requirements
• Portfolio design specifies asset weights, ranges, benchmarks and risk budgets
• Implementation plan assigns managers, transition steps, costs and control points
• Monitoring dashboard defines performance, risk, funding and stewardship indicators
• Committee presentation documents recommendations, trade-offs, approvals and review dates