The course builds on the concepts and methods covered in basic financial markets, financial analysis and accounting/auditing courses. As such, it is at the crossing of finance and audit fields. Student should be familiar with common financial products, reading annual reports, accounting concepts such as historical cost vs fair value, and the systems of internal/external audits. Students should have general knowledge of risk management, stock markets and the business cycle, and statistical analysis. No specific knowledge of the investment management sector is required, as the concepts will be introduced in due time.
At the end of the course the student should be able to :
1. master the appropriate techniques and display expertise in fund manager due diligence and legal auditing (LO 2.B)
2. analyze and solve complex problems with the appropriate methodology (LO 6.B), such as:
-identifying investment firm department functions and explain the business risks associated with those functions;
– identifying the relevant financial, operational and regulatory risks pertaining to specific investment strategies
– master which controls and analyses are effective to mitigate specific risks
– identifying potential ethical violations and relate those violations with specific ethical rules
3. produce professional quality documents in matters related to due diligence and legal auditing
The following topics will be covered during the elective:
– Key actors inside/outside an investment management firm
– The changing regulatory landscape surrounding investment management firms
– Financial, operational & compliance risk assessment, reporting and monitoring
– Investment valuation issues
– Performance measurement issues
– Investor reporting
– Prevention and detection of conflicts of interest
– Professional standards and best practices related to the investment management services
– Fraud cases and fraud detection techniques in the investment industry
– ESG issues
