Investment Fundamentals

One of the duties that retirement fund board members find most difficult is the setting of their fund’s investment strategy and its ongoing monitoring and evaluation. The fact that most members now participate in defined contribution arrangements has increased the pressure on board members regarding fund investments, with members asking searching questions of the board. This is because, in defined contribution funds, members carry the investment risk, specifically the risk of under-performance.

Key concepts

This course is designed to train you to deal with foundational aspects relating to investing and provides the knowledge necessary for trustees and advisors to be able to:

Understand what they aim to achieve through their retirement fund investment strategy and how to set an investment goal;
Understand the more common investment terms used by asset managers;
Understand how the returns of shares, bonds, property and cash investments are generated;
Be aware of the types of investment instruments available;
Understand the risk characteristics of various investment instruments;
Understand why a fund has an investment strategy document (also called an “investment policy statement”);
Know what to look for in the investment strategy document; and
Interpret investment reports provided to trustees.