Investment Auditing

Why Attend
Investment activities involve complex financial instruments, operational risks, regulatory requirements, and governance responsibilities. This course provides participants with practical auditing techniques and control frameworks for assessing investment activities, strengthening risk management, evaluating compliance, and improving the effectiveness of investment oversight and assurance processes.

Investment auditing is the independent review of how an organisation invests money and manages its portfolio: whether investment decisions follow the approved policy and risk limits, whether holdings exist and are correctly valued, and whether transactions, fees and reporting are complete and accurate.

Investment portfolios combine complex instruments, external managers and custodians, and valuation judgements, which makes them a high-risk area for auditors. Typical findings include positions held outside policy limits, stale or unsupported valuations for unlisted assets, reconciliation breaks between the investment system and the custodian, and management fees charged on the wrong basis. The course shows participants how to plan a risk-based investment audit, test governance and mandate compliance, reconcile holdings with custodian records, review fair value measurement under IFRS 13 and its fair value hierarchy, and recalculate fees and performance figures.

Practical exercises use realistic portfolio data, so participants practise sampling transactions, spotting red flags and writing clear audit findings with practical recommendations. They leave with an investment audit programme and testing checklist that can be adapted to pension funds, insurance companies, banks and corporate treasury portfolios.

Course Methodology
The course uses an interactive methodology combining practical exercises, case studies, workshops, discussions, audit simulations, financial analysis activities, and real-world investment auditing scenarios.

Course Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the investment environment and governance frameworks
• Apply auditing techniques to different investment products and portfolios
• Evaluate investment valuation methods and operational controls
• Assess investment risks and regulatory compliance requirements
• Apply analytical and forensic techniques in investment audits
• Improve reporting effectiveness and audit recommendations
• Strengthen oversight of investment management activities

Target Audience

• Internal and external auditors
• Risk management professionals
• Compliance officers
• Finance and investment professionals
• Audit managers and supervisors
• Governance professionals
• Professionals responsible for investment oversight and assurance

Target Competencies

• Investment auditing
• Risk assessment and management
• Financial analysis
• Regulatory compliance
• Internal control evaluation
• Data analysis and reporting
• Fraud detection techniques
• Governance and assurance practices