Friday 17 January 2020

CFA Institute Investment Foundations Program: Chapter 18 – Risk Management (Part I)



In a previous article, we introduced the CFA Institute Investment Foundation Program (Read more here).  It is a free program designed for anyone who wants to enter or advance within the investment management industry, including IT, operations, accounting, administration, and marketing.  Candidates who successfully pass the online exam earn the CFA Institute Investment Foundations Certificate.

There are total of 20 Chapters in 7 modules, covering all the essential topics in finance, economics, ethics and regulations.  This series of articles will highlight the core knowledge of each chapter.

Chapter 18 provides an overview of the risk management. The learning outcome of chapter 18 is as follows:
·       Define risk and identify types of risk;
·       Define risk management;
·       Describe a risk management process;
·       Describe risk management functions;
·       Describe benefits and costs of risk management;
·       Define operational risk and explain how it is managed;
·       Define compliance risk and explain how it is managed;
·       Define investment risk and explain how it is managed;
·       Define value at risk and describe its advantages and weaknesses.

This chapter puts the emphasis on the types of risks that companies in the investment industry (investment firms) and people working for these companies face. It is important for companies to develop a structured process that helps them recognise and prepare for a wide range of risks. Although risk management is sometimes viewed as a specialist function, a good risk management process will encompass the entire company and filter down from senior management to all employees, giving them guidance in carrying out their roles.

Risk arises out of uncertainty. It can be defined as the effect of uncertain future events on a company or on the outcomes the company achieves. One of these outcomes is the company’s profitability, which is why the effects of risk on profit and rates of return are often assessed.

There are three risks to which companies in the investment industry are typically exposed and that are discussed in this chapter:

Operational risk, which refers to the risk of losses from inadequate or failed people, systems, and internal policies and procedures, as well as from external events that are beyond the control of the company but that affect its operations. Examples of operational risk include human errors, internal fraud, system malfunctions, technology failure, and contractual disputes.
Compliance risk, which relates to the risk that a company fails to follow all applicable rules, laws, and regulations and faces sanctions as a result.
Investment risk, which is the risk associated with investing that arises from the fluctuation in the value of investments. Although it is an important risk for investment professionals, it is less important for individuals involved in support activities, so it receives less coverage than operational and compliance risks in this chapter.
A structured risk management process generally includes five steps: setting objectives, detecting and identifying events, assessing and prioritising risks, selecting a risk response, and controlling and monitoring activities.


It is important for a company to build a risk matrix and select key risk measures to prioritise risks and warn when risk levels are rising.  Depending on their expected level of frequency and severity, risks will receive different levels of attention:

Green. Risks in the green area should not receive much attention because they have a low expected frequency and a low expected severity.
Yellow. Risks coded yellow are either more likely but of low severity, or more severe but unlikely. They should receive a little more attention than risks in the green area, but less attention than risks in the orange area.
Orange. Risks in the orange area have a higher expected frequency or higher expected severity than risks coded yellow, so they should be monitored more actively.
Red. Risks coded red should receive special attention because they have a relatively high expected frequency and their effect on the company would be severe.
Black. Risks in the black area are highly unlikely but would have a catastrophic effect. These risks are sometimes called “black swans”, which is in reference to the presumption in Europe that black swans did not exist and is a belief that persisted until they were discovered in Australia in the 17th century. These risks are usually not identified until after they occur.






A risk matrix classifies risks according to:
 
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