Overview of Risk Management, Corporate Risk Management and the Theory of Risk and Return
  • Understand a common definition of financial risk
  • Understand the general role that a risk manager plays in a company, financial or non-financial
  • Understand some of the basic language used by financial risk managers, including risk types like Market Risk, Credit Risk, Operational Risk, Reputation Risk, Legal Risk, Business Risk, Liquidity Risk
  • Understand that a balance between risk and reward is a choice that can be managed
  • Understand some basic steps towards implementing a financial risk management program
  • Understand the concept of hedge accounting
  • Understand the use of hedging at Merck as an example
  • Understand the concept of diversification
  • Understand the concept of the efficient frontier
  • Understand the basic concept of a call option’s value
  • Understand the concept of risk-adjusted returns
 
Governance in Risk Management and PRMIA Standards
  • Understand the concept and importance of Governance
  • Understand the role of the Board of Directors
  • Understand a typical financial risk management structure
  • Understand basic risk management policies
  • Understand the importance and meaning of an Escalation Policy
  • Understand the role that external parties play in governance (external audit, regulators, “the market”)
  • Know the ten core PRMIA Governance Principles
  • Understand how the PRMIA Governance Principles Apply to the Board
  • Understand how the PRMIA Governance Principles Apply to the Finance and Accounting Function
  • Understand how the PRMIA Governance Principles Apply to the Risk Management department
  • Know the PRMIA Standards of Best Practice, Conduct and Ethics for Professional Risk Managers
  • Understand the Positive Role that risk management plays in the business process
  • Understand the basic operations of the PRMIA organization and practices
 
An Introduction to Financial Markets
  • Understand the types of instruments in the Money Markets
  • Understand the basic characteristics of Bond Markets
  • Understand the basic characteristics of Stock Markets
  • Understand the basic characteristics of Foreign Exchange Markets
  • Understand the basic characteristics of Futures Markets
  • Understand the basic characteristics of OTC Markets
  • Understand the basic characteristics of Commodities Markets
  • Understand the basic characteristics of Energy Markets
 
Interest Rate Risk and Hedging
  • Understand the definition of interest rate risk
  • Understand how changes in yields affect bond prices
  • Understand how changes in the shape of the yield curve affect bond prices
  • Understand the concepts of duration and convexity
  • Understand the calculation of risk in a single security versus a portfolio of securities
  • Understand the basic principles of a swap
  • Understand the basic principles of Puts and Calls
  • Understand the basic concept of Caps and Floors
  • Understand the basic concepts of Swaptions, Exotics and Financial Engineering
 
Market Risk and Asset-Liability Management
  • Understand the concept of notional amounts of exposure
  • Identify and define “The Greeks” as measures of market risk
  • Understand the basic concepts behind Value at Risk
  • Understand the use of Value at Risk in setting Risk Limits
  • Understand different approaches to determining Value at Risk measures
  • Understand situations in which these approaches work or don’t work
  • Understand the concepts of Stress Testing and Extreme Events
  • Understand the process of Scenario Planning
  • Understand the definition and implications of Liquidity Risk
  • Understand the role of the ALCO
  • Understand the concept of funding gaps
  • Understand the concept and implications of duration gaps
  • Understand some measures of liquidity risk
  • Understand the concept of funds transfer pricing
 
Retail and Commercial Credit Risk Management and Risk Management Practices
  • Understand the role that a Credit Officer plays
  • Understand the unique concerns of retail credit risk
  • Understand the concept of Credit Scores
  • Understand the concepts of Default, Default Rates and Loss Rates
  • Understand the factors involved in determining the Value of a Customer
  • Understand how securitization can transfer risk
  • Understand the concept of pricing risk
  • Understand the role that Rating Agencies play in measuring credit risk
  • Understand the basic credit ratings from these agencies
  • Understand the implied impact of migration in credit ratings
  • Understand internal rating scores and methods
  • Understand basic financial measures in a loan risk assessment
  • Understand the concept of Loss Given Default
  • Understand common types of Counterparty Credit Risk
  • Understand the use and importance of Credit Models
  • Understand the calculation of risk in a single credit versus a portfolio of credits
  • Understand the concepts behind Credit VaR
  • Understand the concepts behind Credit Metrics models
  • Understand the concepts behind MKMV models
  • Understand the concepts behind actuarial and reduced-form models
  • Understand the basic types of credit derivatives
 
Operational Risk and Performance Measures
  • Understand what constitutes an operational loss and how might we quantify it
  • Understand how operational events are linked to other risk types, such as market, credit, liquidity or reputation risk
  • Understand the concept of a key risk indicator
  • Understand the concept of a key risk driver
  • Understand how to differentiate a key risk indicator from a key risk driver
  • Understand a basic Operational Risk Framework
  • Understand an approach to implementation of an Operational Risk framework
  • Understand how to implement a simple scenario-based process for assessing and quantifying operational risks
  • Understand how to assess risks relating to new business processes, products or change management initiatives
  • Understand the concept of mitigation and examples of mitigation techniques
  • Understand the role of insurance in Operational Risk transfer
  • Understand the concept and definition of risk capital
  • Understand core uses of risk capital
  • Be able to compare and contrast risk capital and regulatory capital
  • Understand the definition of RAROC
  • Understand some uses of RAROC in business decision making
 
Case Studies and derivatives best practices
  • Understand the lessons of the Metallgesellschaft Case Study
  • Understand the governance lessons from Orange County
  • Understand the governance lessons from Riggs Bank
  • Understand the core principles behind the Group of Thirty Report – Recommendations on Derivatives Use 
  • Understand the Market Risk lessons from the LTCM Case Study
  • Understand the ALM lessons from the Continental / Penn Square Case Study
  • Understand the retail credit risk lessons from Bankgesellschaft Berlin
  • Understand the lessons in Credit Risk from the Credit Lyonnais Case Study
  • Understand the Operational Risk lessons from the NAB F/X Options Case Study
  • Understand the Operational Risk lessons from the Barings Case Study
  • Understand the Governance lessons from the WorldCom Case Study (from PRMIA Standards)
  • Understand the Governance lessons from the Banker’s Trust Case Study (from PRMIA Standards)
  • Understand the Governance lessons from the Daiwa Case Study (from PRMIA Standards)