Workshop on Back Office Operations

BACKGROUND
An efficient investment management system requires a strong back office to implement payments and
settlement transactions whether they require automated processes or human intervention. Back-office
personnel need to understand not only the processes within their purview, but also the business they
support. The workshop will enlighten the participants about the roles of the front, middle, and back office
and provide an overview of the investment cycle and the interactions among the parties involved such as
portfolio managers, custodians, brokers, and other counterparties.
The workshop will also provide an understanding of the operational aspects of the back-office function
(trade settlements, failed trades, reconciliations, etc.) to achieve operational excellence. Further, it will
highlight the main investment products, how, where, and why they are traded, the different trading and
investment strategies, and how they are supported operationally. The workshop will also include an analysis
of the inherent risks in the back-office operations and how they can be identified and resolved.

OBJECTIVES
1. To provide a basic understanding of investment products, the investment life cycle, and explain the
roles of all the participants in a trade process flow.
2. To equip participants with the knowledge of back-office operations and provide information on how to
design controls to mitigate operational risks and manage operations effectively.
CONTENT
The course will cover the following areas:
1. Roles of front, middle and back office;
2. Overview of Investment products and trading strategies;
3. Investment cycle and the parties involved;
4. Back Office operations;
5. Failed Trade Management;
6. Reconciliations; and
7. Risks and mitigants.
TARGET GROUP
This course targets junior and mid-level officers in Back office, Finance, portfolio managers and risk analysts
of Central Banks, Sovereign wealth funds and deposit protection funds.