Last
month the first Investment Administration Management Awards were presented to
staff who had completed a year-long training programme designed to improve
their knowledge, business acumen and ability to manage.
Work-based
and focusing on the development of confident team leaders and administration
managers, I believe that the nationally accredited award is revolutionary at
least within the investment funds sector – and thought Training readers may be
interested to find out more.
I
believe that it is revolutionary from two important aspects:
–
Participants meet award requirements, through continual, on-the-job assessment
rather than one-off exams, and each candidate works under the direction and
support of a personal “mentor”. They have to complete five modules comprising
course work and an assignment, set in conjunction with their line manager. They
conclude with a project, based again on a real business issue, specific to
their organisation.
–
The training represents an unprecedented investment in training for
administration staff oft neglected relative to fund managers and other “front
office” staff. Member firms of this association got together to identify
the skills needs in their respective
fast-moving, hi-tech “back offices” that could not easily be met by piecemeal
in-house programmes. The evaluation now demonstrates that benefits are already
being realised by award winners and their firms.
Feedback
from candidates includes the comment that choosing real subjects for
assignments meant that information from workshops and manuals was “retained and
put to good use rather than gathering dust in a file”.
Senior
line managers comment that staff have grown in confidence, encouraging other
team members to work more effectively and identifying opportunities to increase
revenue.
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The
Investment Administration Manage-ment Award is a joint-venture project between
ourselves, the investment funds trade association; Edexcel, the leading
awarding body; and MDA, a training provider with relevant expertise. Successful participants are given a Btec
Professional Development Award.
Victoria
Nye
Director, training and education
Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds
