The Executive Diagnostic and Governance Toolkit
Mastering Wealth and Asset Management Operations
Score your own function red, amber or green, find out which part is weakest, and walk into the next budget round able to defend what you want to fix. Built for leaders reviewing Wealth and asset management operations.
Each order is checked and updated against the latest insights before delivery. That is why access takes up to 24 hours rather than being instant.
| 1 |
You stop guessing where you stand. You finish with a score, not an opinion: every part of your function rated red, amber or green, with the weakest ranked first. Evidence: a Quick Scan for the shape of it, then seven domain assessments of 30 scored questions each, 210 in all, rolled into one scorecard, plus a maturity radar and a current-versus-target gap analysis. |
| 2 |
You can defend the decision. You walk into the budget round with the gap named, the owner named and done defined, instead of a case built on instinct. Evidence: project charter, scope statement, RACI, requirements traceability and work breakdown structure, pre-filled in your domain's language. |
| 3 |
The work actually moves. The month after the decision is already built, so nothing stalls waiting for someone to design a form. Evidence: more than 60 project templates across all five PMBOK process groups, plus runbooks, SOPs, a KPI framework, audit checklists and a risk matrix. 55 to 65 files in total. |
| 4 |
You use it the day it lands. No blank templates to interpret. Every workbook opens with what it is, who uses it, when, how, a 1 to 5 scoring guide, what good looks like, and a worked example you delete and type over. |
The situation this is built for
Daily trade settlements, reconciliation backlogs, and control framework reviews consume cycles that should be spent on strategic evaluation. New reporting demands from compliance, pressure to support alternative assets, and rising client complexity strain legacy workflows. You’re expected to lead transformation, but without a clear diagnostic of where your function stands today, every initiative risks misalignment or wasted effort.
Who this is for
Head of Investment Operations in a mid-to-large asset or wealth management firm, responsible for trade processing, custody oversight, financial reporting, and operational risk controls.
Who this is not for
This is not for individual contributors focused only on execution tasks, technology vendors, or consultants selling platforms. It is for leaders accountable for the end-to-end investment operations function.
What you walk away with
- Assess the current maturity of your investment operations function
- Identify critical gaps in control, scalability, and decision rights
- Define a clear roadmap for operational refinement and leadership alignment
- Strengthen your role in strategic decision-making across investment and finance
- Build confidence in your team’s ability to support evolving asset types and client needs
How this maps to your situation
- Diagnose current state
- Identify critical gaps
- Prioritize improvements
- Lead transformation
Before vs. after
What's included with your purchase
- 12 modules with 12 chapters each (144 chapters)
- Downloadable templates and worked examples for every module
- Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Delivery and format
- Course and learning environment access provisioned within 24 hours of purchase
- Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
Format: Text-based modules and chapters in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every chapter, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.
Time investment: Approximately 60 hours of self-paced learning, with implementation work extending beyond course completion.
How this compares to the alternatives
Unlike generic operations frameworks or vendor-led assessments, this course is built specifically for investment operations leaders and focuses exclusively on the substance of the work, not the tools or platforms.
Also included: the full course, for when you want the reasoning behind a finding (12 modules, 144 chapters)
Depth reference. The diagnostic and the templates stand on their own; this is what to read when you want the reasoning behind a finding.
- Mapping the end-to-end investment operations workflow
- Identifying all owned and shared responsibilities
- Clarifying boundaries with front office and finance
- Documenting custody and settlement oversight points
- Reviewing reporting obligations to compliance teams
- Assessing client onboarding and servicing interfaces
- Tracking the lifecycle of alternative asset processing
- Understanding the role in corporate actions and income
- Evaluating the function’s place in the trade lifecycle
- Defining ownership of reconciliation and break resolution
- Charting dependencies on custodians and third parties
- Assessing internal stakeholder expectations
- Reviewing trade confirmation and affirmation controls
- Assessing pre-settlement and settlement monitoring
- Validating custody reconciliation frequency and depth
- Testing income collection and corporate action controls
- Evaluating NAV calculation oversight procedures
- Auditing client reporting accuracy and timeliness
- Reviewing operational risk assessment documentation
- Assessing exception handling and escalation paths
- Mapping control ownership across teams
- Evaluating control coverage for illiquid assets
- Identifying gaps in third-party oversight
- Benchmarking control design against industry standards
- Measuring trade volume versus headcount ratios
- Reviewing manual intervention points in processing
- Evaluating scalability of reconciliation workflows
- Assessing support for private equity and real assets
- Mapping dependencies on spreadsheets and macros
- Identifying bottlenecks in month-end reporting
- Reviewing onboarding timelines for new mandates
- Assessing capacity for multi-currency processing
- Evaluating vendor integration points
- Testing response to peak period demands
- Documenting process handoffs across time zones
- Assessing ability to onboard new custodians
- Mapping approval workflows for trade fails
- Defining authority for break resolution
- Clarifying ownership of client reporting disputes
- Documenting escalation paths for settlement delays
- Establishing thresholds for manager notification
- Reviewing sign-off requirements for NAV adjustments
- Assessing authority for custodial instruction changes
- Defining roles in income reconciliation decisions
- Evaluating approval chains for system access
- Mapping decision rights for alternative asset events
- Clarifying ownership of reconciliation exceptions
- Reviewing incident response decision trees
- Tracing data lineage from custodian to report
- Assessing data validation rules at entry points
- Reviewing pricing source governance policies
- Evaluating income accrual calculation methods
- Auditing security master data maintenance
- Assessing FX rate sourcing and usage
- Reviewing client data accuracy in reporting
- Evaluating data reconciliation control points
- Mapping data ownership across teams
- Assessing exception handling for data discrepancies
- Documenting audit trail completeness
- Reviewing data retention and access policies
- Defining settlement success rate targets
- Tracking reconciliation break resolution timelines
- Measuring client report delivery accuracy
- Evaluating trade affirmation turnaround time
- Assessing corporate action response latency
- Reviewing income collection completeness
- Tracking NAV delay incidents by cause
- Measuring trade fail frequency by counterparty
- Assessing month-end close cycle duration
- Evaluating client onboarding processing time
- Reviewing custodial discrepancy resolution rate
- Benchmarking operational error rates
- Reviewing team size versus workload complexity
- Assessing role clarity in job descriptions
- Evaluating cross-training coverage
- Mapping skill gaps in alternative assets
- Reviewing shift coverage for global processing
- Assessing vendor management capability
- Evaluating technical proficiency with core systems
- Measuring team tenure and stability
- Reviewing succession planning depth
- Assessing compliance training completion rates
- Evaluating incident response readiness
- Benchmarking staffing ratios against peers
- Reviewing trade instruction clarity from PMs
- Assessing pre-trade compliance integration
- Evaluating communication during market events
- Mapping workflows for new security onboarding
- Reviewing coordination on corporate actions
- Assessing support for stress testing requests
- Evaluating responsiveness to ad-hoc data needs
- Documenting interaction points with research
- Reviewing coordination on IPO participation
- Assessing integration with risk management teams
- Evaluating feedback loops on trade failures
- Mapping communication during settlement crises
- Assessing client reporting clarity and format
- Reviewing client inquiry resolution timelines
- Evaluating transparency on trade delays
- Mapping compliance reporting requirements
- Assessing audit readiness for regulatory exams
- Reviewing board reporting content and frequency
- Evaluating client onboarding experience
- Assessing communication during NAV disputes
- Reviewing disclosure of operational risks
- Evaluating client data privacy controls
- Assessing response to client service level requests
- Reviewing stakeholder satisfaction with operations
- Reviewing business continuity plan coverage
- Assessing disaster recovery testing frequency
- Evaluating staffing surge capacity
- Reviewing custodial communication protocols
- Assessing system redundancy for key platforms
- Mapping critical third-party dependencies
- Reviewing incident response playbooks
- Evaluating data backup and recovery processes
- Assessing cybersecurity controls for operations
- Reviewing access controls during outages
- Testing communication plans during crises
- Evaluating post-mortem follow-up discipline
- Prioritizing gaps by risk and impact
- Defining short-term stabilization actions
- Planning mid-term process enhancements
- Designing long-term operating model changes
- Aligning roadmap with investment strategy
- Sequencing initiatives by resource needs
- Estimating effort for key improvements
- Identifying quick wins and quick losses
- Mapping dependencies across initiatives
- Defining success metrics for each phase
- Aligning leadership on investment priorities
- Documenting roadmap assumptions and risks
- Communicating the operational assessment outcome
- Building consensus on transformation priorities
- Securing leadership sponsorship
- Managing resistance to process change
- Establishing cross-functional working groups
- Tracking transformation progress transparently
- Reinforcing accountability for new workflows
- Celebrating early milestones
- Adjusting plans based on feedback
- Embedding continuous improvement cycles
- Revising performance management metrics
- Sustaining momentum beyond initial rollout
Frequently asked
Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.
Thousands of organisations have bought from The Art of Service since 2000.