NCI Courses

• Introduction to Funds, Advantages and Disadvantages of investing in Funds, Types of Funds • Mutual Funds and Alternative Investment Vehicles, • Main Domiciles: Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, the US, the UK & Ireland

• History and Growth of Funds Industry in Ireland against the global backdrop • Factors for choosing fund domicile • Setting up a Fund in Ireland Regulations, Tax Implications, ISE Listing Requirements for Custodian, Auditor and Administrator

• Introduction to the Regulations and Rulebooks – UCITS, non-UCITS & AIFMD • Overview of regulatory reporting • Introduction to Fund Financial Statements • PRISM and the risk-based approach to regulation • Outsourcing – the conditions applied under Annex II (UCITS/non-UCITS notices)

• Definition of Fund types - Open-ended and Closed-ended funds, • Other Legal Structures - Unit Trust, Company & Partnership, • Specialist Fund structures - Umbrella Funds, Fund of Funds, Master Feeder Funds, • Alternative Investment (Hedge) Funds, Private Investment (Equity) Vehicles

• Role of the Regulator, the Central Bank of Ireland • Reporting Function of Promoter and Distributor • Function of Transfer Agent, Dealing: Subscription, redemption, transfer, switching Registration Procedures, Dividend Distributions, Types of Investors • Function of Investment manager – trading and asset allocation • Function of Custodian – settlement of trades – trade life-cycle – keeping title • Function of Administrator, Calculation of the Net Asset Value, Keeping books and records of the fund’s transactions, reconciliations with the Custodian, preparation of financial statements • Function of Trustee – fiduciary duty to investors – liaison with the Regulator • Role of Stock Exchange • Role of Corporate Secretary – board papers and minutes from meetings – approval of financial statements • Role of the Auditor

• Types of transactions and the documentation required for each transaction • AML and the documentation required for regulatory purposes • Record retention requirements • Data Protection Act and its application to shareholder files • Importance of client files and proper archiving • Calculation of sales charges and front-end loads • Settlement of deals – cash and in-specie transfers • Fund mergers • Registration of share-holding • Calculation of Distributions – types of units and shares and how the distribution is applied • Redemptions – notice periods and “gates” • Performance fees • Good Customer Service – professional writing (emails and letters) and telephone skills

• Key Trading Concepts - Arbitrage, Leverage, Buying, Short-selling, Liquidating positions, Primary and Secondary Trading Markets, Buy Side/Sell Side - Market players - Investors, Issuers, Investment Banks, Brokers & Dealers, Derivatives and Leveraged Trading, Portfolio Management Styles - Active, Management, Consensus, Asset Allocation - Top Down and Bottom Up - Compliance

• Front Office, Middle Office and Back Office, Order Management, Allocation and Compliance • Security identifiers – primary versus secondary listing • Role of Fund Administrator in executing middle office functions, in particular trade capture • Clearing and Settlement - Central Securities Depositories - local and international, • Settlement of Transactions, Importance of Pre-settlement Functions, • Custody and Record Keeping, • Interaction with Administrator - reporting & reconciliations of cash and asset positions

• Review of trade inputs reconciliation processes and application of controls • Pricing – sources – levels of confidence – controls and validations applied • Preparation of a NAV - controls and processes and use of the Trial Balance • Calculation of Net Asset Value per Share (Assets less Liabilities and the Capital Statement methods)

• Accounting for Share Capital transactions - subscriptions & redemptions • Accounting for Instruments - Equities, Bonds and Coupon, Accruals & Money Market Instruments • Valuing Assets denominated in foreign currencies, • Accounting of Income - Interest, Dividends, • Accounting for Fees and Expenses – fixed and NAV-based – Fund budgets – Performance fees • Calculation of Realised and Unrealised P&L, • Accounting for Corporate Actions

• Segregation of duties – the 4-eyes principle (maker/checker) • Use of checklists and sign-off (manual and computerised) • The importance of documentation and the retention of records • Information classification and the Data Protection Act • AML documentation and controls • Organisation charts and the allocation of responsibility (definition of roles within hierarchy) • Identification of Risks and the mitigation of those risks through controls and awareness training.

• Interface with Investment Manager, • Portfolio systems - components & functions, • Price feeds from exchanges and other sources • The maintenance of the Securities Master Database • Fund Accounting systems - components & functions, • Share registration systems - components & functions, • Communications with other parties - investors, regulators • Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity