RBA Program School of Business and Economics for Professionals

Boost your personal development and professional growth

The RBA Program is ideally designed to provide you with a unique experience, as an integral complementary program with a modular certification.

The program consists of 12 interactive modules in total, combined in a 2.5 years track. You can schedule the modules in the way that fits best your individual needs and working schedule. The 12 modules of the RBA programme form a consistent portfolio and will boost your personal development and professional.

The completion of an individual module after successfully passing the exam, qualifies you for the certificate. Once you have completed all 12 modules, you are qualified for the RBA designation. The RBA accreditation is reserved for CFA Society VBA Netherlands.

The RBA Program consists of different sets of modules revolving around three pillars, Learn, Change and Lead.

The five modules of the first pillar Learn are offered by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Learn: the modules provide you with the latest insights about investment management and finance with the aim to foster your understanding of core-investment foundation. The focus lies with a focus on strategic asset allocation and investment implementation.
Change: the modules help you to become tomorrow’s game changer in the investment industry, by gaining the latest insights about new investment beliefs to structural market shifts, new technologies, disruption and the growing need for personal financial planning.
Lead: the modules cover the latest insights into the board room dynamics, of the role of investment leadership and disruptions that shape the future of the investment industry. Thanks to this last pillar you will strengthen your personal impact as a leader in the investment industry

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RBA Program

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Pillar 1: Learn
Pillar 2: Change
Pillar 3: Lead

Modules 1 & 2

The first pillar consists of five modules, taught by VU Amsterdam.

1 - Understanding Clients and Behaviors: Knowing your client should be the first step in every financial advice, and especially since the financial crisis of 2008-2009 it is the main keyword in financial supervision. In this module, we dig into a few essential elements of client profiling, such as 'What are the client’s investment beliefs?', 'What is the client’s risk appetite and how can we measure it?', and 'What behavioral biases are well known and how can we cope with these?'. The answers to these questions amongst others will provide you with building blocks to make a sound and “supervisory proof” investment policy statement of your client.

2 - Regulatory Dynamics and Practical Implications: Laws, legislation, and guidelines are essential to define the playing field for the investment. At the end of this module, you will understand how the different legislations interact and the underlying ethical principles and assumption choices are. These will help you perform in this seemingly complex playing field.

Modules 3, 4, & 5

3 - Advanced Asset Allocation: The choices underlying asset allocation are key to generating the right long-term risk-adjusted investment returns. In this module, you will grasp the latest findings on new and emerging allocation methods such as resampling-, risk parity-, All-Weather-, and Factor Investing models. You will be able to understand and manage the practical application of portfolio allocation, for example rebalancing the portfolio and other implementation challenges.

4 - Balance Sheet Management: Balance sheet or asset and liability management (ALM) can be seen as a pioneering Dutch product. This module provides insight into strategies and implementation of balance sheet management for institutional and private investors. An important topic in this module is dynamic asset allocation, e.g. should the way pension funds allocate their money be dependent on their financial position? What are the challenges and latest academic insights? You will understand the functioning of risk models and the interpretation of the outcomes of these models, as well as methods to translate expectations into a concrete portfolio. You will be able to independently interpret existing and new scientific articles on anomalies.

5 - The Future of Selection, Monitoring, and Evaluation: Selection, monitoring, and evaluation processes provide investors with essential feedback on strategy implementation in order to improve its forward-thinking and long-term results. Upon completion of this module, you will have learned the latest practical and behavioral finance insights to be able to apply selection and monitoring in daily practice. For instance, back-test a quantitative investment strategy, or evaluate the performance of an investment fund by means of a returns-based style analysis for example.

Modules 6 & 7

The second pillar consists of four modules taught by external institutions.

6 - Enhanced Sustainable Investment in Practice: Develop the skills and competencies to fulfill both fiduciary responsibilities and meeting investment mandate requirements.

7 - Impact and long-term Investing: Understand the investment beliefs and choices behind impact and long-term investing and how it shapes investment practice and decision making.

Module 8 & 9

8 - New Investment Technologies: Understand how the latest technological developments translate into opportunities and challenges for your organisation.

9 - Lifecycle Investing and DC Management: Apply a lifecycle model and have insights into the way asset allocation is managed in a DC-pension plan context.

Module 10

The third pillar consists of three modules taught by external institutions.

10 - Understanding Board Dynamics and Interactions: Understand the impact of psychological concepts on investment decisions and translate knowledge and insights into solving organisational issues.

Module 11 & 12

11 - Investment Innovation and Change Management: Lead your organisations to the next wave of transformation.

12 - Growing your Investment Leadership: Keep your organisation fit for purpose with an adaptive culture and improve your strategic choice-making.

Pillar 1: Learn

Modules 1 & 2

The first pillar consists of five modules, taught by VU Amsterdam.
1 - Understanding Clients and Behaviors: Knowing your client should be the first step in every financial advice, and especially since the financial crisis of 2008-2009 it is the main keyword in financial supervision. In this module, we dig into a few essential elements of client profiling, such as 'What are the client’s investment beliefs?', 'What is the client’s risk appetite and how can we measure it?', and 'What behavioral biases are well known and how can we cope with these?'. The answers to these questions amongst others will provide you with building blocks to make a sound and “supervisory proof” investment policy statement of your client.
2 - Regulatory Dynamics and Practical Implications: Laws, legislation, and guidelines are essential to define the playing field for the investment. At the end of this module, you will understand how the different legislations interact and the underlying ethical principles and assumption choices are. These will help you perform in this seemingly complex playing field.

Modules 3, 4, & 5

3 - Advanced Asset Allocation: The choices underlying asset allocation are key to generating the right long-term risk-adjusted investment returns. In this module, you will grasp the latest findings on new and emerging allocation methods such as resampling-, risk parity-, All-Weather-, and Factor Investing models. You will be able to understand and manage the practical application of portfolio allocation, for example rebalancing the portfolio and other implementation challenges.
4 - Balance Sheet Management: Balance sheet or asset and liability management (ALM) can be seen as a pioneering Dutch product. This module provides insight into strategies and implementation of balance sheet management for institutional and private investors. An important topic in this module is dynamic asset allocation, e.g. should the way pension funds allocate their money be dependent on their financial position? What are the challenges and latest academic insights? You will understand the functioning of risk models and the interpretation of the outcomes of these models, as well as methods to translate expectations into a concrete portfolio. You will be able to independently interpret existing and new scientific articles on anomalies.
5 - The Future of Selection, Monitoring, and Evaluation: Selection, monitoring, and evaluation processes provide investors with essential feedback on strategy implementation in order to improve its forward-thinking and long-term results. Upon completion of this module, you will have learned the latest practical and behavioral finance insights to be able to apply selection and monitoring in daily practice. For instance, back-test a quantitative investment strategy, or evaluate the performance of an investment fund by means of a returns-based style analysis for example.
Pillar 2: Change

Modules 6 & 7

The second pillar consists of four modules taught by external institutions.

6 - Enhanced Sustainable Investment in Practice: Develop the skills and competencies to fulfill both fiduciary responsibilities and meeting investment mandate requirements.
7 - Impact and long-term Investing: Understand the investment beliefs and choices behind impact and long-term investing and how it shapes investment practice and decision making.

Module 8 & 9

8 - New Investment Technologies: Understand how the latest technological developments translate into opportunities and challenges for your organisation.
9 - Lifecycle Investing and DC Management: Apply a lifecycle model and have insights into the way asset allocation is managed in a DC-pension plan context.
Pillar 3: Lead

Module 10

The third pillar consists of three modules taught by external institutions.
10 - Understanding Board Dynamics and Interactions: Understand the impact of psychological concepts on investment decisions and translate knowledge and insights into solving organisational issues.

Module 11 & 12

11 - Investment Innovation and Change Management: Lead your organisations to the next wave of transformation.
12 - Growing your Investment Leadership: Keep your organisation fit for purpose with an adaptive culture and improve your strategic choice-making.

In-company

Contact Michelle Habets to learn more about the programme.

Need help with your choice?

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.

Mail us at professionals@vu.nl

For questions about how the program is organised, please contact Emiel Erbé

+31 20 598 6118

pgo.im.sbe@vu.nl

RBA Program

Pillar 1: Learn

Modules 3, 4, & 5

Pillar 2: Change

Module 8 & 9

Pillar 3: Lead

Module 11 & 12

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