How to review your investment policy

What this policy needs to do

Academy trusts must have an investment policy in place to manage and track their financial exposure and ensure value for money, as set out in the Academy Trust Handbook (paragraph 2.22).

As well as having the policy, the trust must also:

• Make investment decisions with care and skill, taking advice as appropriate from a professional adviser
• Invest so that security of funds takes precedence over maximising revenue
• Make sure investment decisions are in the trust's best interests
• Review both the investments and the policy regularly

You'll want to see that all of these duties are reflected in the policy. To make this clear, the policy should include:

• Who is responsible for tracking and reporting on investments, forecasting cashflow and making decisions on investments
• Some tasks could be given to the finance committee, some to the chief financial officer (CFO)
• A statement of investment principles and procedures
• The monitoring arrangements for the policy

1. What