Investment Management Standard
Build the capability to make better strategic and investment decisions and realise better outcomes
Fankhauser & Associates is the only provider officially approved by the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) to deliver Investment Management Standard (IMS) training across Australia and New Zealand.
Whether you're developing your own expertise or strengthening capability across your organisation, the Investment Management Standard provides a practical, proven framework for defining genuine need, identifying measurable Benefits, developing and testing Response Options, and shaping credible investment Solutions.
It helps professionals, decision-makers and teams apply a disciplined, evidence-based approach to policy, programs, business cases and investment decisions — building greater clarity about what needs to change, what value should be created and how best to respond.
What is the Investment Management Standard (IMS) and Why Does it Matter?
Every organisation makes strategic and investment decisions that shape its future. Whether responding through infrastructure, technology, services, programs or policy, making good decisions requires more than identifying a preferred solution. It requires clarity about the need for change, the value to be created and the best way to respond.
The Investment Management Standard (IMS) is a practical, proven framework that brings discipline to this thinking. It provides professionals, leaders and organisations with a consistent approach to defining genuine Problems, identifying measurable Benefits, developing and testing Response Options and shaping credible Solutions.
As governments, businesses and not-for-profit organisations face increasing financial, service, social and workforce pressures, the IMS provides a structured way to strengthen strategic and investment decision-making capability and direct resources toward greater value.
Organisations use the IMS to:
Develop stronger, evidence-based business cases
Shape policy and programs around clearly defined need and measurable value
Compare and prioritise competing investments with greater confidence
Strengthen strategic and investment planning
Define, monitor and realise intended Benefits
Improve the quality and consistency of organisational decision-making
At its core, the IMS defines an investment as “the commitment of an organisation's resources with the expectation of receiving a benefit.” This broad definition means the IMS can be applied well beyond individual projects — across policy, programs, portfolios, organisational change and strategic planning.
By applying the IMS consistently, individuals and organisations build the capability to make clearer, evidence-based strategic and investment decisions and achieve greater value from the resources they commit.
Investment Management Principles and IMS Training
The Investment Management Standard (IMS) is underpinned by three practical principles that support better strategic and investment decision-making:
Informed and evidence-based discussion – bring together the people who understand the issue, test assumptions and establish the quality of the evidence.
Clear, simple logic – express the investment story in a way that can be readily understood, tested and communicated.
Benefits defined early and tracked – establish the value sought before committing to a Solution and measure whether that value is ultimately realised.
These principles are applied through a disciplined line of enquiry that progressively develops the investment logic:
Problem Definition – Define the genuine investment need and establish a shared, evidence-based understanding of the Problems.
Benefit Definition – Define the measurable Benefits and KPIs that describe the value to be created.
Response Definition – Develop and evaluate genuine Response Options and identify the preferred Response and supporting Interventions.
Solution Definition – Define the Business Changes and enabling Assets required to implement the preferred Response and shape the Strategic Solution.
Official IMS training delivered by Fankhauser & Associates builds the knowledge, practical skills and confidence to understand, apply and facilitate this approach.
Whether you're developing your own expertise or strengthening capability across your organisation, the IMS can be applied across individual initiatives, policy, programs, portfolios, strategic planning and organisational change.
The IMS follows a clear line of enquiry from defining the need to shaping the preferred Solution.
