Can the CDDA program improve your due diligence audit?

In this article, we’ll introduce you to the CDDA program and explore how it can be beneficial for your career and your ability to improve your due diligence audit. We’ll also take a look at the program’s unique content verification process that allows it to claim to be the gold standard in the industry.

This verification process offers up a host of interesting insights in its own right, being based on a survey of industry practitioners such as yourself. We’ll look at a couple of those here and more in subsequent articles in this series. You can also download and explore the full findings of the verification process yourself right away.

What is the CDDA program?

The Chartered Due Diligence Analyst (CDDA) designation denotes a superior level of understanding of international Due Diligence principles and processes in both investment due diligence and operational due diligence. Individual who pass the CDDA review are recognized as a Due Diligence authority and the knowledge they are proven to hold helps mitigate institutional risks. The qualification is internationally recognized as the gold standard in Due Diligence and will help you to improve your due diligence audit.

How is the CDDA program content verified?

The CDAA program content was independently verified by an exercise known as practice analysis. The practice analysis study was conducted by a specialist third party consulting firm to ensure the result was seen as independently verified.

The process had two main parts:

• Firstly the common and essential responsibilities and tasks performed by due diligence analysts was identified through a series of meetings with industry subject matter experts.

• Secondly and most importantly, these findings were then validated through a survey of practitioners, to define which should be assessed on future certification examinations for due-diligence professionals.

In short, the qualification content was shaped and endorsed by people doing your job in the real world, making it the most useful and practical qualification of its kind.

What did the practitioners think of the proposed course content?

• The analysis found that almost every proposed general knowledge area and all of the general skills scored a rating of “important” to survey respondents in their roles as analysts.

• Furthermore, it was found that each of the investment due diligence and operational due diligence responsibilities (bar one) rated at least “Important” on the survey scale used.

• While some responsibilities are performed fairly infrequently (less than monthly), they are all performed in some capacity by the majority of due diligence analysts, and are considered to be at least somewhat important.

• 97% of surveyed due diligence analysts indicated that the proposed course content adequately covered the key responsibilities performed by successful due diligence analysts.

These findings allow us to be confident in our assertion of the usefulness of the CDDA program for due diligence analysts and assisting them in improving their due diligence audit. All practitioners are invited to download and assess the full practice analysis findings for themselves before enrolling on the course.