Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Program

The Chief Investment Officer Program prepares investment leaders to move into broader portfolio, governance, and investment-decision responsibilities at the CIO level. Following the logic of the CIO role, participants learn to define the opportunity set, translate investment beliefs into allocation and implementation choices, govern risk and liquidity, prepare for regime change, and defend decisions before stakeholders. The program also examines where AI and advanced analytics can strengthen investment workflows and where they introduce new model, data, governance, and cybersecurity risks for their firms.

This Program Equips You To:

• Evaluate global markets, economic regimes, and asset-class trends to inform capital allocation decisions.
• Communicate and defend investment recommendations before boards, investment committees, and other stakeholders under uncertainty.
• Design and oversee portfolios across public, private, and real assets, balancing risk, return, liquidity, and stakeholder objectives.
• Assess investment strategies and managers using performance attribution, risk frameworks, and due diligence.
• Apply regulatory, tax, fiduciary, and governance frameworks while evaluating the role of AI and advanced analytics.
• Develop investment operating models and strengthen stakeholder communication and decision-making.

By the end of the program, you will be better prepared to lead investment functions and make high-stakes, data-driven decisions with clarity and discipline.

This program is designed for senior investment decision-makers responsible for institutional capital and for experienced investment professionals moving into broader portfolio, governance, and stakeholder-facing responsibilities, including:

• Directors, heads, and managing directors of investments
• Investment strategists, portfolio leaders, and heads of asset allocation
• Early-tenure CIOs and deputy CIOs stepping into broader portfolio responsibility
• Leaders across equities, alternatives, and portfolio management

Please note that guest speakers and instructors are representative and subject to change.

The program is designed as a progressive learning journey that moves from foundational asset strategy to portfolio policy, implementation, governance, regime-change stress testing, AI-enabled decision support, and capstone defense.

Live Online Sessions
(14 sessions over 10 weeks)

Two live online sessions per week (90 minutes each); Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8–9:30 a.m. CT

Course 1: Asset Landscape
(4 sessions over 2 weeks)

Examine public, private, and real assets while exploring the market forces, investment beliefs, and constraints that shape portfolio decisions.

Modules:

• Public Markets in the New Regime: Analyze evolving equity and fixed-income market dynamics in a changing economic environment.
• Private Markets and the Illiquidity Premium: Explore private-market opportunities, illiquidity premiums, and portfolio implications.
• Real Assets, Infrastructure, and the Inflation-Sensitive Portfolio: Assess real assets as tools for inflation sensitivity, diversification, and long-term value creation.
• Investment Philosophy and Portfolio Objectives: Translate investment opportunities, constraints, and beliefs into portfolio design decisions.

Course 2: Portfolio Design and Management
(6 sessions over 3 weeks)

Design institutional portfolios through asset allocation, manager selection, risk management, and performance evaluation.

Modules:

• Strategic Asset Allocation in Practice: Evaluate capital-market assumptions and their impact on portfolio construction.
• Manager Selection and Due Diligence: Assess managers through alignment, skill persistence, fees, and operational diligence.
• Alpha Capture Programs: Explore approaches to identifying, measuring, and scaling sources of alpha.
• Systematic Investing: Examine quantitative investing, factor strategies, and portfolio construction frameworks.
• Liquidity, Rebalancing, and Portfolio Operations: Develop approaches to liquidity management, rebalancing, and portfolio operations.
• Behavioral Alpha and Performance Attribution: Use attribution and behavioral analysis to strengthen investment decision-making.

Course 3: Regulations, Taxes, and Governance
(2 sessions over 1 week)

Examine the regulatory, tax, fiduciary, and governance frameworks that influence investment decisions.

Modules:

• The Fiduciary and Regulatory Frame: Understand fiduciary obligations, regulatory requirements, and investment constraints.
• Tax-Aware Investing and Governance Architecture: Explore tax-efficient investing and effective governance structures.

Course 4: Risk, Crisis, and Regime Change
(2 sessions over 1 week)

Explore how CIOs respond when the assumptions underpinning portfolio strategy are stressed or challenged by changing market conditions. Examine how to recognize signals of regime change, adjust institutional posture, preserve liquidity and optionality, activate governance triggers, and communicate with boards and investment committees under uncertainty.

Modules:

• Recognizing the Break: Identify signals of structural market and economic change.
• Posture Under Extremes: Prepare portfolios and governance processes for high-impact scenarios.

Live sessions will be held every Tuesday and Thursday from 8–9:30 a.m. CT. Participants will be notified of any schedule changes.

On-Campus Immersion
(2 days)

Engage in an immersive, application-focused learning experience that brings together AI, leadership, and the capstone project through instructor-led discussions, interactive exercises, and practical investment scenarios.

AI Investment Leadership: Evaluate practical applications of traditional machine learning, generative AI, and agentic systems across the investment lifecycle, including market monitoring, manager selection, portfolio analysis, decision support, and risk governance.

CIO Leadership Class + Capstone Defense: Examine stakeholder dynamics and high-stakes communication in the CIO role, including board and investment committee dynamics and crisis communication. The day culminates in a capstone simulation in which participants defend a stress-tested Investment Policy Statement before a mock investment committee, practicing the discipline required to explain and defend investment decisions under regime-change conditions.

Capstone Project

As a culminating experience, participants develop an Investment Policy Statement that reflects the major decisions of the CIO role: investment beliefs and constraints, portfolio objectives, strategic allocation, implementation architecture, manager oversight, liquidity and rebalancing policy, governance triggers, and risk posture. The IPS is stress-tested against a regime-change scenario and defended before a mock investment committee during the on-campus experience.

Weekly Time Commitment:
5–7 hours during each class week, inclusive of live sessions.

Live Online Sessions:
Two 90-minute sessions per week, scheduled in the mornings Central Time.

Attendance:
Sessions are built around live exchange with faculty and peers, but recordings are provided.

Independent Work:
Roughly 2–4 hours per week of self-paced preparation and applied work, completed on your own.

In-Person Experience:
A two-day focused in-person immersion designed to deepen learning, connection, and peer exchange.

Upon successful completion of the program, you will receive a Certificate of Completion from Chicago Booth Executive Education. A digital credential is also awarded and may be shared across professional platforms.

Participants gain access to exclusive benefits, including:

• CXO Networking & Events: Invitations to future in-person CXO events, panels, and networking opportunities (limited spots; additional fees may apply).
• Discounted Booth Events: Reduced registration for select programs, including the Booth Management Conference, Faculty Firesides, Economic Outlook, and Faculty in Residence sessions.
• Executive Education Savings: 10 percent tuition discount on select professional and Executive Education programs.
• Chicago Booth Review: Complimentary subscription to the flagship publication featuring faculty research, insights, and commentary.
• Alumni Network: Access to a private LinkedIn group connecting past participants across Booth’s CXO portfolio.
• Certificate & Digital Credential: Earn a Certificate of Completion and a shareable digital credential to showcase on LinkedIn.
• Exclusive Booth SWAG: Branded merchandise distributed at CXO in-person events.