1. © InvestAssure 2015 paul.wenman@investassure.net
Re-shaping Assurance
Whether you are concerned with supply chains, investment portfolios or customer bases, there is
a need to get assurance that business risks are being managed. Traditionally, the audit has been
the main tool for achieving this. But many doubt the overall cost-effectiveness of large corporate
audit programmes. Although the audit will always be an important tool, we believe that it can be
more cost-effective as part of a wider assurance process which uses web based support.
By combining SMART and NIMBUS and applying them intelligently in conjunction with targeted
audits, we believe much more cost-effective assurance and risk management can be achieved.
SMART
SMART facilitates the rapid communication of corporate requirements (policies, codes, etc.) and
guidelines across a wide network of users. Combined with integral tools for self-assessment,
benchmarking, accessing good practice guidance, improvement planning and optional reporting,
the SMART can form the core tool for an assurance programme.
NIMBUS
NIMBUS monitors the growing amount of 3rd party information becoming available via web
sources on corporate allegations, facility incidents, non-compliances, corruption, labour disputes
etc. In many cases this information would not be identified unless and until an audit is
undertaken, resulting in potentially significant unknown risks. NIMBUS provides feedback all year
round—unlike an audit, which only gives a snapshot view.

2. © InvestAssure 2015 paul.wenman@investassure.net
SMART Management and Assurance of Business Risks
Managing business risks across commercial networks can be complex and costly. There is a need
to: 1. Inform 2. Assess Compliance; 3. Improve Performance; 4. Deliver Assurance. Each of these
steps presents huge challenges for corporate managers. SMART is an online platform for cost-
effectively easing the process, enabling flows of information between managers at corporate and
asset levels on compliance and risk management.
SMART can support three levels of an assurance programme. Simply communicating expectations
effectively, along with practical guidance and tools for benchmarking and improvement planning,
provides a first level of assurance to be achieved cost-effectively and rapidly across a whole
supply chain or portfolio. Optional self-disclosure of self-assessments and improvement plans can
be used as a second level of assurance to corporate managers. Thirdly, these can then form the
basis of a ‘verification and support’ audit, should the facility/company be considered high risk.
Simple, Logical, Intuitive
SMART has been developed with these three criteria as drivers. We have seen from decades of
business consulting and assurance that simple tools are most rapidly adopted. The workflow fits
logically with the typical risk management and assurance process. The user interface builds upon
the natural intuition to read, understand, test and plan. Instead of relying on separate PDFs,
databases and spreadsheets, SMART users can use a single platform to plug into an shared
process for management and assurance of risks.

3. © InvestAssure 2015 paul.wenman@investassure.net
N I M B U S - Monitoring the Web for Business Risks
The web is now the de facto channel for reporting corporate performance - the good, bad and
ugly. If a company gets out of line, word usually gets onto the web. If it's your supplier, investee
or customer, you need to know. Acting as a corporate risk radar, N I M B U S keeps watch on
corporate behaviour in emerging markets. It monitors the web for reports of incidents and non-
compliance, allegations and negative commentary which could cause business risks.
Our international research network and topic experts carefully filter and categorise alerts initially
identified from automated web scans of news sites, NGO articles, blogs and social media. This
team can optionally undertake focused investigations, interviewing NGOs, communities and/or
employees.
Portfolio Monitoring
N I M B U S can provide a cost-effective, solid basis to an assurance programme. By delivering
regular risk-alert reports, we can help monitor portfolios of suppliers, investees or customers
who may be causing environmental or community impacts or are involved in ethical allegations.
This allows you to maintain an ethical risk radar and deal with potential problems earlier, before
they become a crisis. In conjunction with other information, such as SMART self-disclosures, this
can help target audits to highest risk companies and facilities.