Audience
- Portfolio and PMO managers responsible for investment recommendations.
- Sponsors and executives deciding where organisational capacity should go.
- Strategic planners and change leaders coordinating competing initiatives.
Project management
Managing Portfolios — APMG
Explore how portfolios connect organisational strategy, investment and delivery.
Learning with a practical purpose.
Choose investments that move the organisation forward while respecting the capacity available to deliver them. Managing Portfolios gives you a structured way to compare initiatives, challenge assumptions and recommend what to start, sequence or stop. Work through an original digital-services portfolio in which different sponsors compete for the same specialists. Teaching and course completion certification are provided through Kent Business College UK.
This weekly online route comprises one semester module of 14 two-hour sessions, providing 28 live teaching hours plus applied preparation. KBC offers the Managing Portfolios Professional preparation route using Stephen Jenner’s guidance. The indicative plan below develops practical portfolio judgement; the named APMG qualification, examination booking and any included materials are confirmed in your offer. Successful external assessment is required for the professional certification.
Live onlineTeaching through Kent Business College, UK
2 hoursOne live session each teaching week
14 sessionsA semester for each module
28 live hoursPer module, plus independent study
The outline below is a 14-session online module, with one two-hour live session each teaching week. Reading weeks, breaks and additional activities follow the agreed cohort calendar. The cohort syllabus, full route, dates, fees, independent study and assessment requirements are confirmed before enrolment.
Who this module is designed for.
Starting knowledge and preparation
- Be familiar with business cases or the delivery of organisational change.
- Bring a portfolio challenge or use the supplied fictional case; confidential employer information is unnecessary.
What you will work towards.
- Connect proposed investments to specific strategic objectives.
- Use transparent criteria to prioritise competing initiatives.
- Evaluate portfolio capacity, dependencies and uncertainty together.
- Present a defensible recommendation to an investment board.
Explore the 14-session learning plan.
Explore the focus and practical output of each teaching session. Open individual sessions below, or expand the complete plan.
Session 01 The portfolio question
Define the organisational problem and distinguish a portfolio decision from a project decision.
Practical output: A clear portfolio decision brief.
Session 02 Making strategy usable
Translate broad ambitions into objectives that can guide investment choices and trade-offs.
Practical output: A strategy-to-investment map.
Session 03 Understanding the pipeline
Build an initiative inventory and expose gaps in sponsorship, evidence and ownership.
Practical output: An initial portfolio inventory.
Session 04 Testing investment cases
Challenge benefit assumptions, costs and alternatives before assigning an attractive score.
Practical output: A business-case review template.
Session 05 Defining selection criteria
Create criteria that make competing priorities visible without hiding judgement behind a formula.
Practical output: A transparent decision framework.
Session 06 Prioritising initiatives
Compare investments under different weights and explain why rankings change between scenarios.
Practical output: A sensitivity-tested priority list.
Session 07 Understanding capacity
Estimate scarce specialist capacity and identify where simultaneous starts create delivery problems.
Practical output: A portfolio capacity picture.
Session 08 Managing dependencies
Trace enabling work and shared assumptions across initiatives that appear independent.
Practical output: A practical dependency map.
Session 09 Balancing the portfolio
Examine combinations of investment across timing, value, uncertainty and organisational commitments.
Practical output: Alternative portfolio scenarios.
Session 10 Governance and decisions
Specify who recommends, approves and revisits investment decisions as conditions change.
Practical output: An investment governance calendar.
Session 11 Tracking value
Select measures that reveal contribution to objectives and changes in benefit confidence.
Practical output: A concise portfolio scorecard.
Session 12 Changing commitments
Practise sequencing, pausing or stopping work when the investment case no longer holds.
Practical output: A change or stop recommendation.
Session 13 Communicating the choices
Prepare a board discussion that explains consequences for sponsors, teams and customers.
Practical output: An executive decision presentation.
Session 14 Portfolio review
Defend the recommended investment mix and review learning through qualification-style scenarios.
Practical output: A complete portfolio recommendation.
Apply the learning
The digital-services investment board
Act as the portfolio adviser to a growing service organisation. Recommend a combination of initiatives within a constrained budget and specialist capacity. Show the alternatives you rejected, the assumptions that matter most and the conditions under which the board should revisit its decision.
Your project evidence can include
- Prioritised portfolio with transparent selection criteria.
- Capacity, dependency and scenario analysis.
- Board paper and performance review approach.
Use anonymised, public or suitable synthetic material where workplace information is confidential. The issued assessment brief confirms the required evidence.
Assessment, feedback and certification.
- Short investment decisions and facilitated peer challenge.
- A final portfolio proposal supported by a reasoned presentation.
- KBC course completion evidence is separate from the APMG Managing Portfolios Professional examination.
Teaching and the relevant course certificate are provided through Kent Business College in the UK. A Kent Business College course certificate is distinct from a separate professional-body qualification or examination. Eligibility, the exact award and any examination inclusions are confirmed for the chosen route.
Questions worth asking.
Is Managing Portfolios the same as MoP?
Managing Portfolios Professional and Management of Portfolios (MoP) are distinct qualifications. Your offer will name the exact preparation and examination route.
Can I use this in a smaller organisation?
Yes. The casework asks you to scale the decision process to the size of the investment and the organisation’s capacity.
Do I need to manage every project myself?
No. Portfolio learning focuses on investment choices, coordination and oversight. Delivery managers remain responsible for managing their individual initiatives.
Programme references.
Further reading and programme references · reviewed 18 October 2026