From the AEGIS e-Journal, Volume 14 Number 4, April 2011
Credentialed Profession The Association of Due Diligence Professionals (ADDP) was founded to provide continuing education, establish professional standards, and provide a forum for professionals to follow the rapidly evolving discipline of Due Diligence. ADDP is the first professional association to recognize due diligence as a unique and separate field, discipline, and industry. They provide the opportunity to earn the equivalent of your Ph.D. in D.D. so one can avoid all of those with a M.S. in B.S. As odd as this may sound, the ADDP will, in time, fill the same role for Due Diligence Professional, that Association of Certified Anti Money Launderers (ACAMS) has done for money laundering and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) has done for fraud investigations and recovery. ADDP, in its early formation, was driven by a recognition of the need for an independent organization to proactively educate and assist with the understanding of Due Diligence to aid management make informed choices and lower risk by using an earlier version of the discipline, originally termed ‘management due diligence’. ADDP was formally launched in 2009 and is the culmination of 27 years of pioneering efforts to establish the formal discipline of Due Diligence adapted to an increasingly complex world. Based on formal methodology perfected from extensive research, and tested in the real world, the guiding principles of the ADDP are pragmatic, practical, and predictable. With a history dating back to 1984, ADDP brings the qualities of traditional Due Diligence together with a vibrant and contemporary understanding of the issues decision makers face. Due Diligence is simply the process of pairing representations with facts, and separating truth from fiction – one would think. Yet look at all of the Due Diligence failures around us. Billions vanished, Madoff in prison and now banks, accounting firms, and regulators are being sued to make the investors whole. Where were these “professionals” when it mattered – really where? All claimed to have done “Due Diligence” yet look at the gaping, jaw dropping, failures of their methods. The point I am trying to make here is – they may have been good accountants, bankers and regulators – but they lacked the training in Due Diligence to actually know what questions had to be asked… You see they got good answers to the questions they asked, these supposedly skilled accountants, bankers and regulators just did not know the correct questions to ask. Modern Due Diligence is a structured, systematic, consistent, and efficient methodology of gathering information to assist in risk assessment and decision management. In assessing the methodologies employed, The Due Diligence Standards from ADDP are used to assign precise, optimum, and practical procedural ratings to the overall process. It really is a science – so as to insure the right questions are asked. ADDP has Certification Programs bringing the due diligence discipline into the 21st century, to elevate the professionals ability to deliver choice support that is much stronger, dependable, defensible, and with the Due Diligence Index it is possible to rate (score) every part, every function of every organization and thus quantifiable. The Everyday Due Diligence Tools (EDDTs) bring the level of the full Modern Due Diligence science that may be too much for a given project, the ability, with the EDDTs to apply the science to more of everyday choices. ADDP has the infrastructure to support and continuously improve the discipline and ADDP’s Science of Due Diligence™. Local or global, ADDP is providing education, setting standards, certifying professionals, being an advocate, developing tools and research for the profession of Due Diligence. You will enjoy the training as much as you will the writings and newsletter from the ADDP. Membership Information http://duediligenceassociation.org/ Membership has a two fold benefit, it is about both gaining access to the knowledge base training and certification of the ADDP – but also – ADDP members get access to opportunities, should they come available, for research and consulting assignments as part of a network of ADDP professionals. These opportunities cover a wide range of due diligence requirements in firms ranging from large publicly traded companies to small consultancies. ADDP members can access these private resources to augment the Due Diligence services they provide. Additional information is available at or by email at: www.duediligenceassociation.org information@duediligenceassociation.org ADDP is a non-profit organization. (Disclosure – several professionals within our organization are members and are very much enjoying it.) Tell them you heard about the association from the Aegis Journal.