Asset Management Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Asset Management facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which metric expresses an asset's failure probability as the number of failures expected per unit of operating time? → Failure Rate (λ)
2. Which US federal act established requirements for asset management plans for surface transportation assets? → Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21)
3. Which internal control is most important for preventing ghost assets in an asset register? → Physical asset verification and reconciliation
4. Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), developed by Harry Markowitz, suggests investors should focus on: → Portfolio-level risk-return tradeoff through diversification
5. Which insurance product specifically covers physical loss or damage to a company's owned or leased property and equipment? → Commercial Property Insurance
6. What is 'deferred maintenance' in asset management? → Maintenance that has been postponed beyond its originally scheduled date
7. Which concept in US public company reporting requires that material information about asset values and risks be disclosed to investors? → Materiality Principle
8. Which US standard-setting body issues Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) that govern asset reporting for public companies? → FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board)
9. Under the Investment Company Act of 1940, mutual funds managing pooled investor assets must comply with restrictions on: → Leverage, concentration, affiliated transactions, and required disclosures
10. What is 'net book value' of an asset? → Original cost minus accumulated depreciation
11. What does the term 'useful life' mean in asset accounting? → The period over which the asset is expected to provide economic benefit
12. A capitalization threshold is used in asset accounting to: → Determine the minimum cost at which items are recorded as fixed assets
13. What is predictive maintenance primarily based on? → Data analysis and condition monitoring to predict impending failures
14. When an asset is classified as 'held for sale' under US GAAP (ASC 360), it is measured at: → Lower of carrying amount or fair value less costs to sell
15. What does 'asset allocation' refer to in investment portfolio management? → Distribution of investments across asset classes such as equities, bonds, and cash
16. Which financial statement directly shows the net book value of a company's long-term assets? → Balance Sheet
17. Environmental asset compliance in the US is primarily governed by regulations from which agency? → EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
18. What term describes the cost to replace an existing asset with a new asset of equivalent functionality? → Replacement cost
19. What is a Digital Twin in asset management? → A virtual replica of a physical asset that mirrors its real-time condition and behavior
20. Which depreciation method allocates an equal amount of expense each year over the asset's useful life? → Straight-line depreciation
21. What is the primary purpose of IT asset discovery tools in an ITAM program? → Automatically detect and inventory hardware and software across the network
22. Which US federal agency oversees the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS)? → FHWA (Federal Highway Administration)
23. Which US federal regulation requires financial institutions to maintain programs to combat money laundering through their asset and transaction monitoring? → Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) / AML Requirements
24. Which decision framework helps infrastructure managers determine the most cost-effective time to intervene in an asset's deterioration curve? → Optimized decision-making (ODM) or intervention timing analysis
25. Which cybersecurity risk is most relevant to organizations using IoT-connected asset monitoring systems? → Unauthorized access to operational technology (OT) networks via connected devices
26. What does FMEA stand for in asset risk management? → Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
27. Which organization provides the ITIL framework that defines best practices for IT service and asset management? → AXELOS (formerly OGC)
28. What does 'risk tolerance' mean in an asset management context? → The level of risk an organization is willing to accept
29. Which process ensures that new IT hardware assets are properly recorded in the ITAM system from the moment of acquisition? → Asset Onboarding / Intake Process
30. Which concept describes the loss of purchasing power of a fixed-income asset's future cash flows due to rising prices? → Inflation Risk (Purchasing Power Risk)