Online Free Courses:

Course 1

The Language and Tools of Financial AnalysisUpcoming Session: 

Duration: 4 weeks

Estimated Workload: 4-6 hours/week

Module 1: An introduction to accounting principles: The language of capital markets

Define the objectives of the key financial statements issued by companies.

Explain the core elements of a company's financial statements.

Distinguish between classes of assets and liabilities on the basis of individual characteristics

of these elements.

Module 2: An intuition-based introduction to financial analysis

Demonstrate how the profitability of a company can be measured in a way that allows

comparison with other similar companies.

Employ measurement tools that provide information about the risk of financial distress for a

company

Utilize ratio analysis to demonstrate whether the assets of the company are being used

efficiently – relative to comparable companies.

Module 3: The links between accounting principles and financial decision-making

Identify the possible shortcomings associated with using published financial statements to

conduct financial analysis.

Understand the role of accounting practices by financial managers and internal auditors to

misrepresent a company's financial position.

Understand how the management-shareholder agency relationship can promote poor

corporate practices such as earnings management.

Module 4: Value measurement via discounted cash flow analysis

Demonstrate how the discounted cash flow technique explicitly allows for 

the time value of money via the use of a risk-adjusted discount rate.

Identify the three key factors that are reflected in the discount rate used to evaluate cash

flows in a discounted cash flow analysis.

Understand the situations where discounted cash flow analysis might be challenging – in

light of the individual characteristics of the asset being addressed.

Course 2

The Role of Global Capital Markets

Upcoming Session: TBADuration: TBA

Estimated Workload: 4-6 hours/week

Module 1: An introduction to key global markets

Understand the financial market environment in which corporations operate

Explain which financial markets are reflected in the financial statements of a corporation and

how the corporation interacts with specific financial markets

Define the financial intermediation role of global capital markets

Distinguish primary from secondary financial markets, wholesale from retail financial

markets, and different trading platforms

Module 2: Market functions and the key players

Understand the role of financial intermediation to facilitate the flow of funds either through

direct or indirect financing

Understand the importance of trading volume and liquidity in providing continuous,

transparent and fair price discovery

Explain the drivers behind changes in demand and supply of financial assets

Explain how efficient markets prioritise investment opportunities and allocate capital

optimally

Explain how markets allow investors (and corporations) to diversify and manage risk

Module 3: Opportunities and constraints in global markets

Define liquidity as a concept, and explain how it can be measured

Explain how insider trading, exploiting non-public material information, and manipulation,

undermines market fairness and integrity

Understand how markets ‘discipline’ corporations and thereby resolve an agency problem

between shareholders and management

Explain how rating agencies (can) contribute to the efficiency of financial markets

Module 4: Identifying links between global markets

Understand that domestic financial markets are connected in price discovery, liquidity and

risk

Understand spillovers and contagion between global financial markets

Explain how globalization of capital markets contributed to unexpected market, liquidity and

transparency risks underpinning the global financial crisis

Explain the regulatory response to the global financial crisis

Identify new developments in global capital markets

Course 3

Corporate Financial Decision-Making for Value CreationUpcoming Session: 

Duration: 4 weeks

Estimated Workload: 4-6 hours/week

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Module 1: Alternative approaches to making the optimal investment decision

Explain the key discounted cash flow (DCF) approaches to investment evaluation

Explain the role, and relative popularity, of non-DCF approaches to investment evaluation

Demonstrate how sensitivity analysis might be employed and explain the key assumptions

underlying the technique

Module 2: Raising capital and the choices firms face

Explain the mechanics behind a firm being listed for the first time on a stock exchange

Survey the evidence concerning the initial pricing of IPOs and describe the reasons put

forward in the literature for this empirical evidence

Describe the impact of debt on returns to shareholders and explain why we might expect

firms with particular characteristics to have different levels of debt

Describe the various influences on the firm’s payout policy

Module 3: Creating value via takeovers, mergers and corporate restructuring

Describe the key terms used in, and the mechanics behind, the evaluation of takeovers,

mergers and acquisitions

Develop an approach to financial modelling that clearly answers the question “what is the

wealth impact of this deal for shareholders?”

Explain the different forms of corporate restructuring

Describe the empirical evidence with respect to the wealth effects of various categories of

deals undertaken in the market for corporate control

Module 4: Alternative approaches to risk management

Define and differentiate between forwards and futures contracts

Describe the key features of options contracts and explain the key influences on their value

Illustrate how different options contracts might be combined with positions in the underlying

asset to provide a desired payoff structure

Explain how risk management might create value for shareholders

Course 4

Alternative Approaches to Valuation and InvestmentUpcoming Session: 

Duration: 4 weeks

Estimated Workload: 4-6 hours/week

Module 1: Defining attitudes towards and alternative measures of risk 

Explain how the total risk of a company’s returns is measured

Differentiate between three alternative attitudes towards risk and return and describe how

these differences might lead to different rankings of investment proposals

Describe how diversification might lead to a benefit for risk-averse investors and explain the

key influence on the benefit achieved

Module 2: Linking risk with expected return

Clearly differentiate between systematic and unsystematic risk

Explain the use of the Capital Asset Pricing Model and describe how it might be implemented

in practice

Describe the empirical evidence concerning how well the CAPM does in practice in

explaining realized returns and then explain how multi-factor models have sought to

address this evidence

Module 3: Using financial statement analysis to measure cost of capital

Define the Weighted Average Cost of Capital formula

Describe the nature of the key inputs into the WACC – specifically with respect to values and

rates of return

Explain how an unlisted firm might estimate its own WACC

Identify the shortcomings of the WACC approach, especially for firms that operate over a

diverse range of industries

Module 4: Addressing financial reality with real options analysis

Explain why NPV analysis might lead to incorrect investment decisions

Define – using option pricing terminology – the nature of the options to invest, expand and/or

abandon projects

Illustrate how decision-trees might be used to approximate the value of a real option and

then describe the natural limitations of this approach

Describe the key conclusions of survey research that has examined the take-up of real

options analysis by corporations and then describe the situations where real options

analysis is most likely lead to different decisions relative to standard NPV analysis