Financial Management Association

This course is designed to efficiently teach accounting to students and professionals embarking on careers in finance. The course is written in a clear, easy-to-follow style that makes accounting accessible, and is filled with exercises that test and reinforce covered concepts. We begin with an analysis of accounting rules and the structure and composition of key financial filings like 10Ks and 10Qs. We introduce the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and thoroughly analyze their important inter-relationships, line-by-line, all the while using real life examples to reinforce important concepts. The course concludes with a discussion of ratio analysis.

Several areas of accounting pose particular challenges for finance professionals because they appear frequently in practice but are rarely covered in introductory accounting texts. In this exercise-intensive course, we look at less-understood accounting topics in the context of financial analysis. We start with how financial statements are adjusted by companies and analysts to show “non-GAAP” results. Next, we cover deferred taxes and the activities that most frequently create them. We move on to cover inter-company investments with a specific focus on the application of the equity method and consolidation method. We finish by addressing accounting issues that emerge from various debt-related activities such as original issue discount, PIKs, and capitalized interest. This course presumes basic accounting knowledge.

Combined with a foundation in accounting, financial statement analysis, and corporate finance, understanding how to navigate financial reports is an important part of effective financial analysis. Investment professionals live and breathe these seemingly daunting documents, and the more documents you see, the more manageable they begin to feel. Using real reports, we will review the structure and composition of some of the most commonly used financial filings, and will specifically pay attention to sections and disclosures that are most relevant for typical financial analyses. Good luck and enjoy the program!

For finance professionals, proficiency in Excel is a fundamental part of the job description. Whether you currently work in Excel at a beginner or intermediate level, this course will take you to the next level and turn you into an advanced “power” user. We’ll start with the basics before we quickly introduce you to lesser known time-saving keyboard shortcuts and powerful Excel functions and features that you can immediately put to use on the job. The only way to learn Excel is by doing, so you’ll be completing Excel exercises alongside the instructor at every step of the way.

GAAP-based financial statements included in company annual, interim and quarterly reports are increasingly becoming less relevant than “unofficial” non-GAAP/IFRS metrics. In this course, we use real-life examples to walk through the challenges and lesser-understood nuances of accurately normalizing both historical results and forecasts. We discuss the mechanics and concepts required for correctly adjusting operating models and valuation models, as well as common pitfalls associated with tax adjustments, share count adjustments and forecasting non-GAAP items in integrated financial statement models.

Investment bankers and consultants use PowerPoint differently than most. A single IB or consulting slide may contain more analysis and strategy than an entire sales presentation, and the fast pace under deadline means slides must be setup with an easy-to-work-with flexibility. Taught by consultant-turned-PowerPoint master Taylor Croonquist, Wall Street Prep’s PowerPoint Crash Course shows finance professionals and consultants the strategies and techniques they need to CRUSH their daily PowerPoint tasks and get them immediately building better slides in the real world.

Finance interviews are notoriously difficult. Firms want to make sure candidates are 100% committed before devoting considerable resources to mentor and develop new hires. So whether you’re from a top MBA program or a liberal arts school, solid preparation for tricky technical questions is an absolute MUST. Luckily, we’re here to help: This course takes you step-by-step through all the concepts you need to know and the exercises you might be asked to perform in the interview room. At completion, you’ll be able to adeptly showcase your knowledge of accounting, valuation, DCF, M&A and LBOs. Good luck!

Buy-Side Modeling is deep dive into how buy-side professionals build financial models in order to inform investment decisions. Led by a hedge fund veteran, you will build a comprehensive buy-side model step-by-step. Along the way, you will learn how the model provides a framework for determining the health of a company from available financial data and allows you to develop an “owners knowledge” of a business. You will understand how a model is used to analyze business momentum, develop a differentiated and actionable perspective on stock valuation and to identify earnings revision opportunity. We will cover Excel formatting conventions and model architecture and dive deep into key modeling concepts like the revenue build, growth forecasting, incremental margins and non-GAAP adjustments.

Building on the knowledge gained from the financial statement modeling course, you will be introduced to valuation analysis in general, and the DCF model in particular. We will continue to use Apple as the case study, and teach you how to value the company step-by-step. Along the way, you will learn how to estimate the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) in the real world, how to implement commonly used approaches to calculating terminal value, and all the nuances of DCF modeling. Finally, we will use data tables to analyze a broad range of scenarios given different assumptions.

In this course, you will develop a 3-statement model completely from scratch, inputting historical data and assumptions to project out financial statements using step-by-step instruction on selecting, locating and developing appropriate projection drivers. At completion, you will have developed a complete and comprehensive three-statement model using various supporting schedules. This course lays the foundation of Wall Street Prep’s Financial and Valuation Modeling Certification Program as well as other industry-specific financial modeling programs.

In this course, you will develop a 3-statement model completely from scratch, inputting historical data and assumptions to project out financial statements using step-by-step instruction on selecting, locating, and developing appropriate projection drivers. At completion, you will have developed a complete and comprehensive three-statement model using various supporting schedules.

Leveraged buyout (LBO) modeling is used widely by investment banks and private equity firms and is often part of a finance interview. In this course, you will learn how to build a real, complex LBO model from scratch.  You will start by learning about basic LBO concepts, typical deal structures, and current industry dynamics. You will then begin the step-by-step modeling, covering the most common and challenging issues that emerge when modeling buyouts. The course concludes with a sensitivity and scenario analysis, as well as how to build output tables that are key to any professional-grade LBO analysis.

In this course, you will learn how investment banking and corporate finance professionals model mergers and acquisitions. We’ll start with a review of the current M&A landscape, and key M&A concepts like accretion / dilution, pricing structures (exchange ratios/collars/”walk-away” rights), acquisition accounting, and the step-by-step allocation of purchase price. We will then transition to the role of the investment banker in M&A. First by looking at real pitchbooks, OMs, and fairness opinions, and then, using Apple and Disney as our case studies, you will build a pull-no-punches M&A model that analyzes such a merger, correctly incorporating pro forma balance sheet and income statement adjustments.

“Comps” analysis is the quickest, most widely used valuation methodology, and fundamental part of the core valuation skill set of investment bankers and finance professionals. In this course, trainees learn how to select and “scrub” comparables, pick the right multiples and build dynamic comps models in Excel from scratch, using real case studies, industry best practices, and sensitivity analyses.

“Comps” analysis is the quickest, most widely used valuation methodology, and fundamental part of the core valuation skill set of investment bankers and finance professionals. In this course, trainees learn how to select and “scrub” comparables, pick the right multiples and build dynamic comps models in Excel from scratch, using real case studies, industry best practices, and sensitivity analyses.

Transaction comps analysis arrives at a company’s value not by building a discounted cash flow or looking at the trading values of peers, but by looking at the purchase prices of recently acquired comparable companies. In this step-by-step course, you’ll learn how to select comparable acquisitions and find important disclosures in filings. Next, you will spread real transactions on your own. We’ll finish with a discussion about how to interpret the comp outputs and how the model results are presented in practice.

This course will teach you all about bonds. First, we’ll take a look at the role of bonds in financing governments, corporations, households and financial institutions around the world. Next, we’ll dive into bond math. You’ll learn the various calculations and concepts required to accurately analyze the large variety of fixed income products. We’ll start slow, but will quickly build up to some of the most traditionally confusing bond concepts: convexity, duration, spot rates, forward rates and the drivers of changes to the all-important yield curve. We conclude with a discussion of credit analysis and an overview of debt capital markets. Enjoy the course!

Course 1 of the Equities Markets Certification (EMC©) program. Cash Equities are the fundamental building blocks of the Equity Markets. We begin with an overview of the Equities trading floor and mapping out the different roles and responsibilities. We then take a look at exchange trading, and discuss the different order types, trading conventions and the opening and closing auctions. Next we dive into the specific roles of sales trading and sales research. We conclude by discussing all the ways a sales-trader can trade large sizes without moving markets, including order routing, and using different trading venues.

Course 2 of the Equities Markets Certification (EMC©) program. Designed for Salespeople and Traders, this course provides an overview of equity valuation including the P/E ratio and EV/EBTIDA. We begin with an overview of valuation metrics and drivers of the income statement. We the discuss EPS and how we arrive at consensus EPS. After discussing the concepts, we see how salespeople, traders and investors use Bloomberg to analyze financial statements and run a DCF and comps analysis. We then explore the role of Investor Relations and company guidance on earnings. Finally, we discuss the Bloomberg Excel Add-in and analyze the impact of share buyback’s on Apple’s EPS.

Course 3 of the Equities Markets Certification (EMC©) program. Equity Indices such as the S&P500 drive market sentiment. We begin by discussing the major equity indices and then dive into the detail of how they are constructed and calculated. Next, we explore Asset Managers and explore how they invest funds for both institutional and retail investors. We discuss different strategies, including active versus passive funds. We conclude by discussing ETFs, an investment vehicle that has grown significantly over the past decade. Unlike mutual funds, ETFs are traded by Investment Banks and we explore the creation and redemption mechanisms and how ETF Traders profit from arbitrage opportunities.

Course 4 of the Equities Markets Certification (EMC©) program. Most traders start their day by looking at Equity Futures. This course builds on the Equity Indices, Asset Managers and ETFs course which looked at funded investments. The Equity Futures and Delta One course focuses on derivatives and achieving the same exposure using unfunded investments. We begin with an overview of futures and discuss details of the S&P500 E-mini Futures. Next, we discuss clearing and margining which are specific to derivatives. After that we discuss futures valuation and the concept of fair value and the process of rolling futures. We conclude by analyzing equity swaps or total return swaps traded by a Delta One desk and discuss how a Delta One trader would trade and hedge their position.

Course 5 of the Equities Markets Certification (EMC©) program. This course demystifies Hedge Fund Strategies and how Hedge Fund Investors evaluate Hedge Funds. We begin by discussion traditional equity hedge funds and then discussing the strategies of growing quantitative hedge funds. Next, we discuss Macro, Relative Value and Credit Hedge funds, with many of these hedge funds using leverage to magnify returns on small dislocations in the market. After an overview of the strategies, we discuss how Investors evaluate Hedge Funds, and how preferences on strategies shift based on performance. We work through the metrics Hedge Fund Investors use to evaluate Hedge Funds including annualized returns, sharpe ratio and maximum drawdowns.

Course 6 of the Equities Markets Certification (EMC©) program. How do you short a stock? In this course, we discuss the process to short a stock and walk through an example of how a hedge fund would borrow shares an asset manager through a securities lender. We discuss the fee model and economics of borrowing shares through a securities lender. Next, we analyze short interest metrics on Bloomberg including how to use screeners for Short Interest. We conclude by discussing Prime Brokerage, and services offered to Hedge Funds that go beyond just Securities Lending but also include Custody and managing derivatives collateral.

The last decade has seen exponential growth in ESG investing worldwide. Designed for those seeking to learn about the role of Sustainable Finance at an Investment Bank, this course explores exactly how this transformation happened and how the market formalized the structure and conventions for Green Bonds and Social Bonds. It discusses both from the issuer and investor perspective, why ESG, Green and Social Bonds have taken such a prominent role. It analyzes the structure and pricing of green and social bonds that the instructor has personally brought to market.

Course 1 of the Fixed Income Markets Certification (FIMC©) program. This course sets the foundations of the Fixed Income Markets, providing an overview of how Investors provide capital to Issuers through the Buy Side Investors and the Sell Side Investment Banks. We discuss the main Fixed Income Investors and how they are different have different objectives and risk tolerances. We introduce different Fixed Income Investments that match with these different Investor objectives.

Course 2 of the Fixed Income Markets Certification (FIMC©) program. We begin with an overview of how Bonds are Traded: Over the Counter and at an Investment Bank. We discuss the different desks are broker out by asset class and how bonds are quoted. We then proceed with an overview of Bonds, demystifying a Bloomberg DES screen and walking through the key features of a bonds. We discuss the concept of Coupons versus Yields. We conclude by analyzing how Investors and Traders measure returns, through the carry and slide of an investment.

Course 3 of the Fixed Income Markets Certification (FIMC©) program. Changes in Supply and Demand drive changes in Prices and Yields. We begin by taking a look at a Treasuries are auction and how shifting demand moves prices. Afterwards, we expand to a macro view and look at the tools of the Fed the can shift the overall market. We begin by analyzing the indications and data that drive Fed actions. Starting in the front end, we analyze the Fed Funds Market and Repo Market which are closely tied to the Fed’s policy rate. Next, we look at quantitative easing and how the Fed impacts longer term bonds. Combining movements in short-term and long-term rates, we discuss and analyze yield curves. We conclude with a discussion of Bank Regulation and RWA, and how Central Banks regulate commercial banks as a final tool for controlling economic growth.

Course 4 of the Fixed Income Markets Certification (FIMC©) program. Money Markets form a basis for the bond markets and the derivatives markets. We begin with an overview of money market investments and investors. We use Money Markets to calculate the returns of actual fixed income investments in both Excel and Bloomberg. We conclude by discussion LIBOR, the Eurodollar market, and the transition to SOFR.

Course 5 of the Fixed Income Markets Certification (FIMC©) program. Building on the concepts in the Money Markets course, we analyze Bond Math and Bond Returns using Government Bonds. We start off by building the cashflows of two Government Bonds and valuing those bonds by discounting the cashflows using strips. We then converted our discount value to a price by adjusting for accrued interest and demystifying treasury pricing convention. Afterwards, we calculate both the yield and duration on are case study bonds, both in Excel and in Bloomberg.

Course 6 of the Fixed Income Markets Certification (FIMC©) program. In this course, we examine Corporate Bonds and how they are priced, valued and traded. We begin by discussing credit spreads and discussing the key credit spread (T, G, I and Z). We then discuss trading conventions and mechanics, from cashflow, price calculations, trade execution process and calculating DV01s. Next, we work through the New Issue Process, how a new bond is valued, and the initial coupons and yields are agreed to between the investors and the issuers. We conclude with a section on credit analysis and an example of a High Yield Bond.

Course 7 of the Fixed Income Markets Certification (FIMC©) program. Agency Mortgage Backed Securities are the second largest asset class in Fixed Income. In this course, we provide an overview of how the Mortgage Market and how Mortgages are securitized. Prepayments in mortgages add complexity to how we value mortgages. We cover the CPR and PSA prepayment models and their impacts on Weighted Average Life, Yields and Duration. We discuss how changing interest rates impact duration, and discuss the impacts of convexity. We analyze all of this on Bloomberg, including the collateral details, Yield Table and Option Adjusted Spread. Next, we discussing the TBA market and trading strategies including the Dollar Roll. We conclude by discussing re-securitizations including REMICS and CMOs as a way to divide and reallocate risk within a Mortgage Backed Security.

In this course, you’ll learn how to leverage the Python computer coding language to level up your financial analysis skills. We’ll help you understand how to use Python to explore, analyze, and visualize data, and to manipulate data using automated and repeatable processes. You’ll gain the fundamental Python knowledge needed to explore and leverage more specialized Python 3rd party libraries, as well as learn how Python works and the best practices for its use in the financial services arena.

In Part 1 of our 3-course Python package, Introduction to Python, you will learn how to install Python; how to create and use virtual environments (and why you should use them); how to program in Python using Jupyter Notebooks; the Boolean (True/False) data type and algebra (and/or/not); Numeric types, including integers and floats; Sequence types (lists, tuples, strings); what Unicode is; Dictionaries and sets; looping (for, while); conditional execution (if…elif…else); comprehensions; writing and using functions, including lambda functions, and built-in functions such as round, sorted, min, max and zip.

In this course, you will expand on the basics learned in “Introduction to Python” and learn more advanced Python programming concepts to apply in a career as a financial analyst. You will learn about higher-order functions; closures; Python decorators; importing modules; reading/writing text files; reading/writing CSV files; the ‘Decimal’ type as a more precise alternative to floats; epochs, dates, times and timezones using native Python; the ‘math’, ‘statistics’ and ‘random’ standard library modules, and creating custom classes.

In this third and final course in our series on Python for Financial Analysts, we’ll focus on a number of very commonly used third-party libraries highly useful in data analysis. These include: the pytz and dateutil libraries for dealing with dates, times and timezones; the requests library to query Web APIs and ingest JSON data; the Numpy library for highly efficient manipulation of arrays and matrices; the Pandas library for easy and powerful data table manipulations; and the Matplotlib library for charting data.

Most Microsoft Office users only know how to set up a basic table or maybe do a few formulas here and there. This course will teach you how to take Excel by the horns and make it do whatever you want, whenever you want. It can go through loads of information and create a printable report for you. You can make custom forms so that you can access, analyze, edit, or add new information quickly to your data tables/worksheets. Excel programming utilizes a simple but effective tool called “VBA” – the hidden programming language that runs quietly in the background while you work. It’s very easy and straight-forward to use, and we’ll show you how.

Designed for incoming and prospective investment bankers, private equity associates and lenders, this course will show you how professionals analyze private companies in order to evaluate investment opportunities, drive valuation, inform a sell-side and/or buy-side process and generally assess overall financial health. Part one will cover private company analysis in early stages of the investment process, and will answer: Historically and today, how healthy is the company? What does the company’s financial future look like? What challenges exist when working with a private company? What’s different when analyzing a private vs public company?

Welcome to Wall Street Prep’s Bank and FIG Modeling Course. Developed for FIG-focused investment bankers, equity research analysts and corporate finance teams at banks, the bank modeling course will guide you through a bank’s financial statements, unique drivers and regulatory framework. You will build a fully integrated financial statement model, a residual income (RI) model, and a dividend discount model (DDM) using Valley National Bank as a case study.

Want to value a clinical-stage, pre-revenue biotech? An ordinary discounted cash flow analysis won’t cut it. Instead, you need to build a long-range sum-of-the-parts valuation. Here, we walk you through the step-by-step process of valuing a biotech. You will learn to: Market size and model potential revenue for a therapeutic asset in clinical development; Road-map the path to commercialization for a biotech through the FDA approval process; Apply the appropriate “probability of success” to a clinical-stage pre-revenue biotech company; Apply key assumptions and tie together a long-range forecast of multiple products with a DCF analysis.

Module 1 of the Certification in FP&A Modeling (CFPAM™) starts with an introduction to the FP&A role and explores the types of responsibilities typical for an FP&A professional, such as recurring reporting and accounting close, forecasting and budgeting, pacing & performance reporting, project analysis, and ad hoc analysis. We then cover the types of tools and systems used on the job, focusing on the most common of these, Excel and PowerPoint. We finish the module by exploring the accounting, corporate finance, statistics, and data analysis foundations you’ll need to hit the ground running.

Module 2 of the Certification in FP&A Modeling (CFPAM™). A major responsibility of the FP&A function is to come up with reasonable, defensible, and insightful expectations of future sales, expenses, and headcount requirements. Here we’ll learn the difference between fixed and variable expenses, different approaches to forecasting revenue, and how headcount needs are determined. Of note will be a focus on not just financial metrics, but the critical operating metrics which drive them.

Module 3 of the Certification in FP&A Modeling (CFPAM™). To support our future expectations of business performance, investments, research, and projects need to be developed and initiated today. This requires building projections around these items to determine funding requirements and future impacts on the business.

Module 4 of the Certification in FP&A Modeling (CFPAM™). While projections of revenues, expenses, and capital projects can be incredibly insightful, cash flows are incredibly important for understanding the impact on company liquidity as well as its ability to finance required payments and projects. Understanding how cash flows through the business can also highlight opportunities to improve cash flows.

Module 5 of the Certification in FP&A Modeling (CFPAM™). With detailed forecasts of the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statements, we pull all three financial statements together to understand the full impact to the business. These operating models can be tailored to report on things such as fundraising and liquidity needs, profitability and returns trends, as well as trends in operating efficiency.

Module 6 of the Certification in FP&A Modeling (CFPAM™). The beauty of well-built financial models lies not just in being building out detailed projections for the next 12-18 months, but being able to create more dynamic, long-range plans to visualize the impact that changes in these assumptions will have on the expected course of the business. Together we’ll build a three-statement 5-year plan for our company, and will layer scenarios and sensitivities onto our model to answer insightful what-if’s about future performance, and will build a highly dynamic, reusable Budget vs Actual template for Revenue complete with Rate-Volume analysis and Waterfall chart.

Module 7 of the Certification in FP&A Modeling (CFPAM™). One of the most important roles of FP&A is learning how to surface the right data, at the right time, to the right individuals, all in a format that is easy to digest. We’ll also learn how to build data lookups, dynamic charts, and output summaries while we build out a projection model for daily transactions. We’ll end the chapter by building out a very useful Dashboard to highlight historical financial results.

An Appendix of the Certification in FP&A Modeling (CFPAM™). FP&A professionals must be able to understand corporate finance best practices, in addition to being able to build financial models. Here we’ll discuss corporate finance theory, understanding how companies fund their operations, trade-offs of debt and optimal debt ratios, fundamental drivers of company growth, and other topics.

Corporate finance lays the conceptual foundation for real world financial analysis. In this course, we start with a qualitative overview of corporate finance and its impact on the capital markets. Next, we introduce key concepts such as net present value, IRR, the discount rate and payback period, and discuss them in the context of valuing bonds. We then conduct exercise-based discussions on equity and mezzanine securities and proceed to in-depth valuation exercises based on the corporate finance concepts introduced earlier in the course. Finally, we wrap up the course with a detailed analysis of cost of capital.

How do venture capital (VC) professionals determine the size and ownership stake of their investments? How do they construct term sheets to optimize their chances of generating high investment returns? And lastly, how do they construct cap tables that address a variety of challenges including option pools, convertible debt, multiple investors, and liquidation preferences? In this 2-hour course, you will learn the analysis that’s done and the jargon used in early stage investing. The course is broken up into two sections: The VC Process and Term Sheet and VC Math and Cap Tables.

Module 1 of the Sell-side Equity Research Certification (ERC©) provides an overview of the equity research business and career. Students will learn how research fits into the investment banking industry, what a typical day for the equity researcher looks like, the coverage and initiation processes, among many other things

Module 2 of the Sell-side Equity Research Certification (ERC©) dives deep into how to analyze the three key financial statements. Here, we’ll learn about key metrics and ratios that can provide insights into how a company is performing, as well as how the financial statements connect to each other to provide a holistic view of the company’s financial position

Module 4 of the Sell-side Equity Research Certification (ERC©) begins by exploring the types of research reports and how they fit into the earnings cycle. We’ll look closely at the anatomy of a report, identifying key sections and their purposes using real-life examples. Students will learn about writing best practices and be ready to build their own report from scratch. Finally, we discuss the editorial process and stock pitching.

Module 5 of the Sell-side Equity Research Certification (ERC©) is about building an entire equity research-specific, three-statement model starting from a simple Excel template and using it as a tool to support the investmen thesis. Students will learn about historical data and how to source it; consensus-based projections; variant-view projections; the crucial non-GAAP adjustments; and more complex revenue and cost builds.

Module 6 of the Sell-side Equity Research Certification (ERC©) dives deep into the art and science of valuing a company and stock using the relative valuation method. We’ll focus on how to best use comps or multiples, exploring the fundamental reasons why a stock may trade at a rich or a discounted price.

Module 7 of the Sell-side Equity Research Certification (ERC©) shifts gears to discounted cash flow, or DCF. Student’s will start with the basics of time value of money, then quickly progress to more advanced topics like weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and a discussion about the most impactful drivers of value in DCF analysis.

Module 8 of the Sell-side Equity Research Certification (ERC™) addresses the crucial, yet underappreciated topic of soft skills in equity research. Here, we’ll explain what it means to act professionally in a banking environment; the importance of the analyst-associate relationship; dealing with stress in the office and the long hours that are often required of an equity researcher.

Breaking into equity research can be very hard, but an aspiring ER professional can gain an advantage by using the right tools and strategies. In this bonus module, we’ll see how an “application package” and the most effective LinkedIn tactics can help a college/MBA graduate or career switcher land a desirable job in equity research.

This LBO modeling-focused course focuses on a Middle Market transaction, where private equity professionals often operate with little structure. First, you will listen in on a conference call with the Managing Partner of a hypothetical private equity firm and, through step-by-step videos, learn to build a monthly LBO model from scratch that answers the seemingly simple (yet loaded) question, “is this deal financeable, and what do the returns look like?” After the call, the Managing Partner will be unavailable for any follow-up questions, so this course walks you through how to think independently and come up with solutions when you’re on your own, just like you will be expected to on the job.  The course concludes with print-friendly summaries and an email recommendation to the Managing Partner on whether or not to move forward with the deal.

Designed for IB, PE and real estate investment professionals, this course will show you how professionals underwrite and analyze multi-family properties in order to evaluate investment opportunities and drive valuation. Chapter 1 covers the basics in underwriting a multi-family property, paying special attention to top-line revenue performance, operating expenses, capital expenditures and levered returns. Chapter 2 walks through multi-family property valuation that examines a property’s performance and financial future and determines an appropriate purchase price.

Trainees develop an Oil & Gas (O&G) financial model completely from  scratch, inputting historical data as well as macro– and company-specific assumptions to project out financial statements using step-by-step instruction on selecting, locating, and developing appropriate projection drivers. At completion, trainees will have developed a comprehensive O&G model using various supporting schedules. Trainees follow step-by-step instruction manuals while building O&G models using Excel model templates and are directed to the appropriate external documents in order to build comprehensive models the way they would on the job.

Section 1 of our Project Finance Modeling Program. Learn project finance through the lens of an airport. Review the theory of PF, discuss the business case of Heathrow Airport expansion, then dive into the particulars of the project finance model. Go through the case study step by step. Calculate CFADS, tax, debt ratios like DSCR & LLCR, and equity and project returns. Get hands on in the model. Run different cases to optimize the project and meet stakeholders criteria.

Section 2 of our Project Finance Modeling Package. Learn the DNA of Excel and become a bulletproof financial modeler. Here, we break down the skillset of financial modeling and piece it together step by step with financial modeling best practices layered throughout. You’ll learn how formula works and when they break down and the top 50 shortcuts to make you a speed demon.  By the end of this course, you’ll get up to 3x quicker at developing robust, transparent financial models.

Section 3 of our Project Finance Modeling Program. With a wind-farm case study, this course guides you in building – from scratch – your very own infrastructure model. Model a greenfield asset, calculate revenue, fixed & variable expenses. Review the relevant parts of a term sheet and model paying down debt with annuity & sculpted repayment mechanisms, and analyze lender covenants. Bring the model together into a Cashflow Waterfall. Using equity & project returns, DSCR and other outputs, trace the drivers of performance with a scenario manager, and run a debt and equity type process as a window to how stakeholders might view the deal.

Section 4 of our Project Finance Modeling Program. This section will challenge you to get the most out of a project finance deal. Using advanced material, it expands on our work in Blueprint and asks questions such as: How does DSCR target or gearing driven debt sizing work? How do I re-profile debt to optimize equity returns? How does a model integrate advanced funding features like a DSRA? Go further by adding in sophisticated funding structures, like the option to refinance debt and shareholder loans. Automate debt sizing and the scenario manager to solve the debt case, or run a debt process by evaluating multiple lender terms.

Section 5 of out Project Finance Modeling Program. This section advances the accounting rigor around a project finance model. Like the other sections, each module begins with the “Why”, giving you the theoretical background, before diving into the “How” – the implementation in the model. Continuing from the Blueprint model, pull together the elements to deliver a bankable financial model. Calculate working capital using multiple methodologies, discuss and calculate corporate tax, calculate depreciation using straight line, reducing balance or MACRS methodology, bring together a P&L and Balance sheet. Improve the model robustness by adding checks.

Section 6 of our Project Finance Modeling Program. This section brings together everything we’ve learned so far and delivers a complete project finance model. We start to look into ways of extending the model with material such as how to change the construction timeframe from quarterly to monthly periodicity in a best practice manner, while keeping operations quarterly.

This course is designed to teach REIT modeling to students and professionals pursuing a career in finance, with a specific focus on analyzing REITs. First, we will learn about the REIT industry’s unique drivers and challenges. We will then build REIT financial and valuation models from scratch, using a step-by-step approach for an actual company, BRE Properties. Along the way, we will cover modeling best practices for same store properties, acquisitions, developments, and dispositions. In addition, we will model and deconstruct critical REIT profit metrics like FFO, AFFO, and CAD. The second part of the course will involve valuation modeling, with a focus on the Net Asset Value (NAV) approach.

Section 1 of our Real Estate Financial Modeling Program. This course provides an introduction to the function of real estate financial models, the challenges presented by bespoke approaches, and Wall Street Prep’s approach to teaching Real Estate Financial Modeling. We will begin with a review of efficiency and formatting fundamentals that will be employed throughout the course. From there, we’ll begin to develop an understanding of the different types of real estate models.

Section 2 of our Real Estate Financial Modeling Program. Real estate is all about cash flow. This module will cover cash flow builds for multifamily and commercial property types. We will build the foundations of revenues and expenses and finish with a discussion on the importance of net operating income. Each section will begin with the characteristics underpinning the cash flow for the property type at hand. After detailed discussions of various revenue and expense methodologies, concepts will be crystalized with step-by-step modeling walkthroughs in Excel.

Section 3 of our Real Estate Financial Modeling Program. Although real estate is valued based on operating cash flow, non-operating cash flows are integral to business plans. This module will cover leasing costs for commercial properties, capital improvements and costs associated with buying and selling a property. After detailed discussions of the various cost items within non-operating cash flow, the concepts will be reinforced with step-by-step modeling walkthroughs in Excel.

Section 4 of our Real Estate Financial Modeling Program. Real estate is a highly levered asset class and an understanding of leverage is critical for any real estate investor. This module will serve as a primer on real estate debt, covering everything from different ways to finance an acquisition, to key terms in loan documents and how to model an amortization schedule. A significant portion of this module is dedicated to understanding the applications of leverage, reviewing key terminology and introducing debt-specific calculations. The module concludes with a step-by-step modeling walkthrough in Excel.

Section 5 of our Real Estate Financial Modeling Program. The waterfall is infamously part of most real estate interview modeling tests. This module introduces joint ventures and the theory behind waterfalls. After introducing key terminology and reinforcing the underlying theory, considerable time will be spent on a step-by-step walkthrough of how to model a waterfall.

Section 6 of our Real Estate Financial Modeling Program. Real estate financial models are tools for projecting the cash flows of a potential investment. The cash flow projections alone are not enough to analyze a potential investment. This module will cover how to summarize the outputs of a model to form the basis of an analysis by discussing key metrics and how to put these metrics into perspective.

Section 7 of our Real Estate Financial Modeling Program. Real estate can be bought or built. Up to this point, the course has been focused on buying property. This module will unpack the differences and similarities in modeling a development and an acquisition. Development specific topics such as construction budgets and lease-up will be covered as well as the nuances of development financing. Armed with the real estate financial modeling fundamentals previously discussed, this module will also go into detail on how to model a development step-by-step.

Section 8 of our Real Estate Financial Modeling Program. Building well-formatted and extensive models is the name of the game for those working for institutional firms or preparing materials for a potential investor. But, many situations – whether a modeling test or first pass at a potential personal investment – necessitate building a model quickly from a blank Excel sheet. This acquisition case study is an opportunity to test everything you’ve learned utilizing the key pieces of information you would have in the real world. After attempting the case study independently, follow along to see how best to stay organized and which “corners to cut” when under time constraints.

Section 9 of our Real Estate Financial Modeling Program. Building well-formatted and extensive models is the name of the game for those working for institutional firms or preparing materials for a potential investor. But, many situations – whether a modeling test or first pass at a potential personal investment – necessitate building a model quickly from a blank Excel sheet. This development case study is an opportunity to test everything you’ve learned utilizing the key pieces of information as you would in the real world. After attempting the case study independently, follow along to see how best to stay organized and which “corners to cut” when under time constraints.

This course is designed to teach restructuring and bankruptcy modeling to students and professionals pursuing careers in restructuring, bankruptcy and distress. Using the Borders bankruptcy as our primary case study, we begin with an overview of the restructuring and bankruptcy framework. Then we will learn to build an advanced bankruptcy model from scratch, incorporating bankruptcy specific elements like DIP financing, the creation of liabilities subject to compromise, working capital drivers, cancellation of debt income, and Fresh Start accounting.  We conclude the course with valuation analysis and a recovery analysis, where we will layer various valuation scenarios onto the model to analyze possible recoveries to the various creditors.

This course is a step-by-step buildup of a fully integrated 13-week cash flow model in the context of a turnaround and financial restructuring. Using a case study, you will build a fully-integrated model as you would on the job. We’ll walk you through complex model mechanics for a 13 week cash flow model while weaving the motivations of the various stakeholders during both in court or out of court turnarounds. You will learn: Integrated 13-Week Cash Flow Model; Working Capital & Other Rollforwards; Borrowing Base & Revolver/DIP Modeling; Reconciling EBITDA to the 13 Week Cash Flow; Case Manager and Multiple Scenarios; Converting Monthly to Weekly Forecasts; General Ledger Accounting Mapping Best Practices.

The 2017 tax reform act will materially impact financial models used to support M&A and LBO transactions and may have serious implications on how buyers and sellers structure them. This course shows investment bankers and private equity professionals how to integrate these complicated rules into their models. Specifically it covers: How financial models need to be revised to reflect new limits on interest expense deductions, bonus depreciation and changes to NOL rules; How these new tax rules will impact valuation models and M&A deal structure preferences; The specific considerations for highly leveraged companies and the risk-reward calculation for undertaking an LBO.

Led by former private equity professionals, this course takes a deep dive into the Private Equity deal process and the day-to-day responsibilities of a PE professional. Designed for incoming and prospective PE associates as well as investment bankers and lenders working with PE clients, this boot camp is an insider’s walkthrough of the key phases of the PE deal process. We bring you through the major PE deal checkpoints (Pre-Deal,First Round Bid/IOI,Diligence Deep Dive/LOI, Post-LOI, Closing) and describe how junior professionals can add value to the deal team.

Using real case studies and a step-by-step approach, learners will be introduced to the central considerations and dynamics of both out-of-court and in-court restructuring, along with major terms, concepts, and common restructuring techniques.

Learners will explore the various factors that lead to financial distress and how to impute asset values based on market prices for a company’s equity and debt trading levels and connect the concept of reorganization value to more traditional valuation concepts like enterprise value.

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In this section, you’ll learn to use several forecasting techniques for projecting revenue and expenses. We also cover how to improve forecast accuracy by combining multiple methods and when to use which technique. Lastly, we cover scenario planning and how to improve any forecast’s accuracy through stress testing and addressing bias.

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While EBITDA is a popular measure of profitability, companies increasingly use “adjusted EBITDA” to present profit and show higher EBITDA by excluding significant line items, most notably stock based compensation. We begin by explaining why EBITDA has become more popular than straight cash flow or GAAP profits. We’ll build upon this to judge the appropriateness of the most common adjustments that companies now make to EBITDA. We’ll use real company filings to examine the most common adjustments today’s companies make to EBITDA to show: When using EBITDA is preferable to net income or cash flows, and when it isn’t; The rationale for adding back stock based compensation, and how this can lead to overvaluation; The appropriate and inappropriate use of other common adjustments to EBITDA.

As the demand for energy and infrastructure projects increases, understanding project finance mechanics is becoming an increasingly valuable skill set for investment bankers as well as corporate and project finance professionals. This webinar will introduce you to key project finance topics including: The drivers for project finance/the “who” and “why;” Sources of project finance; How the typical project finance deal structure differs from that in corporate finance.

In this deep dive into what it takes to build buyers lists for target companies, you’ll get an overview of the M&A deal process, learn to understand different types of buyers and analyze the typical motivations and important elements of both strategic and financial buyers. We’ll take you through a step-by-step guide on how to use the PitchBook financial data provider to identify potential buyers for target companies, and show you how to complete a client-ready buyers list of companies you believe will be the most logical for your client.

How do buy-side investors make investment decisions? How do they know where to begin? How do they pick a company to analyze? Ultimately, how do they analyze that company and arrive at an investment thesis? Here, we take the first step toward understanding and analyzing a stock from the perspective of a buy-side investor.We begin with a look at the due diligence and financial analysis process investors use to examine investment opportunities and progress to examine the variables buyside investors consider in real life when making the final decision on whether to “pull the trigger.”

Whether you work for an investment bank or mutual fund, Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) are a meaningful part of your universe. In fact, over the past 10 years, CMBS origination activity has averaged $75 billion per year, representing a significant source of capital for the commercial real estate sector. In this course, we will help you understand what a CMBS is, how to analyze and price a CMBS transaction, and how it’s different from conventional commercial mortgages.

Convertible Debt. Convertible Preferred Shares. Warrants. Stock Options. Restricted Stock. In the context of valuation, it’s always difficult to accurately quantify all potential claims against the common equity pot. This teach-in will provide a solid foundation for all grey areas in calculating diluted shares outstanding, both from stand-alone and M&A valuation perspectives. We will show you: how to calculate dilution from the exercise of stock options and/or warrants using the Treasury Stock Method; best practices in treating convertible securities and the respective implications on valuation; how to best deal with restricted stock given the context (standalone valuation vs. M&A context).

This course is meant to introduce newbies to a high level overview of financial restructuring and set the stage for further more advanced analysis. The first few lessons demonstrate using simple examples how companies find themselves in distress. The next several lessons illustrate how financial restructuring can be used to cure the distress. The last several lessons dive deeper into priorities, valuation of firms under distress, and considerations for distressed debt investors.

Corporate finance bankers interact regularly with their product partners in debt capital markets, yet many have a limited understanding of the key drivers behind DCM business. This webinar begins by introducing you to the key DCM business lines, including Loan Syndication, Debt Origination, Liability Management and Risk Management. Next, it examines the ways DCM bankers interact with corporate clients and concludes by explaining how the bank makes money (with just the right amount of bond math).

Designed for incoming and prospective DCM/Capital Markets analysts and interns with no prior DCM experience, this course will provide an insider’s prospective of what you”ll be doing on the job. We’ll focus on industry knowledge not taught in school and demystify industry jargon. We start with the basics: what DCM actually does, what a DCM desk looks like and how to use the turret; We’ll show you how to make a great first impression from Day 1 and walk you through the DCM pitchbook and the DCM transaction roles and responsibilities you need to know.

There are some line items on a company’s financial statements that consistently pose challenges for analysts and associates. Here, we focus on the line items on the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement that arise when companies make investments in other companies. Using real-life examples, we answer the following questions: What are “non-controlling interests,” “equity investments” and “available for sale” securities? How do non-controlling (minority) interests and other investments flow through a 3 statement model? How are deferred taxes accounted for in such investments? How should models be adjusted when investments are made at higher than book value?

The unique business model of banks means that the financial statements and core drivers often pose unique challenges in analysis, forecasting and valuation. In this Webinar, we will take the first step toward understanding and analyzing bank financials. It will cover: A bank’s major financial statements and how they differ from those of other industries; the key linkages between the financial statements; how a bank’s business model and regulatory considerations are reflected in the statements; and how to quickly analyze bank financials.

Maritime companies have a unique business model which leads to financial statements, forecasting and valuation techniques that are a little different from those of a “typical company.” In this webinar, we will take you through a quick analysis of maritime financials and answer the following: What a non-maritime company’s major financial statements look like and how they differ from those of other industries; What key linkages exist between the financial statements; How a maritime company’s business model and regulatory considerations impact financial reporting.

The buy-side trading floor is one of the most intriguing places on Wall Street. Here, many brilliant minds strive to use both art and science to navigate the complex process of making investment decisions, which ultimately have million and even billion-dollar market impacts. This course will go over: The key players, roles and responsibilities in Asset Management; The key functions of portfolio managers and how they navigate relationships with clients and financial institutions; Career progressions in Asset Management; How Asset Management professionals transform research and analysis into investment decisions.

Want to build financial models like a top-tier Hedge Fund Analyst? Led by Brett Caughran, a veteran hedge fund analyst and PM (Maverick, DE Shaw, Citadel, Schonfeld) and founder of Fundamental Edge, this webinar will guide you through the ins and outs of buy-side financial modeling. This course will cover: How buy-side financial modeling differs from sell-side and investment banking models; An overview of the buy-side equity research process (why the model matters); Buy-side model construction and forecasting frameworks; Model and thesis development.

Designed for IB, PE and real estate investment professionals, this course will show you how to construct a commercial real estate model in Excel in order to evaluate investment opportunities. We will cover: How to navigate Argus and how to link it into an Excel model; Basic lease structures and how each type differs; How to understand key revenue, operating expense and cash flow drivers of a commercial real estate model; Calculating unlevered and levered returns for a commercial property; Deal financing and source & uses of funds.

In this deep dive into the FIG (Financial Institution Group) investment banking landscape, you’ll learn all about what FIG does, take a look at FIG clients, learn how FIG groups get hired and understand typical FIG roles and responsibilities, as well as common FIG products and services. Learn about common FIG investment banking slides and how to construct them. Get insight on the key analyses and metrics specific to FIG investment banking.

Designed for incoming and prospective financial market professionals and investment bankers, this course will use real examples to demonstrate the various use cases for Foreign Exchange (FX) Options. We’ll start with an overview of FX options trading conventions and decode some trader jargon before answering: Who trades FX options and why? How do you price an option? What causes the value of an FX option to go up or down? What are some different FX option strategies and why would one use them? At course conclusion, you’ll have a strong grasp of how corporates, banks, and investors use FX options to hedge against, or make money from, moves in the underlying FX market.

This course is designed to map out the firms and roles across financial markets. We begin by defining the different types of banks and how different Investment Banks are set up. Next, we explore the connection between buy-side investors and sell-side Investment Banks. We will explore roles in Investment Banking, Capital Markets and Sales & Trading focusing on differences in the roles and how these roles work together. We conclude by analyzing quantitative roles and roles in Research.

This course uses transactions such as Monsanto/Syngenta, Sanofi/Medivation and Anthem/Cigna to explain the most common defense mechanisms, tools and strategies companies use to defend against hostile takeovers. Specifically, we answer the following questions: What are the considerations for a tender offer and how does it differ from a proxy contest? What are preventive defense mechanisms such “poison pills” and “staggered boards” and how do they protect a company? What strategies can companies invoke when facing an activist hedge fund? Are companies under any obligation to accept a hostile bid if it is higher than other bids?

This course dives into the dynamic world of private credit and direct lending. We’ll cover all things reshaping high-level investing – from the enormous growth of private credit, which challenges traditional syndicated loans and bonds, to its pivotal role in transforming major private equity firms. It offers an in-depth exploration of their competitive edge and agility in areas once dominated by established financial instruments. Gain a clear understanding of private credit’s function within capital structures, demystify its position and subordination, and identify the key players and their strategic maneuvers. We’ll provide a comprehensive breakdown of typical deal structures, target returns, and real-life perspectives.

In private company M&A, valuation of a target company is typically expressed as a multiple of its historical earnings — most commonly EBITDA. But what to include or exclude from EBITDA is debatable between buyer and seller: Should a buyer ignore impacts of the pandemic? How should it treat headcount issues that will change materially post deal? Enter the Quality of Earnings Analysis (“QofE”). This course will walk you through the structure and purpose of a QofE and include examples of common adjustments to consider while analyzing the quality of a company’s earnings.

This course is designed for incoming restructuring bankers and current bankers looking to further their restructuring or distressed debt knowledge. It provides an in-depth overview of restructuring and identify the skills you’ll need in the early days of your restructuring IB career. We begin by introducing the restructuring process as well as common pitchbook and financial analyses in restructuring IB. From there, we take more in-depth look at the analyses and modeling-related techniques utilized by analysts and associates early in their restructuring banking careers. This course assumes little to no prior knowledge of restructuring.

Sell-Side Equity Research is one of the most interesting roles in finance. The general public sees equity research analysts on CNBC explaining their “buy” “sell” or “hold” recommendations on stocks, but the real audience for sell-side equity research is “the buy side” — the investment bank’s institutional clients. So what exactly does an equity research professional do? What does a day in the life look like? This course will answer this with a focus on: How equity research plays a key role in supporting investment bankers, traders, and buy-side investors; Various types of research reports and how they’re used; The anatomy of a research report and its critical components; How to build a professional-grade earnings review using a real-life case study.

Ever wonder how companies actually make the earnings forecasts that they communicate to Wall Street? Enter the FP&A professional — one of the most technically rigorous corporate finance career paths. FP&A professionals work closely with the CFO, Director of Finance and other stakeholders to provide them with the information they need to make strategic and operational decisions. Here, we’ll take a look at the role an FP&A professional by discussing: Why FP&A is critical in today’s competitive business environment; How FP&A differs from traditional finance and accounting roles; The skills a qualified FP&A professional should possess.

While the terms “hedge fund” and “long/short” are tossed around frequently, there’s little clarity on how these strategies work in practice. Led by Mike Kimpel, Wall Street Prep instructor and adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School’s popular Value Investing Program, this teach-in will walk you through the most common “value investing” strategies deployed at “long/short” hedge funds. We will examine real-world case studies to answer the following: What does a long/short investing strategy aim to achieve? What are the typical types of fund strategies? What does long investing look like in practice? What does short investing look like in practice?

Designed for prospective or incoming healthcare IB/PE analysts & associates as well as anybody interested in learning about the healthcare sector, this course will introduce you to industry sub-sectors and explore the key financial and operating metrics, drivers, industry jargon, valuation methodologies, trends and regulatory concerns of each.

Designed for incoming and prospective PE associates as well as investment bankers and lenders working with PE clients, this mini-course is a step-by-step walkthrough of the key phases of the private equity deal process. We bring you through the major PE deal checkpoints (Pre-Deal,First Round Bid/IOI,Diligence Deep Dive/LOI, Post-LOI, Closing) and describe how junior professionals can add value to the deal team.

Proficiency in Excel is a fundamental part of the finance job description. And while the Windows version of Excel reigns supreme on the job, in our MBA and undergrad classes we still get the question all the time: “What about Excel on a Mac?” In this course, we introduce Mac users to the basics of Excel. We will cover topics such as: The Mac Excel Layout and Ribbon; Editing and Working with Numbers and Operators; Formatting and Navigation (Worksheets, Workbook, Rows & Columns); Working with Rows & Columns; Time-Saving Tools (Anchoring Cells, Formula Auditing, Interpreting Errors, Find and Replace); Introduction to Functions (SUM, Average, IF and nested IF). The only way to learn Excel is by doing, so you’ll be completing Excel exercises every step of the way.

For finance professionals, proficiency in Excel is a fundamental part of the job description. Whether you currently work in Excel at a beginner or intermediate level, this course will take you to the next level and turn you into an advanced “power” user. We’ll start with the basics before we quickly introduce you to lesser known time-saving keyboard shortcuts and powerful Excel functions and features that you can immediately put to use on the job. The only way to learn Excel is by doing, so you’ll be completing Excel exercises alongside the instructor at every step of the way.

In this course, you will gain a comprehensive introduction to essential financial modeling techniques through 14 mini-lessons designed to demystify key concepts. You will explore cash flow modeling, DCF modeling, Comps modeling, LBO modeling, and M&A modeling, learning the foundational principles and practical applications of each. By the end of the course, you will have a solid understanding of these critical modeling techniques, equipping you with the skills to build and interpret basic financial models with confidence. This course serves as an excellent primer for further studies in Wall Street Prep’s Financial and Valuation Modeling Certification Program and other advanced financial modeling courses.

You know by now that Excel proficiency is a must for any successful finance professional, but it’s those who venture into Excel’s advanced functionality that will become standout analysts. This webinar will teach you how to: Unlock the Developer Ribbon in order to use VBA; Manipulate cells and sheets, whether they’re hidden or not; Record, modify and write macros from scratch; Set up special commands when a button is pressed, a cell is selected, or a cell’s value is changed; Run through your code, line by line, to debug.

You’re heading to a friend’s wedding and you’re about to board your plane when you get a call from your office saying you’ve been staffed and need to come back ASAP. What do you do? Becoming a successful banker is not just about modeling and technical skills. In this course, we talk about the specific tactics and strategies you can employ on day 1 that have nothing to do with modeling. Specifically, you’ll gain tools to handle common challenges and situations. Conducted by Matan Feldman, Founder and CEO of Wall Street Prep, this course will give you actionable tools for differentiating yourself as a junior bankers from day 1.

The unique business model of insurance companies is reflected in their financial reporting, and leads to a differentiated approach towards analysis, forecasting and valuation. In this webinar, we will take the first step towards understanding and analyzing such financials to answer the following: What a non-life insurer’s major financial statements look like and how they differ from those of other industries; What key linkages exist between the financial statements; How an insurer’s business model and regulatory considerations impact financial reporting; How a quick analysis of insurance financials is done.

This webinar is designed to help participants understand the structure and layout of the O&G financial reports. We start by looking at different O&G accounting methods and their impact on financial statements. We then touch on the differences between 1P, 2P, and 3P reserves before spending the rest of the time analyzing and interpreting O&G financial statements, footnotes, and disclosures, and on performing O&G ratio analysis.

One of the first things investment banking analysts hear when they get to their desks is the importance of mastering shortcuts in Excel. But there’s another Microsoft program junior bankers spend even more time in that gets a fraction of the attention: PowerPoint. In this course, you’ll gain skills that will reduce the amount of time it takes you to create and update pitchbook slides by 60%. We’ll focus on 4 key time-saving techniques: hold shortcuts, hybrid shortcuts; ribbon guide shortcuts and QAT guide shortcuts.

Part 1 of this 2-part course will show you how professionals structure and calculate waterfalls — the method in which distributions are split between sponsor and investor. It will will cover the basics of private equity real estate waterfalls, including: The rationale behind why waterfalls exist; Whole fund carry vs deal-by-deal carry; Multiple hurdle rates and a Catch-up; Common calculation mistakes to avoid; A dynamic waterfall model illustrating the distribution of cash flows.

Junior bankers who aspire for advancement often struggle with the challenge of stepping out of their technically oriented analyst/associate role and into a more customer- and relationship-oriented role of a senior banker. “Moving from Junior to Senior Banker: Skills for Negotiating Transactions” covers: Power and leverage in a negotiation; When should you make the opening bid; How to counter hardball tactics; How to deal with liars or unethical negotiators; How to break the zero sum model and create value for your clients; The importance of framing; How the nature of the relationship drives the negotiating style.

Designed for professionals and students aspiring to be financially bilingual, this course will discuss the conceptual and practical differences between the US accounting standards (US GAAP) and the standards used across most of the globe (IFRS). It will cover: The Top 10 most significant differences between accounting rules under US GAAP and IFRS; Examples using real financial reports that contrast differences between companies filing under US GAAP and IFRS; Examples of how to handle IFRS vs US GAAP differences when performing comparable analysis and considering cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

There’s probably no area of M&A more challenging than understanding the differences between deals structured as stock sales or asset sales/338 elections. We begin with an explanation of how the decision to structure a deal as either a stock sale or an asset sale/338 election creates significant tax and accounting implications for both buyer and seller. Next we examine the buyer/seller benefits and drawbacks of each deal structure before showing how a negotiation can resolve buyer/seller benefits and drawbacks. We’ll conclude with a look at the deal structure’s impact on financial models.

While mergers and acquisitions capture headlines, global spin-off transactions quietly reached a record high of over $250 billion last year. So why would a company want to spin off or divest a subsidiary? And how exactly is it done? With a specific look at eBay’s 2015 spin-off of PayPal, here we will examine the value proposition of spin-offs and other popular divestiture mechanisms to answer the following: When does a divestiture make strategic sense? How exactly does a company carry out the separation? How do divestitures impact financial statements? What are the tax consequences of divestitures?

Commodity prices are volatile. For companies in the business of producing or selling commodities, revenue and cash flow forecasts rely heavily on the price at which they can sell their commodities in the future. So heavily, in fact, that firms aggressively use hedging strategies to protect against changes in commodity prices. In this course designed for Oil and Gas investment banking, private equity, and research professionals, we’ll demystify how oil and gas producers use hedges and how to adjust financial models to correctly reflect them.

Whether you work for an investment bank, venture capital fund, hedge fund, private equity fund or insurance company, insurance technology (“InsurTech”) is a meaningful part of your universe. In fact, over the past 10 years, private capital flowing to insurance technology start-ups has eclipsed $33 billion, representing investments in almost 2,000 deals. This course will help you understand what “InsurTech” means, how the industry has grown, fundamentals that will drive the industry forward and how to analyze an InsurTech company. Specifically, we will cover: Quick background of the insurance industry; How technology is “eating” the world; What InsurTech means and how the industry has grown; InsurTech market fundamentals; Analyzing two popular InsurTech companies.

The rapid growth as an asset class of publicly traded partnerships known as Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) was a financial success story of the last decade. However, given the current commodity price environment, the premise of the MLP model has come under review. This course begins with an overview of the MLP asset class including a look at its many sub-sectors and risks. It progresses with a look at MLP valuation, including modeling the accretion/dilution of an acquisition or project and understanding the tax implications of investing in MLPs.

M&A accounting and purchase price allocation in particular are challenging concepts for practitioners to understand and correctly implement into models. In this webinar, we’ll take the first step towards understanding the general PPA process and procedures to answer the following: What is purchase price allocation and how is it performed? What is the PPA impact on financial statements? What are the key differences between PPA requirements for public companies vs. privately-held businesses? How do we handle complexities around various purchase considerations?

This course covers the essential factors affecting partnerships between start-up founders and VC investors, including understanding the incentives of each and where potential conflicts could arise. We cover strategies and techniques used by both parties to mitigate conflict and remain aligned. We take a close look at the relationship between Uber and Benchmark to understand how these conflicts transpire in the real-world.

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