Michigan State University Finance 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.

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.

Ed Brandman is the Founder and CEO of DiligentIQ, a generative-AI driven platform focused on the private equity due diligence process that enhances analysis while identifying hidden opportunities and risks. In this conversation, Ed discusses the company’s background, its innovative use of AI in private equity due diligence, and the technical details behind their platform. The conversation explores key concepts like large language models, fine-tuning, and prompt engineering, before delving into DiligentIQ’s specific approach, successes and challenges in applying AI to the private equity due diligence process.

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.

Join Ryan Ahmed, a senior WSP instructor and seasoned AI and finance instructor, in this course as he explores the incredible capabilities of generative AI. Ryan covers key AI concepts, demonstrates step-by-step how to use tools like ChatGPT for real-life scenarios, and walks you through practical examples such as extracting financial data, analyzing CSV files, and building financial forecasting models. Learn about the fundamentals of prompt engineering, compare top AI models, and see live demos of AI in action, from writing code to generating images and solving complex problems. Enhance your productivity and stay ahead in the evolving landscape of AI in finance.

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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