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Finance for non-finance managers: Financial Markets - Short Course

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Course timetable and cost

The course will span five weeks, taking place weekly from Wednesday 1 October to Wednesday 29 October inclusive from 18:00 - 20:00 each Wednesday, on-campus. Information on the in-person location for each session will be provided in due course. The full course cost is £400. 

We offer a 20% discount to those who are members of Birkbeck's alumni community. Please contact us if you are a member and wish to activate this discount. 

Course Description

Many new managers often receive little or no training with regards to the financial responsibilities and accountabilities they inherit. On this Financial Markets short course, managers will become familiar with the core principles of finance. We will look at financial statements from the viewpoint of an economist and/or financial analyst, and introduce managers to the characteristics of equity, fixed income and derivatives markets. We will also discuss the concepts of Portfolio Theory and the Capital Asset Pricing Model.

Indicative Course Content

  • Reading financial statements as an economist / financial analyst
  • Time value of money: IRR & NPV
  • Law of One Price and the Efficient Market Hypothesis
  • Introduction to equity & bonds
  • Introduction to Markowitz’s Portfolio Theory & Sharpe’s Capital Asset Pricing Model
  • Introduction to derivatives: futures & options

Learning Objectives

Participants will gain knowledge on how to read financial statements. They will learn the discount cash flow model which can be applied to value projects, as well as pricing shares and bonds. They will be introduced to the Nobel Prize winning concepts of the Efficient Market Hypothesis, the Modigliani-Miller Theory, Portfolio Theory and the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Finally, they will be introduced to derivatives, including futures and options.

Why should I take this course?

Have you ever read a Financial Times or The Economist article and wished you could understand it better? Have you ever been unsure about a terminology or a financial concept and wished you could ask someone? On this course we will start with the assumption of no prior knowledge in finance and walk you through the basic building block of the principles of finance. After this course you will be ready to embark on further studies in finance, such as the CFA Level 1.

 

Course lecturer, Ken Hori, Head of Education and Student Experience - Faculty of business and Law

Ken joined Birkbeck in 2004 after completing a PhD in Economics at the University of Cambridge. He was the Head of Department of Economics until the end of 2024, and is now the Head of Education and Student Experience in the Faculty of Business and Law. For over 20 years Ken has been teaching Financial Markets on MSc Finance and BSc Economics. Prior to his PhD, Ken worked at the Industrial Bank of Japan, first as a Financial Engineer in Tokyo, and then as a Quantitative Analyst / Exotic Options Trader in London. Ken is a chartered member of the Security Analysts Association of Japan (CMA).

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