Corporate Finance Essentials will enable you to understand key financial issues related to companies, investors, and the interaction between them in the capital markets. By the end of this course you should be able to understand most of what you read in the financial press and use the essential financial vocabulary of companies and finance professionals.
Offered By
IESE Business School
40,935 enrolled
About this Course
17,234 recent views
Skills you will gain
Corporate FinanceFinancial RiskEvaluationInvestment
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
110 minutes to complete
Course Overview
Overall Syllabus
1 reading
1 reading
Syllabus10m
Week
22 hours to complete
Risk and Return
Welcome to Session 1 In this session we will discuss some basic but essential financial concepts such as mean return, volatility, and beta. We will also learn how to apply them in order to assess the performance of selected equity markets over the last decade. The learning objective is to understand the basic, essential, and widely used financial concepts.
7 videos (Total 66 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz
7 videos
2. Periodic Returns9m
3. Arithmetic and Geometric Mean Returns10m
4. Evidence9m
5. Volatility11m
6. Beta10m
7. A brief recap8m
3 readings
About this session10m
Readings10m
Intro to Quiz 110m
1 practice exercise
Quiz 116m
Week
32 hours to complete
Correlation and Diversification
To understand diversification, an issue at the very heart of most investment decisions, and the role that correlation plays in determining the gains from diversification.
7 videos (Total 63 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz
7 videos
2. Portfolio Risk10m
3. The Correlation Coefficient13m
4. The Importance of Correlation3m
5. Diversification and Correlation Part 17m
6. Diversification and Correlation Part 213m
7. Diversification, Correlation and Portfolios8m
3 readings
About this session10m
Readings10m
Intro to Quiz 210m
1 practice exercise
Quiz 216m
Week
42 hours to complete
The CAPM and the Cost of Capital
In this session we will discuss how companies assess their cost of debt, their cost of equity, and ultimately their cost of capital. We will also discuss why this last concept is at the heart of many of the most important corporate decisions.
7 videos (Total 78 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz
7 videos
2. Three ways to think about the cost of capital8m
3. Components and notation7m
4. The debt tax shield7m
5. The cost of debt16m
6. The cost of equity10m
7. The CAPM17m
3 readings
About this session10m
Readings10m
Intro to Quiz 310m
1 practice exercise
Quiz 316m
Week
52 hours to complete
Estimating the Cost of Capital - An Application
In this session we will put to work all the concepts discussed in the previous session by estimating the cost of capital of a company. As usual, when putting theory into practice, a few complications arise and we will discuss how to deal with them.
3 videos (Total 47 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz
3 videos
2. Estimating the cost of capital: Starbucks15m
3. Estimating the cost of capital: Starbucks; A Few Rounding Comments13m
3 readings
About this session10m
Readings10m
Intro to Quiz 410m
1 practice exercise
Quiz 416m
Week
62 hours to complete
Project Evaluation
In this session we will discuss how companies routinely decide whether or not to invest in projects. We will discuss the two tools most widely used for this purpose, NPV and IRR, and apply them to the evaluation of an investment opportunity.
8 videos (Total 76 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz
8 videos
2. Introduction to the Net Present Value (NPV)7m
3. The Net Present Value (NPV)7m
4. The Internal Rate of Return (IRR)15m
5. Shortcomings of the IRR9m
6. Evaluating an investment opportunity9m
7. Discount rates across countries or divisions6m
8. Discount rates over time11m
3 readings
About this session10m
Readings10m
Intro to Quiz 510m
1 practice exercise
Quiz 516m
Week
72 hours to complete
Corporate Value Creation
In this session we will discuss EVA, a tool widely used to assess whether a company is creating or destroying value. We will also put this tool into practice by estimating the EVA of two companies.
6 videos (Total 67 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz
6 videos
2. Growth and return on growth12m
3. Economic value added (EVA)13m
4. EVA: Two examples14m
5. EVA levels versus EVA changes11m
6. Brief wrap up4m
3 readings
About this session10m
Readings10m
Intro to Quiz 610m
1 practice exercise
Quiz 616m
4.8
285 Reviews36%
started a new career after completing these courses
34%
got a tangible career benefit from this course
12%
got a pay increase or promotion
Top Reviews
Professor Estrada has a great ability to break down corporate finance theory in plain language and give practical examples to grasp the essential knowledge that required by a general manager.
This course is an effective and quick way to review the essentials on corporate finance and a good starting point for a more indepth study of the material. Well taught with excellent pacing.
Instructor
Javier Estrada
Professor of Financial ManagementDepartment of Financial Management
About IESE Business School
For over fifty years, IESE, the graduate business school of the University of Navarra, has been at the forefront of management education, developing and inspiring business leaders who strive to make a deep, positive and lasting impact on the people, companies and society they serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Once you enroll for a Certificate, you’ll have access to all videos, quizzes, and programming assignments (if applicable). Peer review assignments can only be submitted and reviewed once your session has begun. If you choose to explore the course without purchasing, you may not be able to access certain assignments.
What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?
When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
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