Course description
Introduction to Financial Markets
Explore the financial industry, instruments and market players
An Introduction to Financial Markets is a practical and comprehensive training course, covering a range of topics – from the financial industry and its market players, through to financial products and their use.
It requires absolutely no prior financial knowledge and is suitable for all backgrounds.
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Upcoming start dates
1 start date available
Suitability - Who should attend?
- Beginner traders and investors, looking to learn more about financial markets.
- Professionals within the financial industry or those providing services to the financial sector.
- Professionals performing financial functions in non-financial industries, such as corporate treasury, accounting, and investor relations.
- Students, preparing for an upcoming internship or starting their careers in finance.
- Anyone working in or looking to understand financial markets.
Outcome / Qualification etc.
What will you learn?
By the end of the course, you will:
- Develop a solid understanding of the financial markets landscape, its major participants and their roles.
- Find out about macroeconomic factors and how they drive the financial markets.
- Understand the mechanics behind securities trading.
- Distinguish between different types of asset classes and investment products.
- Appreciate various funding methods for companies and governments.
- Recognize the role of interest rates on the markets and economy.
- Find out about factors that influence FX rates and how they are determined.
- Identify and measure risks of bonds and debt investing.
- Figure out why commodities trade through futures contracts.
- Be able to explain various financial derivatives types and their use.
- And much more!
What will you get upon completion?
- Formal completion certificate.
- Course notes and materials.
- Follow-up support – ability to ask questions and seek further clarification, if needed.
- 20% OFF any future courses you wish to attend.
Training Course Content
Day 1:
- Financial Markets and Players:
- Capital and financial markets.
- Overview of the four main asset classes.
- Financial institutions and market players.
- The Sell Side: investment banks.
- Buy Side: hedge funds, pension funds, insurance firms, sovereign wealth funds, and mutual funds.
- Market players: investors, traders, speculators, and arbitrageurs.
- Macroeconomics:
- Overview of macroeconomic concepts.
- GDP and economic growth.
- Imports and exports.
- Employment and labor markets.
- Interest Rates and the role of Central Banks.
- Impact of macroeconomy on financial markets.
- Market Dynamics and Trading:
- The concept of liquidity.
- Market making and market taking.
- Exchange and OTC trading.
- Role of the exchange.
- Quote types and trades.
- Order-driven and quote-driven markets.
- Risk in financial markets.
- Yield Curve and Time Value of Money:
- Time value of money.
- Discounting and compounding.
- Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR).
- Zero-coupon, fixed-coupon and floating-coupon bonds.
- Duration and convexity.
- Interest rate yield curve and its shapes.
- Forward rates.
- Fixed Income Markets:
- Interest rate benchmarks.
- Credit ratings and rating agencies.
- Investment grade, high-yield and junk bonds.
- Money market instruments.
- Government and sovereign debt.
- Eurobond market.
- Corporate bonds.
Day 2:
- Equity Markets:
- Share types and classes.
- Financial statements.
- Stock pricing and valuation.
- IPOs and corporate actions.
- Equity funds and stock indices.
- Foreign Exchange Markets:
- Functioning of the FX markets.
- Currency regimes.
- Spot and forward rates.
- Cross rates.
- FX rate determination.
- Commodities:
- Commodity types.
- Market players trading commodities.
- Financial futures and market conventions.
- Futures curve – contango and backwardation.
- Cost of carry and convenience curve.
- Financial Derivatives Overview:
- Futures and forwards.
- Options.
- Swaps.
- Exotic derivatives and structured products.
Reviews
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Babak, Head of Pricing
27 Nov 2019
A Dynamic Approach To Teaching
Sergei has a dynamic approach to teaching and his ability to breakdown complex commercial concepts makes learning easy and memorable. I still remember his enthusiasm after 7 yea...
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As part of a financial training program, Sergei equipped me with the knowledge that I am still benefiting from seven years later. He has an ability to deliver complex subject ma...