Course details

Overview ?

Introduction

This seminar provides business professionals with a deeper understanding of financial management as practiced by today's most powerful companies by demystifying the complex world of finance, and providing the tools and insights that you will need to meet your own professional goals and the greater goals of the organisations you serve.

The seminar is split into two modules:

MODULE I - Corporate Financial Planning, Budgeting & Control

MODULE II - The Oxford 5-Day MBA in Finance

Each module is structured and can be taken as a stand-alone course; however, delegates will maximise their benefits by taking Module 1 and 2 back-to-back as a two-week seminar.

Objectives

By the end of this seminar delegates will be able to:

Acquire an understanding of the fundamentals of the successful management of corporate financial performance, from the development of strategy through planning and budgeting to performance monitoring and control
Develop practical experience of the workings of a best practice financial performance management model, and of how to improve corporate financial performance in real-life
Gain the insights required to win in the global marketplace, for example relating to:
- interpreting financial statements
- evaluating financial performance
- financial forecasting
- the financing decision
- determining the cost of capital
- evaluating investment opportunities
- managing risk
Raise financial skills

Training Methodology

Using a combination of seminars, team exercises and individual exercises, delegates will gain both a theoretical and practical knowledge of the topics covered. The emphasis is on the practical application of the topics and as a result delegates will return to the workplace with both the ability and the confidence to apply the techniques learned.

There will be a strongly participative, learning-by-doing, style, making extensive use of short case studies (both numeric/ analytical and non-numeric/descriptive) and syndicates, as well as open plenary discussion sessions.

Some parts of the course will include short revision/refresher sessions on accounting and DCF basics. Each day will comprise several sessions, introducing new material to build on the learning in the previous sessions.

The seminar manual will include copies of all the material used.

Organisational Impact

Delegates will develop a set of transferable skills which will improve their powers of financial planning helping the company to increase profit, improve cash flow whilst minimizing costs and risk
Delegates will not only be able to analysis various business problems but will also be able to evaluate various courses of action and make sound recommendations for action using leading software
They will become more aware of the importance of effective planning, budgeting and forecasting making the capital budgeting process more cost effective
Updating delegates with recent developments in risk management
Providing exposure to numerous annual reports and real life cases
Emphasising the role of risk in decision making

Personal Impact

Develop an understanding of today’s major issues in international corporate finance and budgeting
Make improved finance and capital budgeting decisions, which will increase your importance to your organization.
Be able to identify areas in which they may be able to contribute to improvements in the financial performance of your company which will help improve your career development.
An ability to utilise sophisticated investment appraisal techniques
An appreciation of the key items from an annual report and recognition of important ratios and linkages
Recognition of the appropriate tool to manage risk

SEMINAR OUTLINE

Module I

Corporate Financial Planning, Budgeting & Control

Day 1

Corporate Financial Planning

Strategic Planning
The Objective of the Firm – meeting Shareholder & Stakeholder Objectives
Agency Theory – the relationship between Shareholders & Management
Creative Accounting and the Case of Enron
Preparing a Strategic Plan
Financial Management & Financial Planning – the Scope, Role & Responsibilities of Financial Management
Preparing a Financial Plan – The Master Budget
Forecasting Future Cash-flows
- Time Series Analysis
- Correlation & Regression
Financial Modelling

Day 2

Financing the Plan

Sources of Finance – Long Term & Short Term
Evaluation of the Types of Finance
- Equity Finance
- Debt Finance
- Hybid Finance & Financial Engineering
The Dividend Decision
The Cost of Capital
Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)
Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
The Capital Investment Process
Payback
Accounting Rate of Return (ARR)
Net Present Value (NPV)
Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
Capital Investment Appraisal
Capital Rationing

Day 3

Preparing & Managing Budgets to support the Financial Plans

Definition of Budgets
The Budgetary Process
Types of Budgets
- Fixed
- Flexible
- Incremental
- Zero Based
- Activity Based Budgets
The Purpose/Benefits & Problems/Limitations of Budgets
Setting/Implementing Effective Budgets - Eliminating the Problems
Budgetary Control
Responsibility Accounting and Absorption Costing
Activity Based Budgeting/Costing (ABB, ABC)
Variance Analysis
Cost Behaviour & Break Even Analysis
Sensitivity/What If Analysis
What-If Analysis combined with Du-Pont Analysis

Day 4

Managing and Controlling Cashflow to support the Financial Plan

Cash versus Profit
The Cash Conversion Cycle
Calculating and Managing the Cashflow Cycle
Cash Flow Ratios
Working Capital
The Cost of Maintaining Working Capital
Maintaining the Optimum level of Working Capital
Working Investment Ratios
Preparing a Monthly Cash Flow Forecast

Day 5

Managing Financial Risk

Risk Management
Types of Risk
Identifying Risk – SWOT Analysis
The Major Quantitative & Qualitative Risks Facing Companies
Establishing a Risk Management Strategy
Financial Risk Management & Hedging Techniques
Financial Risks
Managing Exchange Rate & Interest Rate Risk
Derivatives
- Forwards
- Futures
- Options
- Swaps
Risk Management Glossary of Terms

Module II

The Oxford 5-Day MBA in Finance

DAY 6

An Introduction to the Financial Markets

An introduction to the equity markets:
- IPO
- Market Indices
- International Equity Market Links
- An introduction to bond markets
Long Term versus Short Term
Treasury versus Corporate
Types of Bond
The spot and forward market
Exchange Rate trends and linkages
Carry Trades
Futures
Options
An introduction to the FX market
An introduction to the Derivatives Market
The link between risk and return

DAY 7

Evaluating Investment Opportunities

The Markowitz model of Portfolio Risk
The Capital Asset Pricing Model
- A practical application of the CAPM to a range of companies
The time value of money and discounted cash flow techniques
The Gordon Growth Model
A practical application of forecasting dividends
Determining the Cost of Debt
The Ameritrade Case
The importance of the cost of capital
Scenario analysis
The weighted average cost of capital (WACC)
A practical application of the IRR approach
Pitfalls in using the IRR approach
Investment Appraisal using the Net Present Value approach
Payback and adjusted Payback
The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) approach
Real Options

DAY 8

A Walk through an Annual Report

The Balance Sheet
The Income Statement
The Cash Flow Statement
Ratio Analysis
A practical application of Ratio Analysis:
- Apple v Microsoft
- Next v Tesco
- Easyjet v British Airways
Forecasting Sales
The cost of sales approach

DAY 9

The Corporate Financing Decision

Financial Leverage
- Modiglianni and Millers Theory of Capital Structure
- The Risk of Bankruptcy
- The Optimal Capital Structure
The Dividend Decision
The clientele effect
The taxation effect
The principal agent problem
The market for Corporate Control

DAY 10

Risk Management

Hedging Exchange Rate risk using:
the forward market
zero cost collars
Hedging commodity price risk using:
Options
Futures
Practical Application of airlines hedging fuel price risk- the importance of correlation

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5