Corporate Finance

Offered By: Columbia University via edX

Course Description

Overview

You will learn how to value a firm over the course of this Corporate Finance professional certificate program, giving you the skills necessary to make sound financial and investment decisions.

We will cover:

Framework for valuation (including, as special cases, valuation of stocks and bonds, and evaluation of investment opportunities)
Free cash flow method for firm valuation
Concepts of risk and return and identification of opportunity cost of capital
Alternative sources of external funding for company operations

Together, these concepts make up the essential building blocks for a career in finance.

In this hands-on program, you will be given the opportunity to learn through a variety of real-world transactions and case studies as well as work through exercises in constructing Excel models to help deepen your understanding of concepts.

This program is for those looking to advance their career in a range of professions, including investment banking, private equity, consulting, general management, and CFO track jobs within a corporation.

This program is based on the first-year course taught in Columbia Business School’s MBA core program.

Syllabus

Courses under this program:
Course 1: Introduction to Corporate Finance

Learn key financial concepts for evaluating and valuing investment opportunities, including how to value stocks and bonds.

Course 2: Free Cash Flow Analysis

Learn how to use the free cash flow method for firm valuation and how to compute and project free cash flows.

Course 3: Risk & Return

Learn how to measure the risk and return of equity and debt; and compute the weighted average of cost of capital.

Courses

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5 weeks, 3-4 hours a week, 3-4 hours a week
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In this course, learners will begin to apply the lessons and concepts from Introduction to Corporate Finance as they begin to discuss basics of firm valuation.

Follow Professor Wolfenzon's lead to learn how the free cash flow method is applied to value firms. You will also learn about valuation using multiples. Throughout the course, you will learn how to construct Excel models to value firms by completing hands on activities.
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4 weeks, 3-4 hours a week, 3-4 hours a week
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In this course, you will learn to estimate the expected return of equity and debt. You will also learn to estimate the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), the opportunity cost of capital you should use when discounting the free cash flows to value a firm.

In the process, you will learn to estimate the risk of financial assets and how use this measure of risk to calculate expected returns. You will also learn how the capital structure of a firm affects the riskiness of its equity and debt. Throughout the course, you will learn how to construct Excel models to value firms using hands on activities.

Taught by

Daniel Wolfenzon