Financial Market Fundamentals
Understand the building blocks of all financial markets. Learn how instruments are issued and traded, how prices are quoted, and how market participants interact through exchanges, brokers, and clearing systems.
Gain essential macroeconomic context by understanding how inflation, unemployment, growth, and fiscal and monetary policy interact to shape economic conditions, and build a solid foundation in derivatives – their key types, uses, and fundamental pricing concepts.
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9.5
Hours to Complete
12
Topics
10
Practical exercises
Financial Market Fundamentals includes
- Debt vs. equity
- Borrowed money vs. ownership
- Dilution vs. financial flexibility
- Risk-return considerations
- The company lifecycle and available sources of funding
- The concept of leverage
- Loans vs. bonds
- Secured vs. unsecured debt
- Government vs. corporate debt
- Investment grade vs. high yield
- Overview of the bond issuance process
- Understand the difference between private and public equity
- Initial public offerings
- Ordinary shares vs. preference shares
- Depositary receipts
- The concept of equity indices
- Key equity metrics and data points
- What do we mean by “sell side”?
- The difference between broker and dealer
- What do we mean by “buy side”?
- Types of investors and their investment styles
- Retail investors vs. high net worth vs. institutional investors
- Active vs. passive investing
- Institutional investor types, their primary investments and goals
- Financial markets as two-sided markets
- What does “spot price” mean in practice?
- Long positions – risk profiles and trade motivations
- Short positions – risk profiles and trade motivations
- Market price quotation
- Last price vs. bid and ask/offer
- The main drivers of bid-offer spreads
- Exchange traded vs. OTC
- Client onboarding
- Order and execution
- Clearing
- Settlement
- Ongoing position management and mark to market valuation
- The role of clearing houses and custodians
- Inflation and Unemployment
- Fundamentals and Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- Fiscal and Monetary Policy
- Indicators
- Balance of Payments (BOP)
- What is a financial derivative
- The different types of derivatives
- Potential benefits of using derivatives
- The forward price – no arbitrage and the cost of carry
- Introduction to market risk in derivatives
- Introduction to counterparty risk in derivatives
Financial Market Fundamentals
| skills-certificate
Financial Market Fundamentals
9.5
Hours
10
Practical exercises
1
Exam
Learn the key principles that underpin all markets – how instruments are issued, traded, and valued, and the role of market participants and intermediaries.
Understanding the Corporate Lifecycle and Financing Decisions
43 video minutes
3 Excel exercises
Video minutes 43
Excel Exercises 3
Intro to Debt Markets
33 video minutes
1 Excel exercises
Video minutes 33
Excel Exercises 1
Intro to Equity Markets
69 video minutes
3 Excel exercises
Video minutes 69
Excel Exercises 3
Market Participants Overview
52 video minutes
Video minutes 52
Excel Exercises 0
Financial Marketplaces and Prices
42 video minutes
3 Excel exercises
Video minutes 42
Excel Exercises 3
Life Cycle of a Trade
23 video minutes
Video minutes 23
Excel Exercises 0
Macroeconomics – Inflation and Unemployment
27 video minutes
Video minutes 27
Excel Exercises 0
Macroeconomics – Fundamentals and GDP
33 video minutes
Video minutes 33
Excel Exercises 0
Macroeconomics – Fiscal and Monetary Policy
19 video minutes
Video minutes 19
Excel Exercises 0
Macroeconomics – Indicators
11 video minutes
Video minutes 11
Excel Exercises 0
Macroeconomics – Balance of Payments (BOP)
15 video minutes
Video minutes 15
Excel Exercises 0
Intro to Derivatives
77 video minutes
Video minutes 77
Excel Exercises 0
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