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Tag: Financial Analysis Course

Does Financial Analyst need SQL?

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Does the Financial Analyst need SQL?

SQL, which stands for a structured query language, is the way most data analysts define, manipulate and control large amounts of data. It allows the questions in our minds to be translated into queries that elicit quick and concise responses from the data. 

It is no secret that data has become a prerequisite for analysis, as the digitized world has enabled our every movement to be translated into data points captured by various technologies. The unstoppable and ever-growing expansion of the data universe, coupled with an increasing appreciation of the capabilities of sophisticated data analysis, has made the data analyst the magician of our time. A good data analyst, or a good data-analysis solution, is one that bridges the gap between data and the way the human mind works.

Though sceptics claim SQL has nothing to do with finance, the technological world is fast evolving and inter-departmental boundaries are fast disappearing. Most teams are now cross-functional, and the emphasis for operational efficiency is on being Agile and applying Scrum principles. Even data has moved to cloud storage. That’s obviously why financial analysts need knowledge in Python and SQL.

It is no secret that data has become a prerequisite for analysis, as the digitized world has enabled our every movement to be translated into data points captured by various technologies. The unstoppable and ever-growing expansion of the data universe, coupled with an increasing appreciation of the capabilities of sophisticated data analysis, has made data analysts the magician of our time. A good data analyst, or a good data-analysis solution, bridges the gap between data and the way the human mind works.

SQL and Finance:

Data and financial records form the very backbone of all financial analysis. SQL is a great programming language for financial applications. Couple that with cloud storage, cross-functional teams, and the never-ending need for differentiating and cutting-edge live databases and it is easy to infer that at least the fundamental techniques of SQL are of paramount importance to the newbie financial analyst. Most people shy away from SQL which appears to be hard to learn and full of math.

However, SQL is the easiest way to store, move data locations, analyze your data across various internal and external sources, retrieve data at will, make data analytics-based decisions, add the script to edited data, and find a particular date’s stock prices and endlessly explore databases. Especially in financial analysis, there is no replacement of data to justify or argue a decision! SQL is truly awesome with queries, not so great at organizing data, has an awe-inspiring backend, works with very few filters, and is declarative.

Python and Finance:

Having stressed the need for SQL, add the most happening financial language of Python to the list of requirements for financial analysts. Python tools take care of math and programming difficulties.

Here are some reasons to adapt to Python:

  • Financial modelling tools like VBA Macros and Excel are for beginners. Python can do all this and more with minimum code and not being limited to on-screen data interpolation
  • Testing strategies and trades are possible with simple Python code and algorithms in comparison to the C-based coding for financial algorithms
  • Data Analysis is simplified by importing queries in SQL and producing a more complex inferential analysis
  • Its libraries are vast and open source

If you have to learn a few programming languages, then do so at the very beginning of your career to ensure a happier more successful tomorrow. The older generation finds adapting to SQL, Python, etc. hard and you will have an unbeatable edge. Do give programming languages like the evolving Lisp, Haskell, and R a fair chance too. You never know what software your future companies depend on or adapt to. In parting, assimilation of skills is the first hard step in your successful career.

There are many skills both technical and non-transferable that contribute to making a successful financial analyst immaterial of which area you work in. Doing the financial analyst course at the renowned Imarticus Learning Academy will ensure you get a coveted financial analyst certification while the course comprehensively provides you with the easiest skill-enhancing route.

Also Read: – Do Financial Analysts Use Python 

How Do You Perform A Financial Analysis

What Are The Benefits Of Being A Financial Analyst?

Which course is better SAP FISCO or financial analysis?

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Both SAP  FICO and a Financial Analyst course have their own unique applications – both require an individual to be an expert in the domain, and both can land very lucrative jobs. SAP FICO is a little more technical and to become a financial analyst one requires to be continuously updated in skills. One must take a lot of care and should consider all options before deciding for a course.
Let us look in detail.
SAP FICO – FI (financial accounting) and CO (controlling) is a module that is used for reporting both internally and externally. Its main purpose is to record all financial transactions that are posted by an entity and maintain and produce accurate financial statements at the end of the trade period.
SAP is made up of sub-modules which are often used – accounts receivables, payables, asset accounting, general ledger accounting, and bank accounting. These sub-modules are interlinked, and they integrate in real time. A trial balance will always be balanced as all the submodules are connected and thus they can be extracted at any time.
Financial Analyst course
Integration between SAP FI modules:
General ledger accounting – A set of all general ledger accounts in SAP that is used by a company or a group of companies is referred to as a chart of accounts, and these are used for the final preparation of the financial statements. Most transactions are reconciled with the general ledgers in real time as most transactions are recorded in submodules. Transactions done in direct general ledger accounting includes journal vouchers. These are posted to correct or adjust transactions.
Accounts receivables – it is a submodule that records all transactions with customers and manages their accounts. Separate customer accounts are maintained, and once transactions reflect in customer accounts, reconciliation accounts in the general ledger are updated in real-time figures. These transactions include invoice posting, down payments, invoice payment and executing customer reports.
Accounts payables – is a sub-module that records all vendor transactions and manages vendor accounts. Separate accounts are maintained for all vendors, and when transactions reflect in customer accounts, reconciliation accounts in the general ledger are updated with real-time figures. Transactions include invoice and credit memo posting, down payments and invoice payments, automatic payment program and executing vendor reports.
Asset accounting – it manages all transactions that are related to assets, for an entity. Once transactions are posted in asset accounts, reconciliation accounts are updated in real time. Transactions in asset accounting include asset acquisition and retirement, asset sale and transfer, asset revaluation and asset depreciation.
Bank accounting – it records all transactions with the banks. It is done to collect all transactions recorded by the bank on their statements and comparing them to transactions in the system.
Since all the SAP FI sub-modules are consolidated and transactions are updated in real time, accurate financial statements can be extracted at any time from the system.
To become a financial analyst you acquire a financial analyst certification one has to leverage accounting and compliance backgrounds and has to explore financial data, predict results and drive policy improvements. The position of a financial is accountable for reviewing investment proposals, investigating internal financial and operational issues, staying ahead on the conditions of the industry conditions and activities of different competitors.
Principal Accountabilities covered in a Financial Analyst Test

  • To investigate operational and financial results and make suggestions for improvements
  • Conduct and discuss cost-benefit analyses
  • Reviewing capital budgeting proposals and recommend to management
  • Create and forecast future business conditions in multiple scenarios
  • Review and suggest different investments that are based on risk and return analysis
  • Stay ahead of industry developments
  • Create financial models with electronic spreadsheets
  • Make powerpoint presentations for senior management with summaries of the results of analyses
  • Analyze past and current financial data and performance and preparing reports based on that
  • Evaluate current capital expenditures as well as depreciation and exploring investment opportunities
  • Evaluating profits plans and providing with financial models and forecasting
  • Recognizing trends in financial performance and offering suggestions for improvement

What is a good Excel book for corporate financial analysis (controller, financial planning & analysis)?

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Financial modeling can be best learned through practice.  If you are just starting to learn financial modeling, reading up on the different financial models will help you clear the fundamentals. Microsoft Excel is one of the most-used programs which are used for financial modeling.

The following books are helpful to clear the basics of financial modeling and planning, and also discusses how to analyze data sets. They also show how Excel can be used for the same models.

Mastering Financial Modelling in Microsoft Excel: This book by Alastair Day will help you master the concept of financial modeling and how they can be generated through Excel. Complex issues are discussed with ease, with solutions to practical problems. Some of the major topics covered by the book are spreadsheet designs, processes, and methodologies.

Various techniques which can be used to check and improve existing models are also given in the book. Tests for every scenario are also given along with different Excel formulas and functions.

Financial Modeling in Practice: A Concise Guide for Intermediate and Advanced Levels: It is an engaging, easily readable book authored by Michael Rees. This is a great book for students as different Excel functions and tools for financial modeling are easily explained with scenarios, explanations, and illustrations.

It also teaches the basics of how to design a model, detail out its structure, and make them accurate, relevant and easily understandable. The book also explores different add-ins such as @RISK and Precision Tree, which are very useful for risk assessment. Different examples of how these models have been used in practical solutions are explained in great detail in the book.

Best Practices for Equity Research Analysis: The book by James Valentine is aimed at equity research, and is useful for anyone who wants a career in this field. The book explains concepts from the business’ point of view. The book explains ideas on valuation, behavioral finance, and due diligence.

The author’s own experiences are clearly stated in the book as well. It focuses on the importance of clear communication through the different models which are generated. Tips and tricks which can be used in Excel are explained in detail in the book.

Financial Analysis and Modeling using Excel and VBA: The book discusses the world of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), as used in different Excel models. It is written by Chandan Sengupta and is relevant for both students and financial modelers who want to include VBA in their analysis.

It goes into the detailed features in Excel which are necessary for financial analysis course and modeling. Examples of these models are statistical analysis, Ribbon, data analysis, and PivotTables. This book also teaches financial analysis and modeling through different features of VBA and Excel.

You can learn by the different examples that are given as assignments in the book. Iterative solutions to different problem scenarios are also explained in great detail in the book.

Reliance Capital Downgraded by ICRA

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R-Capital was recently IC-Ratings Association downgraded. What does that mean and how can we use this information?
Why the rating is important:
The IC-Ratings Association forum comprises of representatives from commercial banks, leading institutions in investments and finance, and companies in financial services to benchmark and rates the invest ability factor. It is an independent company listed on stock exchanges both in Mumbai and nationally, as it is a public limited company.

Global alliances:

The ratings are used by Moody’s who offer services to investors, technical and financial services globally to companies, training, research, concept management, spotting capital market trends, and providing investor service, product ratings. Moody’s is also the largest stakeholder on the rating agency.
The ICRA rating:
The rating is crucial to the common investor because

  • It gives comprehensive company information.
  • Provides users of the rating a wider field to choose investments and products from the capital and money markets.
  • Enable company fundraising from a wider market.
  • Assist the monitoring agencies to ensure measurability of performance and transparency in the rating process.
  • Aids intermediaries and institutions in the fundraising process.

The recent downward rating of Rel-Capital by ICRA to A4 from A2 has several negative connotations. The Brickwork and CARE ratings also put them on a watch-list for credit implications that can only be negative for Reliance. The key subsidiaries of Reliance HFL and Reliance CFL were also mentioned as having a negative impact on the financial position while the profile of liquidity stands weakened and Reliance itself faces rating revisions.
Here is the lowdown on the rating factors.

    • The Anil Ambani led group has been impacted by the slow monetization of its services and businesses in the non-financial market thus impacting liquidity which is stuck in investments that are non-core in nature.
    • The critical subsidiaries of Reliance in the Home and Commercial Finance sectors are also stressed. This means that the inflow of money is lower than the debts incurred and due for repayment considering their position over the coming six months.
    • The funds need to be brought in by rapid disinvestments in the assets held by the non-core and core segments of their business and imply that the fund inflow expectations were unrealistic and much higher than the true position. The most critical factor will be whether they can raise these funds in time and pay off the accumulated debts in time. These issues point to huge borrowings and lack of flexibility in capital management.
    • Though management confidence is keeping the situation afloat there is no transparency in the funds-recovery positions of capital advanced to and obtained from Rel-Capital, Rel-Commercial Finance, and Rel-Home Finance. Thus the criticality of the fund’s position and repayment capacity remains unclear.

In response to being downgraded as a good investment choice, the company claimed that the rating was inappropriate and unjustifiable mainly because none of the parameters of operation used for rating had actually changed. They claimed the rating had accounted for Rs 950 crore being the outstanding debt to be repaid by the 30th of September this year and that this was a mere commercial on-paper transaction which did not affect its liquidity position.
Further, they claimed it would be converting into money its Rel-LAM with Nippon at the present valuation of the market to raise Rs 5,000 Cr and includes a 42.88% holding which is earning a good premium on disinvestment. It has also approached SEBI with their prospectus and plans to monetize the holdings in Rel-General Insurance wherein they have a stake-hold of 49%. Speaking more about their monetization drive they also indicated that they would cut by half their debt-servicing demands and raise a total capital of 10,000 Cr Rs in total to regain their ratings.
Conclusion:
The Reliance group of companies appears to be in a grave financial crisis with mounting debts and a debt restructuring and monetization program that will take far too long. The debtors may push hard and lead the company to file for bankruptcy.
In parting, to understand financial ratings and effectively use them in today’s ratings dependent financial markets, you will need some formal training at a well-reputed institute like Imarticus. Enroll immediately in their financial analyst courses which will make you job-prepared, aid your resume with certification and of course, give you excellent hands-on practice, a comprehensive practical oriented- curriculum which allows you to hit your career grounds running!

Equity Markets and Interest Rates- what’s the link? This is with reference to the recent RBI rate cut.

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The 25 bp fall in the RBI’s repo policy rates for the 3rd time is an indicator for the equity markets, interest rates, and investor reactions. With the newly elected BJP government winning a clear mandate, there appear to be large concerns over the domestic rate of growth, the drop in prices of oil, tariffs from the US and a vacillating global market. Reading the trends one would say the premier bank is moderating changes and even suggesting a further drop in rates from the current 5.75% which in itself is a 9-yr low. This has been spurred by the weal economic growth, wide output chasms coupled with the poor investment and consumption growth.
Effect on Equity markets:
The interest rates cause a commotion since it is the cost of borrowing and using another’s funds. The interbank rate and RBI’s lending rate to banks normally takes a year to feel any impact in the economic scenario. However, equity markets see volatility and immediately react to such changes in anticipation of growth or decrease in it as the case may be.
There is no direct impact on the equity markets by the interest rates. Yet, equity markets move in the reverse direction generally and do have indirect cascading effects on the prices and growth in general. A cut in rates implies the stock market could move upwards and a rise in the rates normally sees a slump in it. This is a thumb rule and a prediction without guarantees especially in the present globally volatile equity market scenario.
Here is how the ripple-effects are predicted to be.
GDP growth may slump in 2020: 
The US-China trade war and tariffs imposed on India too saw the GDP projected values slumping to 7 from the current 7.2%. The weakened rural area consumption, poor domestic investment growth, and exports slowing down do not augur well. However, the premier bank also pointed out that we should factor in data from March where the stable political scenario, better financials in Q2 from more business growth, an upswing in stock markets, and greater utilization of capacities can reassure the economic growth.
The trends in Inflation: 
The variations in the monsoon patterns, vegetable prices spikes, escalating global tensions, changes in fuel prices globally, volatility of equity markets, impending trade crisis’s,  and the emerging political and government policy will hugely affect the inflation rates. Currently, the RBI stepped in with a marginal upward revision to 3 to 3.1 from 2.9 to 3 % for the April ending September period.
The policy changes: RBIs change in policy has become accommodative in a bid for timely action. This also implies further changes in monetary policies and cuts in interest rates to spur the flagging markets.
The liquidity position:
In spite of an April-May deficit, the cut-backs in governmental splurges resulted in a surplus of 66,000 Cr Rs for June. Funds injection to the tune of 70 thousand Cr for April and 33.4 thousand Cr for May from the premier bank along with its OMO auction purchases for 3 years of 25 thousand Cr and almost 35 thousand Cr value saw the liquidity positions ease. Another such auction of 15 thousand Cr is also anticipated in June.
The updates:

  • The Jalan Committee report may take some time as it is still working on its recommendations to improve the premier bank’s cash reserves.
  • The RBI though not mandatorily is monitoring the NBFC sector for financial stability and will interfere if required.

Concluding notes:
With moderation rather than being neutral being the key-word, further cuts are predicted. The 6 to 5.75% RBI-lending rate, 5.75 to 5.5 repo rate, and changes in monetary policy are predicted to ease the common-mans burdens by

  • Lower HL EMIs.
  • Automobile and real-estate sectors will get a boost.
  • NBFC lending may rise as payments banks are being reviewed.
  • Bank leverage-ratios set to 4.5 to 4 for DSIBs and for the rest of the banks 3.5%.
  • The inter-ATM bank fee may change.

If you are looking to make a career as a financial or banking expert get trained on Financial Analyst courses Prodegree from Imarticus Learning. They also offer a wide variety of skill-oriented courses on data sciences, the latest on Fintech and Scrum Agile courses par excellence. Their certifications get you job-ready from day one. Hurry and enroll.

Rising Oil Prices in 2019

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In the first quarter of 2018, crude oil prices around the globe saw a four-fold increase in the past 4 years. And while experts were still analyzing as to why this happened, the prices suddenly dropped by more than 30 USD in the coming months. With these data in mind, experts and industrialists around the globe are predicting that 2019 will be a tumultuous year for crude oil prices around the globe.
What industry experts are saying?
The major reason, experts around the world are citing for this sudden rise and again downfall of crude oil prices is oversupply and demand worries. But other than this, there are several more power dynamics that are at play here. OPEC’s Viennese waltz in early December is a perfect example for this shifting dynamics where Rusia signed a deal to reduce their produce in the year 2019 and bear the reins with the former global leader, Saudi Arabia. But although this move by Russia and Saudi Arabia was widely accepted and acclaimed on a global stage, President Donald Trump’s tweets, demanding lower oil prices and US manufacturers pumping unprecedented volumes of crude oil into the market is a major threat to all the hard work, Russia and Saudi Arabia have done over the years.
In an interview with the International Energy Agency, the station chief Neil Atkinson said that there are “major uncertainties” and “even more hazardous than usual” predictions for 2019’s crude oil prices.
Another reason that major leaders in the crude oil industry are worried about is geopolitical uncertainties which can seriously set prices off track and even create a shortage in the market.
Global Leaders’ Excerpts
LiveMint which is a business news website reached out to industrialists and people of knowledge across the industry and asked for a comment on the rising oil prices and their opinions on what might be the state of oil prices in 2019. The common answer that all of them had to this issue is that there might be a demand and supply struggle in the coming months of 2019.
Some of the major industry leaders LiveMint interviewed were Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhillips, Greg Sharenow, portfolio manager, Pimco, David Lebovitz, VP and global market strategist, JPMorgan, Neil Atkinson, IEA’s head of oil markets and all of their comments were along the same line.
A significant takeaway from the interviews was the fact that the market is predicted to operate smoothly and volatility like that of 2018 is not expected. Since the price per barrel of oil is at a stable rate as of now, leaders are saying that this is a sign from both the consumers as well as producers perspective.
Conclusion
While the tension keeps on rising around industrialists and manufacturers from around the globe, whose businesses are centred or partly depend on global oil prices, predictions about the market seem to be correct for now. With time, we will realize how this will affect us on a larger scale and thus the best we can right now is wait and watch.

SBI Share Sale of 1.4 Billion USD

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Being an Indian, we have all heard of SBI at least once in our lifetime and in the best predictability, we have at least one bank account with the nation’s largest lender. SBI which is an acronym for the State Bank of India is an entity completely run and managed by the Government and is a conglomeration of various different financial institutions.
Onwards from 2016, SBI has been on a run to acquire and merge various of its subsidiaries like State Bank of Mysore, Hyderabad etc. and even merged with financial institutions outside of its brand name. But this year in 2019, SBI announced a sale of its stocks for around 1.4 billion USD for its holdings in various financial institutions.
In this strategic move by the country’s largest lender, SBI has chosen underwriters whose sale can raise as much as 1.4 billion USD. As of now, the official announcement for this deal has only been made public on the official PR release by the bank. In its statement, SBI announced that it has chosen Bank of America Corp., CLSA Ltd. and HSBC Holdings Plc as the main organizers of the sale. Other financial institutions that were chosen include Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. and SBI Capital Markets Ltd. which have been chosen to work on this massive deal.
Market experts from around India are predicting that this move is an attempt to bolster SBI’s capital buffers as it plans to churn out loans at a faster pace in the upcoming years. If we take a close at the credit market, it is easy to understand that it has been growing at the fastest pace since the past 5 years, after a slight recession to shadow money lenders.
Once the sale goes through, it is set to add 11.5 Billion USD into the Indian economy as per the data gathered by Bloomberg India. As of now, the finer details of the sale have not been made public and the fundraising target could change in the upcoming days.

When Applying For a Financial analyst Position What Skills Should You Have?

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When Applying For a Financial analyst Position, What Skills Should You Have?

Depending on your career plan, resources, specialization choices, and eligibility choose your certification. These have different prerequisites in terms of educational background, experience, and examinations taken to be finally added on to your resume. All of them provide you with a well-defined skill set meant to ensure you are industry ready and have the required skill sets. Let us explore some areas.

Education
 A graduation degree or even a Master’s in Finance goes a long way. Add certifications that are relevant like the CFA from the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. Those from a non-financial background can do an MBA and take a course on financial analysis as these courses offer boot camps to bring you to speed. Analysts aspiring to work in securities should take their Series 63 and Series 7 exams to be ready for any suitable position.

Non-transferable skills will also need to be developed and aligned with the enterprise’s needs. You must have the following traits.

  1. Interpersonal Communication skills
  2. Ability to solve problems creatively.
  3. Collaborative team skills
  4. Ability to work with ambiguity, pressure, and demands from the startup environment.
  5. Discipline and integrity since you will be working on financial transactions.
  6. A good learner as there may be no prior standards in financial interpretations.Experience
    Most financial analysts gain employment as soon they finish their CFA certification or an MBA from a reputed university. However, other than education and the skills above you will need luck. That’s all. Ignore the payouts and work diligently. In a few years, you will be successful and climb the ladder of success. The payouts get more handsome as time moves on. And the scope is limited solely by you. The industry demands for good Financial Analysts have always been short of supply and have and will never end.Skill sets:
    A Financial analyst has to have a gamut of traits besides training which can be acquired through online refresher courses and extensive research. The importance of continued learning can never be stressed enough. Once you have your skills in place and your certification to validate you are industry-ready, act on taking your skills to the next level.

    The skills of a financial analyst might include:
    • Financial modelling: The modern Financial analysts must be excellent at presenting financial issues in modelling form such as through models like the Sortino Ratio.

    • Financial analysis: This is what the job role demands most from you. You can do accredited online or regular courses to equip yourself. Get certification from CFA under your belt.

    • Data analysis: Digital data today and especially in this field involves Big Data and Deep Learning tools. You will need to update your technical skills to include DevOps, SQL, Python, R etc.

    • Marketing skills: This is one non-transferable skill that you learn from experiential learning. Do a course to stay abreast of the latest technological trends to help reduce your work burden in advisory or forecasting roles.

    • ERP systems: To effectively manage the back-end offices and for automation, you need to be fluent in ERP systems.

    • Strategic thinking: Get creative, and innovative and rely on your own innate skills to develop this invaluable trait you cannot learn from college.

    • Decision-making: The financial analyst services and advise others on making investment decisions. Your acumen needs to be sharp and abilities in decision making clear, precise and data-based when making your presentations.

    • Thought skills: Your head has to be your best ally as you make those calculations and wade through complex equations while landing on your Agile feet at all times. What better way than extensive reading, discipline training and building a hobby to keep you in the developing mode.

    • Attention to detail: Even a tiny mistake on the part of a Financial Analyst will never be tolerated and has a cascading effect on the firm, investors, and profit. No one but you can help yourself! Decide wisely because the Financial Analyst role is definitely not for everyone.

What Training or Experience is Needed To Start Private Equity Fund?

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How to start a private equity fund

Today most PE firms are mid-size or small enterprises with 2 to 100s of employees. To start a PE fund is a well strategized and thought of venture. Managers should follow these essential steps when launching a private equity fund. The large PE’s include the well known TPG Capital, Carlyle Group, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Apollo Management, and the Blackstone Group. The main steps of your roadmap to successfully starting a PE fund are detailed below.

Business strategy forming:
The first step is to outline the sectors of your business strategy. Make your financial plan unique and different from your competitors and normal benchmarks. Base the business strategy on documented research into a specific market or sector. Some examples are energy development, biotech or fintech companies. The baseline is that your fund goals are important to your investors.

Operations and Business Plan:
Just as in good plans, record yours with fund-time frames, calculated cash flow, capital raising periods, the time taken to exit investments in portfolio management, and your detailed 10-year plan. Let your strategy and action plan sew the goals recorded details together. Your strategy will include advisory board, think-tank setting up, back end operations, staff hiring, documenting policies, compliance measures and all details of the most major event of PE fund set up.

Investment Vehicle establishment:
After your early operations house is in order to move to establish the legal structure of the fund. Will it be a private limited, partnership, LLP, or LLC? Enrol the services of a good lawyer to form the articles of association or legalese involved in legally establishing the fund.

Fee Structure Determination:
Set out the provisions for management fees, carried interest and other rates for fund performance. Typically, annual management fee to fund manager is 2% of the investment committed capital received from investors
Te carried –interest should be about 20% above the anticipated return levels while the hurdle rate is 5% and the returns split in a 20:80 ratio, between you and investors. Ensure the setting up of norms of compliance, valuation, risk etc. for the PE fund.


Capital Raising:
Finally, you are ready for the PE capital raising stage.
You will need the:
• Offering memorandum
• Subscription agreement
• Partnership terms
• Custodial agreement
• Due diligence questionnaires

Ensure materials for marketing are ready well before raising capital. Severance letters of new fund managers are to be recorded. This is when you move into the crucial investor finding stage. Invest your funds and ensure capital commitments from your fund managers.

Your marketing panache and networking is the pivot of your fund. Ensure compliance in investments from accredited investors, institutional investors etc. Your fund managers can build on their portfolios and target their clients from there on.

To get a clear picture of how to go about setting up a Private Equity Fund one needs to research well, have a great network of clients and proper knowledge. Do short financial analysis courses online to revise and equip yourself with the small details required in setting up your fund. You can also do an accredited financial analysis course and obtain a certification that will stand you in good stead on your sojourn into your PE fund. Most of these courses will give you insights into theoretical and practical aspects that you have possibly forgotten. Best of all it allows you to move forward confidently. 

In parting, the roadmap is a sure way of finding your way through unchartered territory. PE funds are thriving, growing and out-classing other forms of funds.

 

What Do You Need To Learn To Become A Financial Analyst?

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What Do You Need To Learn To Become A Financial Analyst?

The job role of a financial analyst needs a very thorough study of theory and the applicability of principles to practical situations. The best option is to do financial analysis courses and earn the CFA Certification.

Course Skills and requirements
A graduation degree or even a Master’s in Finance goes a long way. Add certifications that are relevant. Those from a non-financial background can also take these courses as most offer boot camps to bring you to speed.
Non-transferable skills will also need to be developed and aligned with the enterprise’s needs. You must have the following traits.

  1. Interpersonal Communication skills
  2. Ability to solve problems creatively.
  3. Collaborative team skills
  4. Ability to work with ambiguity, pressure, and demands from the startup environment.
  5. Discipline and integrity since you will be working on financial transactions.
  6. A good learner as there may be no standard operating procedures in financial interpretations.

Course advantages:
Depending on your career plan, resources, specialization choices, and eligibility here you can choose your certification. These have different prerequisites in terms of educational background, experience, and examinations taken to be finally added on to your resume. All of them provide you with a well-defined skill set meant to ensure you are industry ready and have the required skill sets.

The courses offer a good grasp of basics, concepts, theoretical knowledge, practical skills and certifications that could help enhance your resume and career. They also offer boot camps, short term workshops, and knowledge valuable to enter the industry. Another advantage in such a course is of mentoring by certified and experienced industry aces that helps garner the latest best practices, techniques, skills, and practice on the latest trending technologies in the financial industry.

While CFA certification definitely helps, you will need to be an excellent communicator and work diligently to acquire the best analytical and business skills. You will definitely need to add on technical skills in DevOps, IoT, Python, Machine Learning, Big Data, and Hadoop to aid your role and understanding as Financial Analyst.

Topics covered:
Here is what topics the financial analytics training courses cover. The course topics are covered in detail with case studies, practice assignments and quizzes.

  • How to use Excel
  • Undertake data analysis and manipulation in Excel
  • Basics and concepts in accounting
  • Analysis of financial statements
  • Inferences and forecasting methodology from financial statements
  • Valuation of business from financial analysis data
  • Dynamic and flexible financial model making
  • Data visualization charts in Excel creation and presentation
  • Accounting statements preparation for any company
  • Create balance sheet, cash flows statement and income statement from the basics onwards.
  • Ratio analysis from company financials preparation and interpretation
  • Using a framework to compare different companies financial performances
  • Creation of  financial models that are forward-looking and integrated
  • Forecast, extrapolate financial ratios which are forward-looking
  • Discounted Cash Flows application and techniques of valuation on an actual company performance data
  • Apply valuation technique of Multiples to a real-world company data
  • Presentation enhancing tools like PowerPoint

Conclusion:
A Financial analyst has to have a gamut of traits besides training which can be acquired through online refresher courses and extensive research. The importance of continued learning can never be stressed enough. Once you have your skills in place and your certification to validate you are industry ready, act on taking your skills to the next level.