Certificate in Finance

PROGRAM Participants will attend three intensive sessions of one week, each delivered on our Grenoble campus. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (30H) : The international financial environment is increasingly complex. Multinational firms, as compared to purely domestic ones, have greater opportunities in terms of diversification, economies of scale, and larger cost effective financing resources. But they also face greater risks: political instability, exchange rate fluctuations, and complex fiscal regulations. As globalization is an increasing feature of modern business, managers of firms (be they international or domestic) must have the knowledge and skills that are required by multinational businesses. The rapidly increasing integration of capital markets renders this even more imperative. This course is, therefore, intended to expose students to the concepts, techniques and instruments of international financial management and the problems of serious turbulence in the financial models, now commonplace. The causes of systemic crisis are analyzed and the challenges of market volatility are discussed, as well as the essential risk management and forecasting tools that are now an integrated part of the financial managers' skills. Its objectives are threefold, namely: To understand the international financial environment and its evolution; To appreciate the influences of international business on financial management; To master the basic techniques of solving international financial problems involving money flows in foreign currency or currencies other than the reference currency, and their impact on the investment decision process. MANAGING FINANCIAL PERFORMANCES (30H) FINANCIAL MARKETS This course is designed to develop participants' skills in relation to key competencies for financial managers and controllers. A primary requirement for this course is to understand the potential sources and role of capital markets in order to be able to provide financial resources. Financing techniques will be taught in this section of the specialization, focusing on markets and financing resources. On completion of this course, the participants should have an understanding of: Evolution of markets: New Markets, Private markets; Financing by public equities: IPO, Convertible Bonds, stock options. FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE You will explore the fundamentals of financial accounting and analyze a firm’s past performance and assess its current financial situation. The course will include consideration of a company’s value using multiples of earnings, alternative forms of financial ratios, assessing insolvency using ratios, and evaluating various types of industries. On successful completion of this course, the participants should have an understanding of establishing and analyzing financial statements. PLANNING, BUDGETING AND CONTROL This course aims to develop participants’ skills in relation to financial and managerial accounting and management control. In such a role, the financial manager/controller must be able to plan and oversee the forecasting and budgeting process, and oversee the process of developing and communicating quarterly and annual financial statements. INVESTMENT AND VALUATION (30H) INVESTMENT UNDER UNCERTAINTY Participants will apply specific approaches to investment decision under uncertainty. Starting from a traditional approach, the course will focus on the financial characteristics of uncertain investment: flexibility of investment decision, use of real option pricing techniques. On completion of this course, participants should understand: Foundations of risk measure: risk ruin and variability; Systematic risk of investment projects: sensibility analysis and breakeven; Decision trees and investment analysis; Real options as valuation measure and decision rules. VALUATION AND MERGERS OF COMPANIES The course considers the essential components of valuation criteria and their application. The course ends with a consideration of the complexities of mergers, take-overs and spin-off operations. On successful completion of this course, participants should understand: The value of a company as the value of the set of its investment opportunities; The actuarial valuation models, analogies, Discounted Cash Flows models; Real options models; Merger operations analysis. During the Certificate in Finance, you will join a group of Executive MBA participants that are currently studying at GEM. You will benefit from the diverse highly competitive environment and extend your professional network.