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Corporate Finance and M&A: Choosing the Best Online Course

Online courses claim to teach the essentials of corporate finance and M&A. Here's a look at the top options for professionals.

Corporate Finance and M&A: Choosing the Best Online Course
Pictures: C1ri/Tumisu/pixabay

Corporate finance focuses on decisions impacting an entire company, such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), valuations, financing strategies (equity vs. debt), capital structure, IPOs, or shareholder value enhancement. CFOs and finance teams work with investment banks on these tasks, contributing to 30,000 M&A deals annually worth $3 trillion.

We've taken a closer look at 22 leading online courses from reputable providers, many of which are free, though some charge for certificates or tests.




Introductory Courses 

  • Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania): A concise course on core topics like risk, cost of capital, valuation, and budgeting. Ideal as a foundation for advanced learning.
  • Udemy: Short course by a former Goldman Sachs banker covering financial statement analysis, modeling, and valuation techniques. Practical and to the point.
  • University of Melbourne: Comprehensive series starting with accounting principles and leading to valuation and financial decision-making, ending with a hands-on project.
  • Columbia University: Professional certificate program teaching valuation, capital decisions, and risk management. Completion time: ~3 months.
  • New York Institute of Finance (NYIF): broad curriculum starting with financial math, discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, and advanced topics like venture capital.
Corporate Finance and M&A: Choosing the Best Online Course

Courses On Specific Topics 

Financial Modeling:

  • Wharton: Quantitative modeling in Excel/Google Sheets [link].
  • Udemy: In-depth Excel-based financial modeling [link].

Valuation Techniques:

  • Columbia: Free cash flow (DCF) methods [link].
  • Udemy: Trading comparables ("trading comps") [link].

Advanced Topics:

  • Erasmus University: Real options and advanced valuation [link].
  • Duke University: Startup valuations vs. traditional methods [link].

M&A:

  • NYIF: Deal structuring, modeling, and accounting [link].

Investment Banking Skills:

  • Udemy: Key skills for aspiring investment bankers [link].

Financial Derivatives:

  • NYIF: Futures, swaps, and options [link].

Nobel Laureate Course:

  • Professor Shiller: Capital markets and financial theories (CAPM) [link].

Debt and Private Equity:

  • McMaster: Fundamentals of financial debt [link].
  • Bocconi and Harvard: Private equity, venture capital, and alternative investments [link and link].

Financial Accounting:

  • IESE: Detailed reporting methods [link].

CFO Responsibilities:

  • IESE: Broad overview of accounting, finance operations, and corporate finance [link].

AI in Finance:

  • Udacity: AI for trading—requires math and Python knowledge [link].


M&A explained (in 13 minutes):



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