Equity Research – Analyse & Present an Investment Case

Course level

Intermediate

Delegates

The course will benefit equity analysts, fund managers, corporate financiers, investor relations executives and other professionals looking to:

• Read a set of Report and Accounts
• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a business model
• Understand what investors look for in a company
• Value a company
• Consider behavioural factors affecting investors
• Prepare and present an investment case

Overview

Over three days an experienced fund manager will train delegates to ‘pick stocks’. Using case studies, exercises and a final presentation the delegate is equipped with the skills to take a company’s financial reports and other public information and translate this into an investment recommendation. In order to get the most out of this course the delegate will need a good understanding of accounting, knowledge of valuation methodologies and to be able to use XL and Powerpoint.

As part of the course the delegate will prepare and present an investment recommendation. For those requiring pre-requisite core skills we recommend our courses on Valuation Techniques, Analysis of Financial Statements – Part 1 and Introduction to Financial Modelling.

Learning outcomes

Through real-life case studies the delegate will gain an understanding of:

Day One – Understanding the company

• Investment styles:
• Warren Buffet – Sage of Omaha
• Benjamin Graham – Securities Analysis
• Philip Fisher – Common Stocks & Uncommon Profits
• Seth Klarman – Margin of Safety
• Anthony Bolton – Investing Against the Tide

Exercise I – Consider and discuss Berkshire Hathaway annual reports

• Style analysis
• Value, growth, franchise value, special situations
• Style drives investment criteria


• Where research fits in the investment process
• Good companies versus good investments
• The role of the investment analyst


• What makes a good company?
• The qualitative analysis toolkit:
• Porter’s Five Forces
• Industry life-cycle
• Management quality & strategy
• Growth
• Earnings quality
• The quantitative analysis toolkit:
• Cash generation
• Financial strength
• Value creation
• Ratio analysis
• Accounting shenanigans / creative accounting
• Terry Smith – Accounting for Growth
• ‘Red flags’

Exercise II – Use the investment checklist to analyse a company

Day Two – Valuing the company

• Recap on valuation methodologies
• Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Dividend Discount Model (DDM), Holt Cash-Flow
• Return on Investment (CFROI) and Economic Value Added (EVA)/abnormal earnings models
• Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC), Beta and Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
• Market comparable valuations (‘comps’)


• Using a basic valuation template
• Dissecting & analysing the Report & Accounts
• Making forecast assumptions
• Understanding valuation sensitivities
• Weaknesses of the DCF approach

Exercise III – Use a ‘Quick & Dirty’ template to value a company on DCF, DDM & EVA bases and present findings

• Effectively communicating the investment recommendation
• Verbal recommendations
• Written recommendations

Exercise IV - Analyse a company, produce a valuation and prepare an investment recommendation

Day Three – Investment recommendations, behavioural biases and final exercise

Exercise V – Present the investment recommendation and challenge other analysts

• Moving beyond Modern Portfolio Theory
• Challenging the Efficient Market Hypothesis
• Beta and alternative perspectives on risk


• Know yourself – behavioural investing
• Confirmation
• Anchoring & adjustment
• Loss aversion
• Overconfidence


• Summary, wrap-up & conclusions

"A CPD certificate of completion will be provided by BPP Professional Education Limited upon request, following attendance."

Course Dates

Location	Dates	Time	Availability
London	03 - 05 Nov 2020	9:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Spaces	Book Now