The City & Financial Markets - Introduction

Course level

Introductory

Delegates

This course will be of benefit to those who are a new, recent or potential recruit to the financial services industry with little or no knowledge of the City. If you wish to gain a good understanding of financial instruments and the markets on which they trade, then this intensive one-day course is for you.

Overview

At its heart, the City is a market place just like any other. But, it can often seem so much more complicated than that.This intensive one-day course introduces, in a logical and jargon-free way, the basic structure and operations of the City's financial markets. No prior knowledge of the City or financial markets is assumed.

Learning outcomes include obtaining a greater understanding of:

• Financial Risks Faced by Companies and how the City can mitigate them
• The Players - A Description of the Functions of:
  • Investment banks
  • Commercial banks
  • Private banks
  • Hedge funds
  • Other financial institutions
• Role of the Central Bankand Regulator
• What does the Central Bank do?
• Role of the Financial Services Authority (FSA)
• Currency and Money Markets
  • Currency market - Spot and forward
  • Money markets - T-bills, bank bills, certificates of deposit and repos
  • Interest rates - Process of setting rates and implications for the macroeconomy
  • Interest rate swaps
• Bond market
  • UK gilts
  • Yield and yield curve
  • Corporate bonds
  • Ratings agencies
  • Warrants and convertibles
  • Eurobonds
• Equity markets
  • Nature of shares - Ordinary and preference
  • Primary market - New issues of equities
  • Secondary market trading
  • Market indices
  • Investor ratios - Earnings per share, Price/Earnings ratio
• Introduction to derivatives
  • Futures - Definition and terminology, using futures: speculators/hedgers
• Options - Definition and terminology, simple uses of options: calls and puts
  • Commodity markets
• Insurance and shipping markets
• Lloyd's of London
  • Baltic Exchange

Course Dates