Capital Markets & Finance Essentials – Virtual

6 x 2 hours, 9am - 11am on 14th & 15th April, 21st & 22nd April, 28th & 29th April 2026

This is a Capital Markets & Finance Essentials programme consisting of 6 modules, each 2 hours in length. It is designed to help you understand the essentials of finance that you’ll need to communicate your company’s financial story effectively. We cover the big picture, capital markets, shareholder value, accounting, corporate finance and company valuation – all in an accessible way for corporate communicators.

---

Outcomes

• Understand the macro-economic environment
• See how the capital markets big picture fits together
• Develop your financial fluency
• Gain a comprehensive understanding of corporate finance and accounting concepts
• Understand how to use numbers and KPIs to tell your financial story
• Learn to communicate in a way that helps your company achieve fair value

---

What's Included

• Access to a virtual classroom with a series of online courses to help you consolidate your learning
• Colour-coded course materials
• A copy of The FinanceTalking Financial Glossary (PDF)
• Email or phone your tutor if you have questions

After the course, you will have access for 4 months to the following online courses which will help you consolidate your knowledge:

• The Macro-Economic Backdrop
• Introduction to Companies, Funding & the Capital Markets – Essentials
• Rights Issues – Specialist Short
• The Basics of Business Finance – Essentials
• Understanding Shareholder Value – Essentials
• Adjusted Profits – Specialist Short
• Understanding Cash Flows – Specialist Short
• Leverage & How Much is Too Much – Specialist Short
• How to Analyse a Company – Coffee Break
• Understanding DCF Valuation – Specialist Short
• Understanding Valuation Using Multiples – Specialist Short

---

What you will learn

1. The Economic Backdrop, Companies & Funding 

Objectives: 

• See the big picture – the context for your role
• Understand how companies are funded 

Programme:

• Overview of economic backdrop
• Growth, inflation and interest rates
• Cyclical and defensive sectors
• Implications of the current environment
• Raising capital – from start-up through private equity 
• Characteristics of debt and equity
• Bonds and shares

2. Capital Markets & Financial Communications

Objectives: 

• Understand financial markets jargon
• Appreciate how the key capital markets players think and how they operate
• Understand the regulatory framework and the financial calendar

Programme:

• Raising capital 
• Share issues including IPOs
• The role of investment banks
• Types of investor and their characteristics
• Overview of regulatory regime and dealing with inside information
• Fund managers & how they think
• Sell-side analysts, rating agencies, credit and other analysts 
• The importance of managing expectations
• Financial communications objectives & typical programme
• Current trends in the capital markets

3. Shareholder Value & Telling a Great Investment Story

Objectives:

• Understand the concept of shareholder value and see how companies go about creating value
• Appreciate the cost of capital and its impact on decision-making
• See how to tell a great investment story 

Programme:

• Shareholder value – what it really means
• The link to return on capital
• Characteristics of debt and equity funding
• Cost of capital and the capital mix
• Changing the capital structure
• The importance of ESG policies
• Opportunities for activists
• Telling the story

4. Financial Information Essentials

Objectives:

• Become familiar with financial/accounting jargon
• Understand the financial statements & what they’re telling you
• Learn about headline numbers and key metrics 

Programme:

• Introduction to financial statements
• How income statements, balance sheets and cash flows fit together
• Key jargon and concepts (including capex, opex, goodwill, depreciation, amortisation & impairment)
• Different levels of profits – gross profit, EBITDA, operating profit, etc and who uses what
• One-off items and adjusted/non-GAAP numbers
• How analysts, investors and journalists use financial information
• Headlines for results

5. Working with Results

Objectives:

• Develop your understanding of financial statements & what they’re telling you
• Appreciate how to take a critical view of results
• Be able to add value to the results process

Programme:

• Balance sheets – key issues for investors, analysts and the media
• Measuring leverage and deciding what’s appropriate
• Income statements – evaluating performance and asking questions
• Profitability and cash flow metrics
• How profits convert to cash
• Adding value to results releases and presentations
• Examples from real companies

6. Understanding & Communicating Company Value

Objectives:

• Appreciate how companies are valued
• Be able to identify key valuation drivers
• Learn how to communicate for value

Programme:

• Key valuation concepts and principles
• Evaluating market and sector prospects
• Valuation using DCF
• Key inputs to analysts’ models
• Forecasting issues and the importance of guidance
• Equity and enterprise multiples and which to use
• Understanding price targets and recommendations
• Which sector, which methodology?
• Using communications to influence valuation

---

How you will learn

We use Zoom to deliver our virtual events

• Very simple to use
• Access the event on your laptop or tablet (or even your phone)
• Discussions and case studies via breakout groups
• Quizzes and polls

 

BACK