For Beginners
Resources For Beginners

You are welcome to use our resources free of charge. We simply ask you to take a few moments to register.

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In this section, you will find:

  • Briefing papers - Please feel free to download our briefing papers - we hope you find them useful.
  • A series of short, fun modules to help you get started with finance.

We offer 6 short online learning modules, with quizzes to test understanding. We recommend that new graduates take these modules before attending our courses.

> View all modules


Briefing Papers

Our briefing papers allow you to update yourself quickly, simply and in your own time on topical issues. Briefing papers can be downloaded in pdf form.

June 2007
Share Buy-Backs
This briefing paper, by Mike Cahill, deals with share buy-backs, covering what they are, why companies undertake them and when they work.
> download		 June 2007
Understanding P/E Ratios
This briefing paper, by Mike Cahill explains everything you have ever wanted to know about P/E ratios, P/E relatives and PEG ratios. It deals with lots of analysts' jargon and looks at the lessons for corporate communications.
> download
October 2006
A Quick Guide to Reading an IFRS Annual Report
This paper updates our 2004 briefing for IFRS jargon. It offers a quick guide to reading the financial information in a company's annual report. It is designed to give you a view of how a company is doing in less than 30 minutes.
> download		 April 2006
Introduction to Financial Markets
This paper provides a general introduction to financial markets, covering stock markets, investment banks, the Bank of England, retail banks, stock brokers regulators and investors - institutional and retail.
> download
October 2005
Accounting Basics
This briefing paper covers the basics of financial statements and how accountants think. We define profit and loss accounts, balance sheets, cash flow statements and common terms such as depreciation, capex, EBITDA and GAAP.
> download		 September 2005
Cost of Capital
This briefing paper deals with the cost of capital and explains why it matters. We define the cost of debt, cost of equity and the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) in simple terms and show you how to do the sums. We look at the perspectives of both investors and companies, with examples.
> download