Curriculum

Finance & Accounting

Accounting & finance
supplemental workshop

• Debits & credits
• Time value of money

Financial statement analysis

• Income statements
• Balance sheets
• Cash flow statements

Financial ratio analysis

• Liquidity metrics
• Resource management metrics
• Capacity metrics
• Profitability metrics
• Differences across sectors

Understanding annual reports

• Financial reporting regulations
• Management discussion & analysis

Corporate finance & capital structure

• Bonds
• Stocks
• Cost of capital
• Debt-equity mix

Business valuation

• Book value versus market value
• Capitalized earnings approaches
• Multiples & comparables
• Discounted cash flow

Capital raising, mergers & acquisitions

• IPOs, SEOs, recapitalization
• Merger & acquisition activity
• Spin-offs & reorganization
• Cross-listings

Understanding analyst research reports

• Financial forecasting
• Drivers of growth & risk
• Earnings guidance
• Developing models

Capital Markets & Regulation

Capital markets

• Capital markets: trading
• Market efficiency: concepts & evidence
• Pricing models
• Behavioural finance: concepts & implications

Regulation: disclosure

• Corporate disclosure policies
• Materiality & how to determine it
• Compensation use & disclosure
• Say-on-pay issues
• Shareholder engagement

Regulation: securities law

• Security law related to debt issues, equity & share buybacks
• Transfer agent duties
• Stock exchange rules, M&A rules, proxy voting
• Competition law, anti-competitive behaviour & IR potential pitfalls

Ethics

• CIRI code of ethics
• Business ethics

Communications

Effective IR presentations

• Telling the company’s story through a variety of media
• Delivering IR presentations
• Presenting & reporting to the Board

Brand management

• Brands as assets
• Brands as platforms to multiple stakeholders

Crisis management

• Media & investor relations during a crisis

Social media & other communications

• The social media landscape & its evolution
• How IR departments are using social media

Strategy

Corporate strategy

• Understanding corporate strategy
• Board of directors’ role
• Board engagement
• IR strategy

Assessing competition

• Competitive landscape
• Core competencies

Shareholder activism

• Shareholders & competitors
• Annual meetings during crisis

Negotiations

• Understanding the nature of interdependence between negotiation parties
• Applying key concepts of negotiation
• Building trusting relationships with key stakeholders
• Negotiating in an IR context