Imarticus Learning
India’s leading professional education institute, offering certified industry-endorsed training in Financial Services, Investment Banking, Business Analysis, IT, Business Analytics & Wealth Management
Investment banks are generally very popular for two, very broad roles. Firstly, they are supposed to carry forward the roles required for the smooth functioning, of the financial markets and secondly, they are the sole conductors of trading. Investment banks perform the most critical functions, as they cater to the present and future, financial consumption needs across various corporations and firms. As a seasoned finance aspirant, with a minimal experience, would know, these banks differ greatly from commercial banks. The primary goal of commercial banks is service to private individuals, while on the other hand, the investment banks primarily serve various governmental and private organizations. Today, almost all the economies, are mixed economies on a certain level and as a result of this, depend predominantly on investment banks, so as to raise their funds. One of the major contribution of any investment bank to the economy is, what is known as ‘adding liquidity to the market’, this is basically done by matching potential investors with the potential sellers of stocks. Basically, it is these banks which are supposed to perform as the epicenter, of all functions especially when it comes to the advancement of a company, in financial terms. Those investment bankers, who facilitate in bringing about similar changes, are then given the status of being intermediaries or middlemen, in the more lay man context. The path breaking difference that these banks make, is that they are able to perfectly match those ready to provide investments, with those in search of investments. This then contributes to the growth of businesses and in turn boosts the progress of the economy. Another way that these banks contribute to the expansion of an economy, is through estimating the current market rates. This is accomplished by collaborations with the commercial banks, earlier these two banks were supposed to be independent of each other. Today, the scenario has drastically changed with commercial banks and investment banks, carry on their functions under the same roof. It is important to be noted, that it was only the country of USA, which had successfully and legally separated the functions of the two banks once. Today, although the functions of both these banks are technically independent of each other, but it is an established fact, that these interest rates, would definitely influence each other. The field of corporate finance has always had a certain allure for anyone, who has ever belonged to the world of finance. With those influencing stock exchanges, sophistication of all the top banks, as well as all the handsome rewards, that are offered to almost everyone in this field. These and many others are reasons as to why, sterling careers in the field of corporate finance are practically sought after by almost everyone, belonging to the same background. But at the same time, as the competition is high, it requires for an individual to have an edge over their contemporaries. This is why there has been quite a lot of demand for certification programs, like diploma in corporate finance or specialization in investment banking and its other branches provided by institutes like Imarticus Learning. Source: https://imarticuslearningblog.wordpress.com
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In the world of Investment Banking, a financial model basically refers to a graphical representation of the financial situation of a firm. In other words, it is a mathematical mode, which is put together or designed by a professional, to highlight the performance of either, a financial asset, or any project or portfolio or a similar investment of the firm. These models are usually used so as to forecast the possible as well as potential changes, thoroughly financial in nature, for the company in question. It helps the firms make certain assumptions, about the performance of any particular project in the near future, like for instance what would the cash flow be like, of the said project. These models usually consist of calculations, analyzing and finally providing recommendations, all of which are based on the information gathered by the professionals. These financial models are also said to involve a score of balance sheets, profit and loss statements apart from the process of the cash flow, with all its related schedules like the Depreciation schedule, Amortization Schedule, working capital management, debt schedule etc. These models not only summarize a number of specific events, for the convenience of the end user, but also provide alternatives if the project needs it. While there are a majority of models, which entirely focus on Valuation, some of these are also computed to predict and calculate, the various macroeconomic trends in the industry or the region. Here a list of all the types of Financial Models, that are created for their respective purposes. Discounted Cash Flow Model Perhaps, one of the most important valuation technology, this model is usually used to measure the cash flow of any project. It basically utilizes all the free cash flows, that are projected and then discounts them, so as to derive the Net Present Value, which helps the investment bankers to figure out, how easily they can break even from the investment. Leveraged Buyout Model This model refers to the acquisition of a public or a private company, with results out of borrowing a significant amount of funds. These kind of models are usually used by leveraged finance firms, who have sponsors in Private Equity firms, who are usually focused on acquiring the companies, with an objective of selling them at a profit, in the near future. Comparable Company Analysis Model More popularly known by its abbreviation, that is CCA; a Comparable Company Analysis Model is basically a mode which compares. In the context of investment banking, this model evaluates the value of a firm, with the use of metrics, that have earlier been used by the businesses of a similar valuation. This is how, a majority of investors are able to compare any specific firm, to all of is contemporaries on a very relative basis. Every professional working in the field of investment banking, is expected to have a broad idea about all the various types of financial models and their purposes. While all the degree courses, do provide one with the theoretical knowledge, they are entirely unable to supply real time, practical knowledge. This is the reason for the recent increase, in the demand for industry endorsed, certification training programs, in both investment banking and corporate finance, which are offered by institutes like Imarticus Learning The past couple of years has seen, the entire world get fired up all due to this concept known as ‘data analytics’. Data Analytics can be called as the small fish in the big pond, that is known as Big Data. As you would understand by the term, big data is definitely very, very big. It refers to all of those virtual records of almost everyone, that are present online. Now, these virtual records could be generated from any varied device, including a video game, a flight, any social networking site or a particular person’s online shopping cart. The best part though, is that every aspect of Big Data is very easy to acquire, due to the fact that it is either cheap or free. Did you know, that your entire data on a particular social networking site say Facebook can cost up to just a mere 12 dollars. This is exactly why extracting this data and collecting it has become the easiest things of this field, while at the same time, storing this huge data has become really difficult. Let’s move on to the most important question of all, ‘what does it take for a person to be a data scientist?’
If you look at it from a very objective point of view, it may seem very overwhelming that you need to have so many skills to make a career out of this field. It makes you realize that probably this field is not for everyone. If you notice further, you would be relieved to know that you don’t necessarily have to possess all of the skills, but even some of them are enough to launch you into the field of Big Data. Here’s a list of innate qualities and skills that an individual must have, if they are looking to make it big in the field of Big Data Quantitative Aptitude Being comfortable with numbers, is an absolute must in this field, more so because the major chunk of work here, most often than not involves a lot of numbers. Logical Thinking While one may feel that logical thinking, is one ability which is required in every single field or career, but the reason for including it here, is the fact that it is one of the most important qualities for a professional to have. Most of the big data problems can be solved just by logic and headstrong attitude. Communication Skills Big Data Scientists and Data Analysts are usually supposed to play the most crucial roles, when it comes to the economic development of the company. They are usually the ones, who are responsible to give advice on the most crucial aspects of the company to senior executives. This is exactly why it is necessary for those professionals to posses great communication skills, so they are able to put across exactly what they find by sifting through data. Action Oriented People who are generally curious, impatient and action oriented, make for great professionals in the field of Big Data. This is exactly why one needs to be curious enough about numbers, to try and find hidden trends and patterns in mounds of data. Apart from these, there are various certification courses in Big Data, that one can take to improve their technical skills. Institutes like Imarticus Learning offer tailor made courses and diplomas in the field of Big Data for all of those looking to get trained as per industry standards and get paid most handsomely. As our world, increasingly becomes driven by data, the data analytics tool consequently become the most sought after skill set across various industries. Data Analytics basically refers to the process of extracting the huge volumes of data, from the cloud, structuring it, storing it in huge servers, massaging it and lastly, analyzing it to derive value based insights. This is the very process, that resulted in the huge profits reaped by e-commerce giants like Amazon and Ebay. With the help of predictive analytics today, professionals can go on to predict almost everything from the profits of a business, to the next movie which would go on to win an Oscar. Instances like these and many more are a clear reason why, a lot of data science professionals as well as students alike, are aspiring to be trained in this field. One advantage for all the professionals from non-technical backgrounds is that, Data Analytics is not limited to just mathematicians, statisticians or IT professionals who posses programming skills. As the scope of data analyticswidens, from IT to various other fields like e-commerce, health care, defense, basically those fields where data is generated on a large scale. Thus, the industry requires professionals with a basic knowledge and understanding of data analytics tools and techniques, which help the organizations attain a competitive advantage over others. This is why more and more professionals are looking to learn these necessary skills. If you are one of those on the lookout to learn some of the data analytics techniques, then taking up courses like the following, would be beneficial to your career. 1. Data Science Specialization These courses are for those looking to become Data Scientists someday or for those who are looking to expand their knowledge and learn about new and new tools in data analytics. These courses focus on the fundamentals of analytics, which include business statistics and the various tools used here. 2.Data Visualization These courses are highly useful for all of those aspiring data scientists, who are looking to specialize in this particular sub field of data science. A student here, would learn how to tell a highly informative story with the data available and how to reach out to a bigger audience. A professional will be able to learn about the various data visualization tools, which help in delivering powerful visualizations of data findings. 3. Machine Learning One of the very important and most recommended course for anyone who wants to make a career out of data science. These courses basically focus on the basics of machine learning and go on to teach the most popular machine learning techniques like neutral networks, support vector, random forests etc. These courses are mainly important due to the fact that machine learning is believed to be the future of data analytics. There are a number of institutes which offer either one or all of these courses. Then there are institutes like Imarticus Learning, which offer extensive, industry endorsed courses in various data analytics tools like R Programming, SAS Programming, Hadoop, Python and so on. After going through an acute dormant phase for almost two long years, the field of Oil and Gas has again begun to see new developments on the mergers and acquisitions front. The dormant phase had been a result of the oil bust in around 2014, when a lot of banks had tightened the lending processes. This resulted in the various distressed drillers, buyers and sellers to remain at odds over the impending value of energy assets. But now, the tables seem to be gradually turning, what with the gold rush in Texas’ prolific Permian basin as well as the rising prices of crude oils, with an easing of the capital markets, have together resulted in the thawing of the persistent M&A freeze.
The first two weeks of November saw a great upstream of oil and gas deal making, reportedly about $56.7 billion, as opposed tot he sluggish $26.8 billion, which was seen at the same time last year. While there have been a few deals, that have made headlines, these are especially in the midstream pipeline and storage sector as well as downstream refining and marketing space. But what has taken away the metaphorical cake is the part of this industry, which is responsible for the extraction of oil and gas, more commonly known as the upstream exploration and production sector. There reportedly were six deals amounting worth a billion dollars or more in overall upstream M&A. “The increase in transaction activity in the exploration and production space really started in the second quarter, and that was on a slightly lagged time-line to when commodity prices started to recover.” This was stated by Doug Meier, who is the head of PwC’s oil and gas sector deals practice. This has been possible as a result of the large gap being narrowed between, what the buyers are willing to pay and much are the sellers willing to accept, this was reported by analysts. While many deals were made in the beginning of the year, this was because the various sellers needed cash to pay down their debts. But now, as things have progressed there are a lot of Equity firms that bough these energy resources, which now are reaching the end of their holding periods and thus as a result have to look for means to divest them. The region of Texas has been proven to be recovering more and more when compared to other regions. The most interesting part about these recoveries is the fact that they are highly driven by sales of undeveloped acreage, as opposed to the already existing reserves. The reported value of these acreage purchases is 25$ million or more, these have topped 2014’s total of $10 billion in the third quarter. The current business cycle has shown remarkable possibilities as the dealers have been able to slash capital spending in areas that didn’t seem economical. There are many such aspects of the Mergers and Acquisitions industry, which help the finance professionals track the development of certain fields. As this sector begins to grow in popularity, the professional courses for the same become highly sought after. This is also the reason why institutes like Imarticus Learning have become quite popular among finance aspirants, as they offer courses in Retail Management, Mergers and Acquisitions and so on. |
About ImarticusImarticus Learning is a education institute based in Mumbai. We offer certified industry-endorsed training in Financial Services, Investment Banking, Business Analysis, IT, Business Analytics & Wealth Management. Archives
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