Financial Modelling in Excel - UK & Europe and Middle-East Training Course
This training course teaches you how to build financial models that will improve the reliability and quality of your decision making.
See more Financial Modelling in Excel sessions in USA and Asia
Course Overview
When considering financial opportunities, performing accurate and realistic analysis is imperative. In the modern constantly-changing business milieu, the ability to merely manipulate spreadsheets is important, yet insufficient.Being able to incorporate all "what if" scenarios and stress any proposal to its limits confers, on the other hand, considerable advantages upon the practitioner.
Working financial models can facilitate and improve the reliability and quality of decision making.
Modelling techniques are used in many different areas, such as investment appraisal, capital planning, budgeting, valuation, financial analysis and forecasting, risk analysis, portfolio optimisation and so on.
Learning Objectives
The programme seeks to enable the you to- Designing a model
- Structure of models
- Identify the main sources of model risk
- Explain the potential consequences of neglecting model risk
- Model optimisation
- Model sensitivity testing
- Testing and auditing models - the function of independent risk oversight (IRO) units
- Forecasting using models
- Monte Carlo Simulations
- Understand different types of financial models and when each should be applied
- Construct models that are financially rigorous in Excel (often with VBA - ie using macros)
- Assess the impact of model risk on various instruments in the banking book or trading book
- Acknowledge the importance of model testing and identify processes to limit (if not entirely eliminate) model risk
- Incorporate risk, sensitivity, optimisation and forecasting into models
- Understand the role of Monte Carlo testing and be able to employ this powerful technique effectively
Financial Modelling in Excel Course Agenda
DAY ONE - INTRODUCTIONIntroduction and Overview
- Overview of the course
- Scope of Modeling and objectives of Modeling
- Brief overview of some useful Excel features
- Model risk, sources of model risk, methods for estimating model risk
- Exercise - Model review (Chaos, space shuttle Challenger, Mars probe)
- Model design and structure - key steps
- Model objectives - flowcharts
- Defining outputs, inputs and variables
- Ways risk managers can protect against model risk and role of senior managers in managing model risk
- Procedures for vetting and reviewing a model
- Function of an independent risk oversight (IRO) unit
- Case study/Exercise - Barings, LTCM, Amaranth
- Case studies/Exercises - The cubic spline interpolation model
Forecasting Models
- Review of forecasting methods
- Forecasting - linear, non-linear and seasonal
- Smoothing techniques
- Simple and multiple regression
- Example - Building a forecast model, the Geometric Brownian Motion model of stock and commodity prices
- Understanding risk
- Sensitivity table
- Scenario analysis - dynamic what-if
- Standard deviation, volatility and coefficient of variation
- Case study/example - Volatility models including standard deviation and EWMA, efficient frontier models
- Building a simulation model
- Monte Carlo simulations
- Case study/Example - Monte Carlo simulation building in Excel
Optimisation
- Optimisation using Excel's Goal seek and Solver
- Linear programming
- Case study/Example - construction of models using goal seek and
solver including some hedging examples, the GARCH volatility model, pricing swaps, pricing CDS.
- Market risk and associated loss model (VaR)
- Credit risk and associated loss models (Single Factor Model)
- Case study/Example - constructing risk models and fitting distributions, Fourier curve fitting models, macro construction (recording only)
What do past delegates say?
"Overall - the speaker is very good. The speaker is very open-minded, polite and understanding...I have learned so much." - A.J., Amadeus Qatar, Qatar
Who should attend?
- CFO's
- Accountants
- Corporate Treasury Managers
- Investment professionals
- Corporate Finance professionals
- Balance sheet and capital managers
- Asset and liability managers and analysts
- Risk managers and portfolio managers
- Financial controllers, accountants and analysts
- Investment bankers
Why Ethan Hathaway training courses?
- Practical. Learn from experienced and active industry practitioners and what's being practiced by your peers.
- Applicable. Apply what you learn in your job and your career
- Specially designed courses by industry active experts for industry practitioners
- Quality Control. Each expert instructor is interviewed and vetted through our senior management and our 5-point instructor criteria.
- Valuable. Earn more revenue or save your organisation from monetary loss. You and your organisation will quickly earn back your investment on the course fee and more
- Enjoyable. Speakers who have a passion for their topic
- Clear. Turning complex concepts into easy to understand concepts
- Limited seats - each session is limited to between 18-25 seats
What do you receive from an Ethan Hathaway training course?
- You gain knowledge and skills that make you valuable to your company and your career
- Instruction by industry experts
- Course notes and reference package
- Daily lunch, snacks and refreshments
- Certificate of completion
- Meeting your industry peers
- Ask questions relevant to your job
Download the course brochure to learn more
Your course instructor
Gary Van Vuuren: Gary began obtained his PhD in nuclear physics while working at South Africa's Atomic Energy Corporation. He then joined ABSA's market risk management team in Johannesburg, and then Old Mutual Asset Managers' risk and quantitative finance group in Cape Town.In 2002, he left for London, joined the market and credit risk model validation teams for Standard Bank and attained GARP's Financial Risk Manager accreditation.In 2004, he headed up the Quantitative Analysis Group for Ernst & Young and obtained his PhD in credit risk before moving to Fitch as Senior Director in early 2006 in the Financial Institutions Special Projects Group. As quantitative analyst he holds responsibility for overseeing all quantitative aspects of projects which require mathematical or statistical input. He is also responsible for managing all implementation, testing and validation aspects of Basel II in
global financial institutions for Fitch.
Dates & Locations & Fees
| Date | Location | Venue | Course Fee | Early Bird Fee | Register |
|---|
Early Birds Save Up To 30% Off the Regular Fee, download the brochure to learn more
Limited seats - Email us:
for availability.
* Venue, dates, course fees, promotions, course content, course instructor are all subject to change
Can't find a session in a city near you?
If there's no session scheduled in a city near you, you have the following options:
- In-house training: If you have a group of 8 or more, consider having us run this course in-house for you
- Co-sponsored training: Between 5-7 people, consider a co-sponsored course - you agree to send this set number of people to the course if we run it in a city near you and Ethan Hathaway sells the remaining seats to other companies
- Distance learning: Less than 5 people, consider distance training format: live trainer presents over phone lines/web at pre-scheduled times (available only for select courses)
- Just tell us where you want the course: Let us know which city you'd like us to run this course in - we'll plan it if there's enough demand
Email us at:
for more information regarding the above options.
Register for the course
You may book your place on the course by any of these methods:
- Online booking - simply click on the "Register Me" button next to the course date you wish to register and it will take you through our quick online registration procedure.
- Email us at:
- please include your full contact details. - Fax us the booking form (included in the brochure) to: +852 3014-0721
- Or call: +852 2273-4393 during normal office hours
See more Financial Modelling in Excel sessions in USA and Asia
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- Financial Modeling in Excel - Americas
- Advanced Financial Modelling & Company Valuation
- Finance for Non-Financial Managers & Executives
- Finance for Non-Finance Managers & Professionals - Asia
- Financial Modelling with Excel & VBA for Traders, Risk Managers & Quants
Learn more about this course


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