Professionals in all roles in business, from the C-suite executives responsible for investment decision-making and corporate finance strategy to all those who advise and support them, require an understanding of the value impact of business decisions. The field of valuation is full of short-cuts and rules-of-thumb which, while quick and pragmatic, may inadvertently result in damaging, or even catastrophic, investment decisions. In the field of valuation, it is all too tempting to slip into simple mechanical processes without analyzing why one is doing things in a certain way. Indeed, the failure to understand the deficiencies in the standard approaches, and inability to ask the right questions, may explain why so many investments and acquisitions result in the destruction – rather than creation – of value.
“The conceptual way of teaching goes beyond simple mechanics and makes you think about why you are doing certain things in your daily work.”
Business Analyst, Fund Investment AlpInvest The Netherlands
In the Advanced Valuation program, participants with experience in valuation are exposed to a conceptually challenging curriculum, exploring both the theoretical basis and practical application of the major elements of discounted cash flow valuation. They learn to differentiate between long-term value-creating strategies and short-term indicators, such as share price, earnings per share, market share, revenue growth, increased profit and customer satisfaction. Above all, they learn to ask the questions that will build value for the future.
How you will benefit
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- Understand the “why we do it that way” behind valuation concepts you practice daily
- Enhance your awareness of the key finance principles which underpin our approach for estimating the discount rate used in valuation
- Develop the capability to distinguish value creation from value destruction to ensure competitive success and the long-term survival of your company
- Learn and practice a process for conducting a data-driven, theoretically correct, valuation
- Be able to handle cross-border, emerging market, and other complicated valuations
- Question common practices and identify common mistakes and misunderstandings
Program length
4 days
| Day 1 | 09:00 – 17:30 |
| Day 2 | 09:00 – 17:30 |
| Day 3 | 09:00 – 17:30 |
| Day 4 | 09:00 – 17:30 |
Next step
We offer carefully crafted learning paths designed to help you dive deeper into various facets of finance. Take the next step in your professional learning path by choosing one or more of our specialized programs, for example:
The Advanced Valuation program will work through a series of conceptual and numeric examples, conducted as group work as well as in plenary discussion, in addition to a long case study enabling participants to deepen, and exhibit, their understanding of the fundamental concepts. These cases will also enable participants to practice the steps in the data-driven, unbiased, valuation process being taught in this program. The process and the conceptual basis for this approach to valuation will be explained and elaborated on Day 1, and the refinement and application of the process will be further illustrated, and practiced by participants, in the case studies and class discussions of the remaining three days. The main topics to be covered include:
Conceptual basis and building blocks of DCF valuation
- What is value and why do we care?
- Distinguishing price and value
- Defining value and distinguishing value creation from value destruction
- Distinguishing value creation from value transfer
- The economics of supply, demand and sustainable competitive advantage
- The connection between industry drivers of competitive advantage and valuation
Valuation concepts
- Understanding and estimating the discount rate (the opportunity cost of capital)
- Distinguishing key performance indicators from value drivers
- Performing historical/financial analysis
- Developing an unbiased, data-driven forecast of future cash flows
- The mechanics of estimating continuing value
The opportunity cost of capital and complications
- Components of the discount rate (the opportunity cost of capital), including the risk-free rate and adjustment for risk
- Incorporating risk – diversifiable versus non-diversifiable risk and asset pricing models (CAPM, APT)
- The impact of leverage and the Adjusted Present Value (APV) and WACC methods
- Emerging markets and other complications
Program preparation
There is some preparatory work required for this program. Pre-readings consist of case materials, chapters of a book and/or a few articles. These materials will be made available on a password protected webpage a few weeks prior to the program.
To ensure maximum benefit from the program for participant and fellow-participants, we strongly advise to prepare prior to attending.
The Advanced Valuation program is designed for experienced professionals who want to expand their knowledge and gain new insights into company valuation.
Prerequisite
Participants should have valuation experience and be familiar with the basic valuation concepts, such as definition of free cash flows, the costs of capital, the Capital Asset Pricing Model and/or the Arbitrage Pricing Theory. For those who do not have sufficient knowledge of valuation theory, AIF’s Valuation program can serve as an introduction to the topic.
Is this program not the right fit for you?
We offer other programs which you might find more interesting or useful, such as:
