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During the cross-disciplinary program Mergers & Acquisitions at the Amsterdam Institute of Finance (AIF), top expert Tim Galpin took the participants on an exciting tour through the dynamic M&A landscape. One of his key messages throughout the course was: “Value is only projected during the transaction. Value is created after the deal is done.” •…

Kevin Kaiser is Senior Director of the Alternative Investments Initiative and Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He was Professor of Management Practice and on the finance faculty at INSEAD from 1992 until 2017. Kevin’s research focuses on private equity, corporate restructuring and financial distress, and has more recently oriented…

How do asset managers, bankers and investors incorporate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment cycle? That was the central question during the two-day program on Sustainable Finance at Amsterdam Institute of Finance. The topic is currently probably the most pressing in finance: sustainability. During a two-day program at the Double Tree Hilton Amsterdam…

In the valuation process, cash flow projections are of crucial importance. These in turn depend on estimates for things like market growth or expected market share. When working on projections, people will often make assumptions that are no better than hunches. For Kevin Kaiser that won’t do. Kaiser, who advocates a more rigorous approach, teaches…

Ten years ago, if Breanndán Ó Nualláin told people that he is a professor in AI, they would not really have an idea what that was all about. This has radically changed. Nowadays every newspaper will carry some article or mention of the topic. All this attention notwithstanding, finance professionals still struggle to grasp the…

Modern business is data-driven. Financial information offers realtime insights that allow on the fly decision making, and provide critical input for long term strategy formulation. However, there is a flipside to this. An overly strong focus on financial data can put the strategy on the backburner and lead to confusion within an organization, warns Susan…

Every day, we are faced with many decisions and choices. About making an investment, assessing an existing project, engaging in a new project, deciding on a strategic priority, solving a problem, responding to a proposal, hiring a new team member, assessing someone’s performance, choosing how to best present a case, doing a forecast, buying a…

Misfortune never comes alone. This age-old adage that dates back to at least Roman times is still very true today. A cybersecurity breach, a case of internal fraud, or a supply chain disruption: on their own incidents like these already pose a great danger. Managed poorly, they could snowball into an existential threat, warns Tobias…

Managing risk is one of the core activities of a financial institution. Of course, procedures and governance structures have to be in place, but on top of that front experience and common sense are critical, argues financial expert Patrick Oberhaensli. He teaches the Financial Risk Management program at the Amsterdam Institute of Finance, and shares…

Professor Cyril Demaria, an experienced investor, shares invaluable lessons from his multi-decade career through his program on Entrepreneurial Finance: Venture Capital Financing. A view from the classroom: On the road from a good idea to a thriving business, capital from external investors is essential. But as an investor, how do you know exactly what a…