Overview of VTA's Financial Training PROGRAMS

VTA’s training programs are focused, hands-on, and intellectually challenging. Participants require a laptop with Excel 2000 or higher. Participants also need to prepare for programs via background reading material supplied by VTA. Where appropriate, case studies and problem solving workbooks  are provided.

Without exception, all programs require participants to make intensive use of Excel VBA, which is the solution platform for all programs. Training programs are conducted either as publicly hosted programs or as in-house training programs. Course material is supplied 4 weeks in advance and includes, Reading Material, Program Slides, Case Studies, Scenarios, Hands-On Exercises and where relevant, Scenarios. Most programs are of 4 days duration – where required, programs can extend to five-days to provide additional coverage.

Download the India Brochure for a complete listing and description of Financial Training Programs on offer.


The 'DCF & FINANCIAL VALUATION' Program

Just as matter is composed of Atoms, every efficient financial transaction, whether in the corporate world, in a financial institution, in a non-profit institute, an educational institute, a municipality or Government, needs to be structured using Discounted Cash Flow concepts (DCF) - only a single yardstick of financial efficiency guides the investment decision: the return from Investment must be higher than the Cost of Capital of the Investment (after adjusting for Risk associated with the transaction). Return, in turn, comes from: (a) increase in Revenue or (b) reduction in Cost, or both. Universally, the evaluation of efficiency is accomplished by employing the Discounted Cash Flow Framework.

Project Finance, Bond Pricing, Securitization, Venture Capital and Private Equity Investments, Capital Expenditure Budgets, Financial and Savings Products, Mergers and Acquisitions, Replacement of Machinery, Viability of a New Road, Research and Development, Prospecting for Oil, Establishing new Minefields, Feasibility of a new Sports Facility or a Recovery Facility for Drug Addicts, Build-Operate-Transfer Projects, and so on, are examples of financial transactions where DCF techniques are applied to ensure resources are deployed in line with Return on Investment objectives (ROI) of an enterprise.

The measurement/forecasting of cash flow from an investment, the risk associated with cash flow, the discount rate to translate future flows to the present reflecting an appropriate cost of capital, constitute important components of DCF.

To acquire skills in employing DCF, participants need to be familiar with a specialized branch of mathematics that is at the heart of DCF: financial mathematics. Thus, the first and second days of the program are devoted entirely to discussing theory and financial mathematics.

Since Excel is an important tool for implementing DCF, the third day of the program will examine advanced features of Excel. The last day will be devoted to understanding theory in a real-life setting: the use of DCF concepts in Project Finance and Appraisals, Securitizing Cash Flows, Bond and Stock Pricing, Developing Financial and Savings Products, Replacing Machinery, Developing a Housing Finance Product, Developing a Leasing Product, Developing Banking Products, using Excel to carryout Monte Carlo Simulation Exercises, and so on. Participants will receive training in the use of CapInvest and in developing new products using CapInvest.


The 'RISK RETURN FRAMEWORK FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION LENDING' Program

Risk is a fact of life for every financial institution, whether a commercial bank, a leasing company or a consumer finance company. There are two ways to deal with Risk: (a) ignore Risk by dealing only in ‘Safe’ Transactions; for example, providing finance only for movable assets that can easily be repossessed in the event of default or movable assets having an active secondary market – this strategy  limits the business a financial institution is able to participate in and thereby, its role and influence in the financial system. An unexpected side-effect of this risk-avoidance strategy is that a financial institution unwittingly assumes risk as its portfolio of assets tends to be confined to a ‘safe’ class of assets that do not necessarily represent a diversified portfolio of assets from a conventional viewpoint. A second limitation of this strategy is profitability: spreads and volume of business tends to be thinner.

The second (and preferred) approach to dealing with Risk requires a financial institution to integrate Risk into operations via the Pricing Mechanism: the Risk-Return Framework. At the heart of the framework is the fact that Risk and Return go together. Accordingly, high-risk transactions are priced higher compared to transactions with little or no Risk. This ensures a financial institution earns the expected rate of return, even with defaults, as these are statistically estimated and factored into Pricing. The Risk-Return framework requires a transaction be priced using several components:

  • A Risk Free Rate, in turn derived from an Institution’s Cost of Capital;
  • A Profit Mark-up, in turn derived from competitive forces in an economy;
  • A Risk Premium, derived from the Risk Categorization of a Transaction – the higher the Risk, the higher the Risk Premium.

The Risk-Return Framework is a ‘Portfolio’ approach to dealing with Risk, in much the same manner as Risk is addressed in the Stock Markets or in the Insurance Industry. The Portfolio concept is very powerful, yet simple: the ‘outcome’ of a Portfolio can be measured with greater precision than the outcome of an individual item.

This 5-day Masterclass provides in-depth exposure to the theory and practice underlying the induction of a Risk-Return Framework into a financial institution’s operations. Once the transition is completed, financial institutions can expect a significant transformation of their role and influence in the financial system along with enhanced profitability, as they would have mastered an essential ingredient of operating in a World where Risk is a fact of life.

 

Course Background
An executive in the present day global economy faces complex situations comprising of thousands of variables that need to be identified, related and processed, in order to arrive at an optimal decision, whether it is a M&A Situation, an Option Pricing Situation, an Econometrics Situation, a Treasury Situation, a Consumer Finance Situation, a Private Equity Situation, a Human Resources Situation or a Marketing Situation.

The use of spreadsheets and databases as decision making tools in such situations is fraught with limitations as these address simplistic situations and rely over-abundantly on Excel functions and recorded Macros whose effect is to transform a spreadsheet into a complicated theater where causes and effects become difficult to discern.

While a model can be constructed without writing a single line of code, such models tend to be severely limited in utility. Thus, the need to graduate to the next level of model building using Excel and its programming counterpart, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).

A properly designed model enables a situation to be easily examined and its dimensions intricately manipulated to facilitate optimal decision making, whether it is a merger & acquisition model, an option pricing model, a budget, a securitization model, a model to forecast operations of an enterprise, a tax collections model or a lease pricing model.

This program exposes participants to advanced features of Excel and more importantly, to Excel's programming counterpart, Visual Basic for Applications. The program anchors topics by exposing participants to real-life models to encourage development of models that address unique requirements.

Regardless of the functional background of a participant, the program imparts skills to (a) conceptualize (b) break-down (c) order and (d) map variables to a modeling eco-system using Microsoft Excel.

Course Structure
Before participants are able to manipulate variables for an end-objective, they need to break down a situation into its constituent parts by identifying relevant variables and by understanding relationships between variables.

Participants also need to understand the tools for creating a financial model and to appreciate the difference between database techniques (and data stored in enterprise databases) and tools for financial modeling - they are not the same - do not expect the database administrator of your organization to provide you with these tools.

Finally, participants will need to develop skills in using a desktop modeling tool; participants will need to realize that skills are incomplete when these extend only to manipulating Excel with the User Interface, no matter the degree of expertise in Excel; participants will be exposed to the power that can be unleashed when Excel is programmed

Course Objectives
This course focuses on modeling as a generalized subject, regardless of the functionality a participant comes from. The course will focus on conceptualizing relationships that apply to variables in a given situation and the manipulation of variables for an end-objective. Participants will take part in a project to create a financial model from scratch by programming Excel and in the process, applying theory to practice. The course will impart valuable perspectives and skills in applying financial modeling techniques to address situations with a high degree of preparedness, whether it is in a bank, in a mortgage lending institution, in corporate finance, in a central bank, in astronomy, or in a chemical or biological research institution.

Teaching Method
This course comprises of slide presentations, problem solving, and discussions on (a) conceptual topics, (b) the architecture of the Excel User Interface, (c) the Excel Programming Architecture, (d) important features of Excel, (e) Excel objects and object hierarchy, (f) the structure of the visual basic language for programming Excel. Participants will be divided into groups of two to four and each group will work on situations using Excel; participants will receive a floppy with topics for problem solving and will be encouraged to discuss and question. A complimentary copy will be provided of "CapInvest", a sophisticated financial model developed by the course director, to provide focus to the program and to construct from scratch, one of the pricing modules in CapInvest. Participants will receive background notes, summary notes and instruction sets on relevant topics.

 
Financial Modeling / Program Schedule

Introduction
  • Introduction to Financial Modeling
• About Vish Tumu Associates
• Definition of Financial Modeling
• Components of Financial Modeling
• What is not a Financial Model
• Advantages of Financial Modeling
• IPO Framework
• Layout Issues
• Examples of Models
• Databases and Spreadsheets
• Excel Overview
• Accessing Excel
• Code Modules
• Objects
• Collections
• Manipulating Objects
• Identifying Objects
• Worksheet as a Platform
• Form as a Platform
• Requirements for Modeling
• Demo of CapInvest and LeaseEx 2000


Financial Modeling Schedule - Advanced Excel
  • Arrays
• Functions
• Built-In
• Analysis Tool Pak
• User-Defined
• Names
• Formatting Values
• Excel Controls
• Add-Ins
• Data Validation
• Data Management
• Lists
• Data Filters
• D Functions
• Pivot Tables
• What-If Analysis
• One Variable Data Tables
• Two Variable Data Tables
• Goal Seek
• Solver
• Scenario Manager

Financial Program Schedule - Excel Programming
  • Entry Points into Excel
• GUI Vs Code
• Visual Basic Code
• Parts of a VB Procedure
• Executing Code
• Manipulating Excel with Objects, Properties and methods
• Object Hierarchy
• Object Collections
• Excel Object Model
• Macro Recorder
• Control Structures
• Types of Control Structures
• Excel Events
• User Forms
• VB Controls
• Alternatives to Forms
• VB Functions
• Object Browser
• Range Object
• Worksheet Object, Properties, Methods and Events
• Range Properties and Methods
• VB Variables and Constants
• Arrays
• VB Operators
• Examples of Code
• Hands-On Programming

Financial Program Schedule - Projects
 
Participants will utilize their knowledge to build several models, including the following:

 

• Monte Carlo Simulation – Queuing Scenario
• Monte Carlo Simulation – Investment Scenario
• Share Price Forecasting
• Securitization Model

• Financial Calculator

• Consumer Finance Model

• Risk-Return Pricing Model


The 'DEVELOPING CONSUMER

FINANCE PRODUCTS' Program

The IT enabled world offers a cornucopia of opportunities to Finance professionals and institutions to deliver cutting-edge, innovative solutions and products to customers. To do so, entities need to make the transition from rudimentary tools such as financial calculators and homegrown spreadsheets, to sophisticated decision tools and financial models. As competition heats up in the financial market place, banks, leasing and hire purchase companies, consumer finance, insurance, and housing finance companies, all face the need to develop new products, both financial and savings, to retain existing customers and attract new customers. To make their presence in the financial market place, a permanent one, rather than transitory, finance professionals need: (a) knowledge of fundamental financial concepts underlying the development of financial and savings products; (b) dexterity in operating a world-class product creation software.

This program (a) provides a 3-day intensive training in financial concepts and in the use of "CapInvest", software of Vish Tumu Associates for creating Savings and Financial Products; (b) offers a free 3-Month license for installation and use of CapInvest on unlimited PCs in an organization.

Fundamental Concepts

Pricing Variables
Cost of Capital
Time Value of Money
Universal Financial Equation
5 Components of Equation
Excel Equivalents
Discounted Cash Flow Equations
Viewing Transactions in the form of underlying equations
DCF Examples from different industries: stock and bond pricing, bank lending, venture capital investments, leasing investments, optimum machine replacements, zero coupon bonds, raw cash flow of a tax-optimized lease.

Basic Structuring

Analytical Tools Vs. Databases
CI Installation Process
Common Features of Modules
Passwords
Fast Track Feature
Goal Seek Feature
Flat Rate Vs. True Rate
Localization Features
Reports.
Output Formats
Printing
Navigation
CI Documentation
On-Line Help System
Equated Transactions
Profiled Transactions
Reverse Transactions
LOAN / HP Equated Module
LOAN / HP Profiled Module
Cost of Capital Module
LEASING Equated Module
LEASING Profiled Module
Post-Tax Module
Lease Vs. Buy Modules
Overview of CI Portals

Advanced Structuring

Characteristics of Financial and Savings Products
Example of Financial and Savings Products
Creating a Housing Finance Product
Creating a personalized Savings Product for a Bank
Creating a Leasing Product
Creating a Pension Plan Product
Using the Product Developer Portal to create Advanced Financial and Savings Products
Using the RePricing Portal to Reprice Transactions in a floating rate scenario, in an arrears scenario, to add principal to an existing transaction or to deduct principal from an existing transaction
Using the Zero Rate Portal to create zero finance or concessional finance products
Using the Rate Conversion Portal to handle ticklish rate conversion scenarios in a bank or in other deposit accepting institutions
Using the Reverse Function to develop flexible repayment transactions wherein a customer develops the repayment schedule
Discussion of Operating Lease via Case Study
A Lease Vs. Buy Analysis to convince customers of superiority of leasing vis-à-vis borrowing from a bank
Leveraging the Taxation system to develop competitive lease products using the Post Tax Module
Using the Power Pack Portal

Using CapInvest to aggressively respond to a competitive financing proposals


The 'LEASING' Program

This program comprises of 15 sections and is designed to familiarize participants to leasing fundamentals and leasing issues; the focus of the workshop will be mainly conceptual, although country specific examples will be used appropriately. Issues will be examined from an Institutional as well as a Leasing Company's perspective. In disseminating content, the workshop will follow the Socratic method of exposition, encouraging attendee participation; as such the duration of the workshop is divided equally between exposition and discussion. Workshop attendees will be encouraged to participate vigorously in the workshop. The workshop will help participants to augment their knowledge of leasing and enhance the quality of project appraisals. A 63 page background paper will be furnished in advance to attendees, along with hard copy of slides.
The Concept
The Division Vs. Subsidiary Issue
Leasing Risks
Lease Pricing
Leasing Variables
VAT
Portfolio Construction
Lease Distribution
Project Funding
Project Sponsors
Quantitative Models in Leasing and DCF
Lease Accounting Issues
Project Preparation
Supportive Leasing Environment

Operating Lease Case Study, Lease Vs. Buy Case Study, Pricing Case Studies, Post Tax Pricing Case Study, Lease Pricing in a VAT Enabled Scenario


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