## Financial Market Analysis

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Financial Market Analysis](https://www.imf.org/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/schedule/ol/2024/fmaxol24-155)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/schedule/ol/2024/fmaxol24-155/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/schedule/ol/2024/fmaxol24-155/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/schedule/ol/2024/fmaxol24-155/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Session: OL 24.155
- Location: Course conducted online
- Dates: May 1, 2024 - August 31, 2024 (18 weeks)
- Delivery method: Online Training
- Primary language: English
- Status: Deadline passed

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### Target audience and qualifications
- Target audience:
  - All government officials are welcome to register.
  - Particularly well-suited for officials in central banks, ministries of finance, and regulatory agencies who have experience with macroeconomics and are interested in building their expertise in finance.
- Qualifications:
  - Some familiarity with basic statistics and probability techniques is expected.
  - Basic Microsoft Excel skills are required.
  - Access to a computer with a reliable Internet connection and a Google Chrome web browser is essential.

### Course description
- Presented by the Institute for Capacity Development.
- Introduces fundamentals of financial analysis used by policy makers.
- Emphasizes tools to:
  - Study characteristics of various financial instruments and their pricing.
  - Analyze portfolios of assets.
  - Gain familiarity with the basics of risk management.
- Designed as preparation for more advanced and policy-oriented IMF courses in financial or macrofinancial areas.
- Topics covered include:
  - Pricing of fixed-income securities and equity.
  - The term structure of interest rates.
  - Portfolio allocation and diversification.
  - Introduction to risk management.

### Course objectives (learning outcomes)
Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:
- Price a variety of financial assets (money market instruments, bonds, and equities) using the present value (PV) principle.
- Measure and compare different yield measures for financial assets.
- Construct and estimate a yield curve on the basis of readily available information and use several theories to interpret its behavior.
- Relate differences in the valuation of single equities or markets to economic fundamentals.
- Construct an optimal portfolio of risky assets using historical return data and assess likely changes in its composition as macroeconomic conditions change.
- Assess the market risk of an investment by calculating its value at risk (VaR), stressed VaR, and expected shortfall, and use back-testing to evaluate the accuracy of past VaR.

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## References

- [Online Training](https://www.imf.org/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/delivery-methods)
- [Core Elements of Banking Supervision (CBS)](https://www.imf.org/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/schedule/at/2027/cbsat27-10)
- [Advanced Government Finance Statistics (GFS-A)](https://www.imf.org/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/schedule/ce/2026/gfs-ace26-45)
- [Fiscal Sustainability (FS)](https://www.imf.org/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/schedule/ce/2026/fsce26-38)
- [Safeguards Assessments of Central Banks (SAC)](https://www.imf.org/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/schedule/at/2026/sacat26-30)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/schedule/ol/2024/fmaxol24-155_