The type of banking that includes the organization of large and complex financial transactions such as mergers or initial public offering (IPO) underwriting is known as Investment Banking. Investment Banks raise money for companies in a variety of ways such as underwriting the issuance of new securities for a corporation, municipality, or other institution and also managing a corporation’s IPO. Investment Banks also play advisory roles in mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations. The top 8 investment banking free courses will guide you if you want to make a career as an investment banker.

List of best investment banking free courses

What is Investment Banking?

Investment banking is centered around raising money for companies, governments, and other bodies with activities including underwriting new debt and equity securities for all types of corporations.

The Concept of Investment Banking

Investment banks will for instance underwrite new debt and equity securities for all types of corporations aiding in the sale of securities alongside helping with mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations. Investment banks provide guidance to issuers regarding the offering and placement of stocks and also broker trades for institutions and private investors.

Many large investment banking systems are affiliates or subsidiaries of larger banking institutions. Some have also become household names with the largest being Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Deutsche Bank.

Broadly speaking, investment banks assist in large and complicated financial transactions. If an investment banker’s client is considering an acquisition, merger, or sale they may provide advice on how much a company is worth and how to structure a best deal.

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What Do Investment Bankers Do?

Investment banks will hire investment bankers who can help corporations, governments, and organizations plan and manage large projects which will help their clients save time and money by identifying risks associated with the project before the client moves forward on signing a deal.

Theoretically speaking, investment bankers are experts at measuring the current investing scenario so that businesses and institutions can turn to investment banks for advice on how to plan their development so as to get the best returns. Investment bankers can customize the client’s recommendations to the present state of economic affairs.

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Top 8 Investment Banking Free Courses For A Successful Career

 

1. edX

This program is an initiative by edX and is offered by The New York Institute of Finance. These investment banking free courses will help you by giving a boost to your financial skills and offer you ways of having a successful career in Investment Banking and Finance.

List of Modules that you will learn:

  • Module 01: Investment Banking
  • Module 02: Buy-side Institutions
  • Module 03: Alternative Investments
  • Module 04: Related Finance Opportunities
  • Module 05: Career Prep Strategies
  • Module 06: Overcoming Generational Stereotyping
  • Module 07: Your Authentic Story
  • Module 08: Your Personal Brand
  • Module 09: Cover Letters/Emails
  • Module 10: Elevator Pitch
  • Module 11: Impact Interviewing

Why choose this course?

  • This course will help you gain knowledge of the financial sector so that you can speak confidently when starting or advancing your career in Investment Banking and Finance.
  • In addition to industry jargon, you will also learn about the hiring processes and the strategies to tell your story in the most compelling way to attract recruiters.
  • Taught by instructors with decades of experience on Wall Street, this course will guide students from a wide range of backgrounds, including business, economics, engineering, sciences, and mathematics with the required career skills for a future in Investment Banking and Finance.

Free Preview is also available and you can access Module 1 for free. For full course access you have to upgrade to a verified certificate.

 

Benefits of the Course:-

  • Engage with industry professionals like experienced practitioners.
  • Expand your knowledge of the various financial institutions that exist.
  • Learn the industry jargon.
  • Find your professional fit.
  • Elevate your EQ.

Other Important Details:-

  • Duration: 2 Weeks/ 3 to 4 Hours per Week (Self-paced, Progress at your own speed)
  • Course Fee: Free (Optional Upgrade Available)
  • Institution: NYIF
  • Subject: Business & Management
  • Level: Introductory
  • Prerequisites: None
  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English
  • Associated program: Professional Certificate in Introduction to Investment Banking
  • Associated skills: Financial Services, Basic Math, Finance, Business Economics, Investment Banking, Financial Literacy

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2. Coursera

This program is offered by Coursera in collaboration with the University of Geneva. In the investment banking free courses, you will learn how to make smart investment decisions in a global world and also about the various aspects of a wealth-generating investment portfolio.

List of Modules that you will learn:

  • Understanding Financial Markets
  • Meeting Investors’ Goals
  • Portfolio and Risk Management
  • Securing Investment Returns in the Long Run
  • Planning your Client’s Wealth keeping in view a 5-Year Horizon

Why choose this course?

  • You will be earning a Certificate upon completion which you can share on your social profiles.
  • 100% online courses – Start instantly and learn on your own schedule.
  • Flexible Schedules with which you can set and maintain flexible deadlines.
  • Beginner Level – No prior experience required.
  • The course will take approximately 5 months to complete with a suggested pace of 2 hours/week.
  • English – Subtitles: English, Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Chinese (Simplified), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, Spanish.

 

Benefits of the Course:-

  • Investment Management
  • Risk Management
  • Financial Markets
  • Finance
  • Bond Market
  • Interest Rate
  • Stock
  • Portfolio Construction
  • Investment Style
  • Cognitive Bias
  • Investment
  • Portfolio Theories

Other Important Details:-

  • Enroll for Free – Financial aid available
  • Shareable Specialization and Course Certificates
  • Self-Paced Learning Option
  • Course Videos & Readings
  • Practice Quizzes
  • Graded Assignments with Peer Feedback
  • Graded Quizzes with Feedback
  • Graded Programming Assignments

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3. Alison

By enrolling in the investment banking free courses, you will gain a better understanding of valuation and investments along with income statements, balance sheets, and stocks. The publisher of this course is Khan Academy.

List of Modules that you will learn in the investment banking free courses:

  • Introduction to Valuation and Investing with Learning Outcomes
  • Price and Market Capitalization
  • Introduction to the Income Statement
  • Earnings and EPS
  • Introduction to the Price-to-Earnings Ratio
  • P-E Discussion
  • ROA Discussion 1
  • ROA Discussion 2
  • Depreciation
  • Amortization
  • P-E Conundrum
  • Enterprise Value
  • EBITDA
  • Introduction to Valuation and Investing with Lesson Summary
  • Introduction to Valuation and Investing with Course Assessment

Why choose this course?

  • In this free course, you will learn to analyze balance sheets and income statements
  • Outlining depreciation and amortization
  • Learn to identify good stocks from bad stocks on a basic level
  • Listing the components of a balance sheet
  • Define Return on Assets along with Return on Equity
  • Learn to use metrics such as EBIT and EBITDA to assess the risks involved in an investment
  • Describing the roles of sell-side and buy-side analysts
  • Discussions on how Enterprise Value can be a better indicator than P/E at determining the value of a business

Benefits of the Course:-

  • This Free Online Course Includes: 1.5 to 3 Hours of Learning
  • CPD Accreditation
  • Final Assessment
  • Developed by experts in their fields by the course publisher Khan Academy

Other Important Details:-

  • Certify your skills with a CPD-accredited Alison Diploma/Certificate.
  • Stand out from the crowd by adding your Alison Certification to your resumé which will help you to stay ahead of the competition.
  • Advance in your career by sharing your Alison Certification with potential employers to show off your skills and capabilities.

 

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4. Learning

By joining the Finance Foundations course by LinkedIn Learning, you will be getting a comprehensive overview of Finance from reading a Balance Sheet to understanding Derivatives and Securities. This course is mentored by Brigham Young University business professors Jim and Kay Stice.

List of Modules that you will learn in the investment banking free courses :

  • Introduction to the Essence of Finance
  • What Is Finance?
  • Finance inside of companies
  • Finance outside of companies
  • Chapter Quiz – 4 questions
  • Understanding Financial Statements
  • Introducing financial statements
  • Overview of financial statements
  • The balance sheet
  • The income statement
  • The statement of cash flows
  • Common ratios: Debt and current ratios
  • Common ratios of Return on sales, asset turnover, and ROE
  • Common ratios: Price-earnings ratio
  • Forecasting financial statements
  • Chapter Quiz – 14 questions
  • Short-Term Financial Management
  • The operating cycle
  • Cash management
  • Managing receivables and inventory
  • Obtaining short-term financing
  • Understanding internal controls
  • Chapter Quiz – 10 questions
  • Risk and Return: Introduction
  • What is a risk?
  • Why we don’t like risk
  • Reducing risk through diversification
  • Beta: The concept
  • Beta: Examples
  • Risk-free rate
  • Equity risk premium
  • Capital asset pricing model (CAPM)
  • Chapter Quiz – 10 questions
  • Obtaining Long Term Financing
  • Introducing long-term financing
  • Does capital structure matter?
  • Factors influencing optimal capital structure
  • Cost of capital of all debt or all equity financing
  • Cost of capital: Split debt-equity financing
  • The weighted average cost of capital
  • Chapter Quiz – 8 questions
  • Understanding Securities Markets
  • Introducing securities markets
  • Learn the differences between a stock and a bond
  • Stock markets
  • Bond markets
  • Publicly traded shares: What impacts the share price?
  • Initial public offering (IPO): Microsoft
  • Can you pick stocks in the stock market?
  • Chapter Quiz – 5 questions
  • Financial Institutions
  • Introducing financial institutions
  • Traditional banks
  • Investment banks
  • Investment funds: Index funds
  • Investment funds like Managed funds, private equity funds, and hedge funds
  • Insurance companies
  • Chapter Quiz – 5 questions
  • Capital Budgeting
  • Introducing capital budgeting
  • Capital budgeting overview
  • The time value of money
  • Example: Buying a car in Hong Kong
  • Chapter Quiz – 4 questions
  • Personal Financial Planning
  • Introducing personal financial planning
  • The secret to financial security
  • The importance of personal budgeting
  • Simple savings and investment plans
  • Chapter Quiz – 3 questions
  • Conclusion
  • Reviewing corporate finance

Why choose this course?

  • 1 project file
  • 9 chapter quizzes
  • Access on tablet and phone
  • Certificate of completion
  • Continuing Education Units available

Benefits of the Course:-

  • Beginner Level Course
  • The duration of the course is 2 Hours and 40 Minutes.
  • You can do the course for free along with other courses in your first free trial month.

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5. Yale Courses

The course is available on YouTube and the lecturer is Professor Robert Shiller.

List of Modules that you will learn in the investment banking free courses :

  • Chapter 1. Key Elements of Investment Banking
  • Chapter 2. Principles and Culture of Investment Banking
  • Chapter 3. Regulation of Investment Banking
  • Chapter 4. Shadow Banking and the Repo Market
  • Chapter 5. ECON 252 to Wall Street
  • Chapter 6. Steps to Take to Work on Wall Street Today
  • Chapter 7. From Wall Street to Silicon Valley with Experiences at Facebook
  • Chapter 8. Fougner: Question and Answer Session

Why choose this course?

  • Professor Robert Shiller explains the concept of investment banking by comparing it to consulting, commercial banking, and also securities trading.
  • Professor Robert Shiller will also talk about some of the principles that John Whitehead, the former chairman of Goldman Sachs, has formulated.
  • The principles are the answer to the power that investment bankers have, and also their impact on society.
  • The regulations of the Government on these powerful investment banks have been a debatable issue for many years, especially so now since they played a significant role in the world financial crisis of the 2000s.

Benefits of the Course:-

  • The duration of the course is 1 Hour and 11 Minutes.
  • The course is free of cost.
  • The complete course materials are available at the Yale Online website: online.yale.edu
  • The medium of instruction is in English.

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6. Rule 1

Benefits you will get from the investment banking free courses:-

  • You will be learning from 3 times New York Times Best Selling Author and Hedge Fund Manager Phil Town.
  • FREE personalized online course.

 

List of Modules that you will learn:

  • Chapter 1 – How to start investing
  • Chapter 2 – What types of investments will give you maximum returns
  • Chapter 3 – How to invest for small funds like $20 to $5,000
  • Chapter 4 – How to invest money to grow your wealth
  • Chapter 5 – What to Invest in Stocks and What to Look for
  • Chapter 6 – How to evaluate a company by using financial metrics and investing calculators
  • Chapter 7 – How to buy stock and Where to purchase them
  • Chapter 8 – Investing Books that every investor should read

Why choose this course?

  • You can learn the foundation of investing in 5 easy-to-follow lessons
  • 2 hours of interactive guides and videos
  • Simple exercises and quizzes to test your knowledge
  • You will get access to tools used by investing experts for faster and simpler research

 

7. Skill Share

Benefits of the Course that you will be getting from the investment banking free courses:-

  • You can get started for Free with the free trial
  • Get unlimited access to every class
  • Taught by industry leaders & working professionals

List of Modules that you will learn in the investment banking free courses:

  • Class Overview
  • Valuation Overview
  • Discounted Cash Flow Overview
  • Discounted Cash Flow in Detail
  • Discounted Cash Flow Common Questions
  • Leveraged Buyout Overview
  • LBO Detailed Steps
  • LBO and Circular Reference
  • LBO Common Questions
  • Paper LBO Framework
  • Paper LBO Practice Example
  • Relative Valuation Overview
  • How to Pick Comps and Precedents
  • Example of Multiples
  • Comparable Companies How does it work?
  • Precedent Transactions How does it work?
  • Relative Valuation Common Questions
  • Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Valuation
  • Ranking the Different Methodologies
  • Other Valuation Methodologies
  • Project

Why choose this course?

This course will give you strong basic concepts to answer all the basic valuation questions including the following examples:

  • Walk me through a DCF
  • What are the 5 ways for a private equity firm to boost its return in an LBO?
  • Our comps set gives us a 12x median for EV/EBITDA, and the company we are valuing has $100mm in EBITDA so what would be the implied valuation?

 

8. Wall Street Mojo

Wall Street Mojo provides beginner-friendly content and is one of the best destinations for finance, accounting, and investment-related information.

Benefits of the Course:-

  • You will get free access to the course by registering with your email id.
  • Beginner-friendly course with an introduction to Investment Banking, Ratio Analysis, Financial Modeling, and Valuation.

List of Modules that you will learn in the investment banking free courses:

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Investment Banking vs. Commercial Banking

  • What is an investment bank?
  • What is a commercial bank?
  • Investment banking vs. commercial banking.

Part 3 – Equity Research

  • What is equity research?
  • How does equity research make money?
  • What is a typical Equity Research job profile?
  • Clients of the equity research department

Part 4 – Asset Management Company

  • What is the Asset Management Company or AMC?
  • How does an asset management company work?

Part 5 – Buy Side vs. Sell Side

In this part 5 video tutorial on Buy-Side vs. Sell Side the following are discussed: –

  • What is the sell side?
  • What is the buy side?
  • Key differences between sell-side and buy-side

Part 6 – Sales and Trading

In this part 6 video tutorial on Sales and Trading, the following are discussed: –

  • What are sales and trading?
  • Sales function
  • Trading function

Part 7 – Raising Capital

  • How do companies raise capital?
  • Role of investment bankers in raising capital.
  • What is an Initial Public Offer
  • (IPO) and Follow-on Public Offering or FPO?
  • What are private placements?

Part 8 – Underwriters

In this 8th part on Underwriters, the following are discussed:-

  • What is Underwriting
  • Role of Investment Bankers in Underwriting IPOs

Part 9 – Market Making

In this part 9 on market-making by investment banks, the following are discussed: –

  • Market making
  • Role of investment bankers in market-making activities

 

Part 10 – Mergers and Acquisitions

In this part 10 video tutorial on Mergers and Acquisitions, the following is discussed –

  • What are Mergers and Acquisitions or M&A?
  • How do investment bankers help in M&As?
  • Due diligence for M&A.
  • Investment Banking PitchBook

Part 11 – Restructuring and Reorganization

In this part 11 video tutorial on Restructuring and Reorganization, the discussions are on the following topics:-

  • What is restructuring?
  • What is reorganization?
  • Investment Banker’s Role in Restructuring and Reorganization

Part 12 – Roles, Positions, and Hierarchy

This part 12 video on Investment Banking Roles, positions, and responsibilities discusses the following:

  • Analyst
  • Associate
  • Vice President
  • Managing Director

Part 13 – Front Office vs. Back Office vs. Middle Office

In this part 13, the following are discussed –

  • What is a front office?
  • What is a back office?
  • What is a Middle office?
  • Front office vs. Middle Office vs. Back Office

Part 14 – Conclusion

FAQs

❖    How to start a career in Investment Banking with investment banking free courses?

There needs to be more than just doing investment banking free courses and getting certified to start a career in Investment Banking. Doing Internships will help you get ahead in your career if you are just starting out. Enrolling in an Analyst Course will help you to further succeed in your career as an investment banker.

❖    Is Investment Banking a high-paying job?

The average salary of an Investment Banker is around 12 to 15 Lakhs per annum according to a LinkedIn survey.

❖    What are the eligibility criteria to become an Investment Banker?

The eligibility criteria to become an Investment Banker are as follows-

A master’s degree in financial mathematics or a degree from a law college is desirable.

The grades obtained by a candidate in their master’s or bachelor’s degree are also taken into account.

The candidate must have also received at least 55% aggregate marks in the qualifying examination.

Conclusion

So after going through all the details about investment banking free courses a question that may arise in your mind is whether investment banking is worth it or not. Though the field has its own complexities, at the same time one can build a career and be a successful Investment Banker. The most important thing required is a passion for finance and the ability to work hard learn from experience and improve with time. Additionally, the investment bank jobs and salaries are on par with the industry and as a result, the one joining would be emotionally and financially satisfied with this career.