786
Seminars -
LearnWhat?
All our LIVE On-line Courses are based around AZMAT System and are
as follows:
The students’ computer screens will show what is on the teacher’s computer
screen; the teacher will be the only person speaking over the conference
call.
Some of the investment banking and risk management
business terms covered in AZMAT System are as follows:
cash flows; discount factors; present value; yield;
internal rate of return; accrued interest; average life; equivalent life; yield
to maturity; redemption yield; duration; modified duration; convexity; simple
margin; discounted margin; bonds (with call, put, sinking funds, partly-paid,
graduated rate); zero coupon bonds; perpetual; asset swaps; floating rate notes;
convertible bonds; bond warrants; equity warrants; money market instruments such
as treasury bills, fixed rate certificates of deposit and floating rate
certificates of deposit; volatilities; correlations; cash flow maps; and
principal maps.
(Items in bold above are discussed below - just to give you some idea of
their relevance and of the other terms, in real-life working situations.)
The meanings of some of the above terms can be explained, for the benefit
of those who do not know them, in just a sentence or two; some terms can be
calculated by just formulae in spreadsheet cells, while others require extensive
calculations utilising several intermediate spreadsheets and hundreds of lines
of program code to find the required results.
Asset Swaps are just two words in the above list, but the
Asset Swap Model in AZMAT System is the most comprehensive of all our
calculation models with its own menu and about 25 specific commands, and in the right
hands (of a bond dealer in an investment bank) it could be a money-making
machine! In an earlier trading system that the author of AZMAT System had
developed for an international investment bank, the Asset Swap Model was being
used around the world by the bond traders of that bank about 85% of their
working time every single working day. When comparing the functionality of the
Asset Swap Model in AZMAT System with that earlier model is like comparing a
Rolls-Royce car with a basic family saloon car.
Similarly,
cash flow maps, volatilities and correlations
are just five words in the above list, but the majority of our Risk Management
Module that uses cash flow maps is based upon J. P. Morgan’s RiskMetrics
Methodology and datasets of volatility and correlation, as the methodology has
now become a standard to measure risk. In
AZMAT System, that methodology has been converted into a
working system that almost anyone can understand and use. Another method
of calculating risk is by using principal maps and
in AZMAT System this is done by using a very large
financial model. Thus, just seven words in the above list represent at
least two years' software development work in AZMAT System, and like Asset Swap Model,
Risk Management Module has
its own menu and about 25 specific commands.
Please read the full descriptions of the above courses elsewhere on our
site but the following may give some idea of what is involved in the
calculations of just some of the above terms, and the practical and working
knowledge that the students are likely to gain by attending our courses.
Present Value and Yield of a bond are the two most common business
terms that are required and calculated in an investment bank. However, in order
to calculate these you need to calculate the cash flows, and for that you need
to calculate the discount factors.
Introduction to AZMAT System and Programming Course -
All our courses are based around AZMAT System which is developed in Excel, but
it is a ‘Risk Management and Front Office Dealing Room System’ for investment
banks. The system is mainly for bond traders, but has 12 investment banking
calculation models - some of those models are controlled via program code. Thus
the vast majority of financial instruments that are used by investment banks
around the world in their day-to-day business are covered in AZMAT System.
Our objective is to enhance the current
and/or future career prospects of teenagers and adults in any financial
organisation, particularly those who may be interested in
any work connected with an investment bank. AZMAT System and our online courses
together provide an excellent opportunity to enhance their working knowledge at
a very practical level.
Financial Modelling and Spreadsheet Programming Course - This is a
sub-set of the course immediately below.
Financial Systems Design and Development Course - These courses will show
students how to design and develop spreadsheet software systems that provide solutions to
real-life specific business problems that are facing students’ own clients;
using Excel macros and Visual Basic for Applications programming code (VBA) they
will learn to manage and control a dozen or more spreadsheets and carry out
required tasks in specific spreadsheets automatically.
Investment Banking Calculations Course - Example 1 - there
are different ways of calculating accrued interest in various countries around
the world – for cross currency bond trading, this knowledge is essential – the
students will learn the calculation formulae for various financial instruments
that are used in investment banks around the world (as shown in the above list).
Example 2 - there are various types of yield (one is redemption yield),
and there are 11 types of redemption yield – our Bond Calculation model has all
the required calculation formulae – some of the calculations are carried out
without programming, while others require various programs and intermediate
spreadsheets to calculate the result before displaying it.
Risk Management Systems Course - This course shows how investment
banks use various methods of calculating risk. It also covers J. P. Morgan’s
RiskMetrics Methodology and datasets of volatility and correlation. Even
very senior people with 10 or 15 years of experience in their own field might
find this very specialist knowledge extremely useful and worthwhile to learn;
the Risk Management Module of AZMAT System and associated programming took over
two years to develop, incorporating volatilities, correlations, cash flow maps
and principal maps.
To get some idea of the potential benefits, you may be interested to know that
some international investment banks in the City of London pay up to US$14,000
p.a. just for the latest volatility and correlation datasets (daily and monthly
horizon) and some pay up to US$1.5 million p.a. to receive a complete risk
management service for their operations globally, from a third party. This
information was provided by the company that has those contracts!
So you can see
how valuable that working knowledge of developing risk management systems, that
the author of AZMAT System would like to provide, could be for
teenagers and adults who might want to specialise in that field
to enhance their current and/or future career
prospects.
Difference between AZMAT System and books on Programming and
books with Calculation Formulae of Investment
Banking and Risk Management Systems
The practical and working knowledge of
software development, investment banking and risk management
calculations
that you will gain from AZMAT System is extremely unlikely
to be found in any book on
programming, investment banking or risk management
calculations. Furthermore, in order to understand some of the books on
investment banking and risk management calculations the reader is expected to
have a good understanding of mathematics. Then you also need to be good at
programming and have the time, patience and several years' software development
experience to convert all that specialist
knowledge into developing a system that even complete beginners can understand
and use with confidence.
Even complete beginners can expect to increase their knowledge of programming,
investment banking calculations and risk management terminology in a relatively
short period of time, after attending
Webinar* sessions by the author of
AZMAT System and using the system on their own personal
computers.
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