How to Invest in Stocks, ETFs & Index Funds

Course Description

Learn how to make your investments secure, productive, and tax efficient!

Invest with confidence. This is the safe place to ask questions! Learn about financial markets and how to research and evaluate stocks, ETFs, and other investment assets. Be more confident asking investment questions. Examine asset allocation and building a portfolio suited to your goals and risk tolerance. This course touches on world events, politics, and economics and the impact to investing in the current global investment climate.

Participant Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand the functions and operations of financial markets
• Understand how to evaluate and select stocks/ETFs and how trades take place
• Understand the different types of fixed income instruments, ETFs, Index funds, and derivatives
• Recognize the different types of brokers/planners and their fees
• Understand financial planning, asset allocation, tax efficiency, and how to manage and build a personal investment portfolio

Course Content

Class 1. Introduction to Capital Markets and Financial Instruments

• Investment capital, key users and suppliers
• Classes of financial instruments
• How capital markets facilitate the transfer of financial instruments
• Key financial intermediaries and how they facilitate the execution of transactions within capital markets
• How brokerage firms are organized to serve their clients
• Regulations designed to protect investors
• The Economy
  • The business cycle; fiscal and monetary policy
  • Interest rates, inflation and other factors affecting the market
  • Economic indicators

Class 2. Corporate Financial Statements/Key Ratios/Fixed Income Alternatives

• Review basic financial statements
  • Income/Earnings statement/Cash Flow statement/Balance Sheet
• How to utilize statements when picking stocks and bonds/ESG (Environment Social Governance measures)
• Key ratios derived from statements
• Fixed Income Instruments
  • Plain vanilla bonds
  • Types of Bonds - pricing principles and the yield curve
  • Mechanics of buying/selling bonds
• Fixed Income Alternatives
  • Preferred Shares/Split Shares
  • Convertible Debentures
  • Linked Notes
  • Income Trust Units
  • Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)/Index Funds
  • What are "Liquid Alternatives"?

Class 3. Picking Stocks/ETFs Indexes/Options/Behavioural Finance

• Fundamental and Technical analysis
• Top-down and bottom-up methods
• How to interpret valuation ratios
• Stock/ETF company comparison using charts and key ratios
• Using brokerage-provided and internet research
• How to execute various types of buy/sell orders and which orders to use
• Using margin and short selling
• Understanding IPOs – green sheets and prospectuses
• The different types of funds available and how to determine which are right for you. (fees/costs/pros/cons)
• Derivatives - Options, Futures and Forwards
• Options: writing and buying calls and puts
• Using options for leverage or for reducing risk
• Futures and forward contracts Behavioural Finance/Biases

Class 4. Financial Planning

• Establishing your financial objectives and tolerance for risk
• Retirement savings strategies & education saving strategies
• Tax implications of different investments
• Potential benefits of Insurance – the "other" asset class
• Portfolio management
• How to build a portfolio to achieve your goals
• Asset allocation: aggressive and conservative asset mixes
• How to select and manage the securities in your portfolio