Topics in Public Equity Investing (SC)

This short course focuses on public equity investing and related company analysis. The course is designed to give students a practical understanding of how professional equity investors at large investment firms analyze companies and make investment decisions. Topics to be covered include: the difference between a good business and a bad business, how companies create value, growth investing, value investing, understanding the customer perspective and the use of investment frameworks. Students will learn the basics of valuation analysis, including the benefits and drawbacks of the discounted cash flow and ratio analysis approaches to valuation. Early in the course, we will have a “bull-bear” debate on the investment merits of a specific stock. As the main project of the course, students will prepare a short research report in the style of a buyside "initiation of coverage" report, including a financial model and valuation analysis. Students in the Law & Business program may be interested in this course for among the following reasons: (1) if your law practice will involve representing public company clients, understanding how professional investors analyze your clients should be helpful context, (2) if your law practice will involve representing investors, this course should further your understanding of what institutional investors actually do, (3) if your law practice will involve clients active in mergers and acquisitions (or corporate development), this course should further your ability to understand strategic and financial issues, and (4) if you see yourself eventually going into business, this course should further your ability to assess the quality of a business, understand value creation and evaluate growth prospects.