Develop your understanding of finance and investing through Virginia-based programs. You’ll explore portfolio design, market behavior, and strategic growth planning.
Gain a comprehensive understanding of stock investing, valuation, and stock movements in this course. Learn about essential valuation techniques, financial statements, and the fundamentals of stock investing, as well as the factors that influence stock prices and how to analyze them.
Master Excel, review corporate finance, and build a valuation model on a public company. Gain basic and intermediate Excel skills and learn how to read financial statements, build valuations, and predict market trends.
Join our financial modeling class to learn essential finance and accounting concepts, build a discounted cash flow (DCF) model in Excel, acquire advanced Excel skills, explore corporate finance and valuation, and create a financial model on a real company. This hands-on course will teach you practical financial skills.
In its simplest form, investing is when you buy an asset at a low price and sell it at a higher price. The money you make selling at a higher price is called a return on your investment, also known as a capital gain. Earning returns by selling assets for a profit—or realizing your capital gains—is one way to make money investing. Your investments can also gain in value between buying and selling, and this is known as appreciation.
There are many ways to invest (either directly or indirectly), like using money to start a business or purchasing real estate to generate rental income or to flip. Risk is inherently a part of investing, with low risk generally meaning lower returns, while higher risk is usually where you’ll see higher returns (although there’s no guarantee). Certificates of Deposit (CDs) are an example of a low-risk investment while bonds, fixed-income instruments, stocks, and equities are regarded as riskier. Commodities and derivatives are generally considered some of the riskiest investments.
There are two ways to start investing: Do-It-Yourself (DIY) or professional management. DIY investing is sometimes called self-directed investing, and requires a fair amount of education, skill, time commitment, and the ability to control one's emotions. Professional money management generally involves wealth managers looking after your investments. Whether you’re looking to learn to invest on your own or want to become a professional who beginners seek out, you can learn everything you need to know in an investing class.
Investment training courses are designed to help prepare you for a career in asset management, financial planning, stock trading, and portfolio strategy, equipping you with the skills to make informed investment decisions and optimize economic growth. But, if you’re just looking to expand your understanding of finance, a course can still be a good choice. You can use investment training to improve your own financial status, eliminate debt, or save for retirement. Becoming an investing expert can lead to passive income generation, helping you to grow your wealth with minimum effort. Whether you invest through stocks and bonds, property, or various accounts like IRAs, Roth IRAs, and HYSAs, there are numerous ways you can improve your finances.
According to the 2022 Investopedia Financial Literacy Survey, 57% of U.S. adults are invested, but just one in three say they have advanced investing knowledge. While there are many topics, tools, procedures, and strategies involved in investing, most entry-level investing classes will stick to establishing the basics. Outlined below are some of the most fundamental subjects you’ll need to master to become an expert investor, but keep in mind that there’s much more to learn beyond this list.
Financial markets are any place or system that allows the trade of financial instruments, including bonds, equities, various international currencies, and derivatives. You’ll most likely be familiar with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), perhaps the most well-known market in the U.S. Financial markets facilitate the interaction between those who need capital with those who have capital to invest. Most courses will provide a crash course in the fundamentals of financial markets and how they facilitate the interaction between those needing capital and those with capital to invest.
Strategic analysis involves researching and evaluating a security or industry to predict its future performance and determine its suitability to a specific investor. It may also involve evaluating or creating a financial strategy. Strategic analysis helps companies to do the following things:
An investing training will typically cover the types of investment analysis including bottom-up, top-down, fundamental, and technical.
Investing is about allocating resources and capital to chosen risks. Risk management processes and tools result in a higher chance of a preferred outcome, like more value for your portfolio. There are three main causes to strategic risk: pressures due to growth, culture, or information management. Portfolio managers need to be familiar with risk management to improve the portfolio’s risk-return outcome, manage the company’s enterprise risk issues, evaluate the companies’ risks, and understand how those companies are addressing them.
Trading is different from investing and primarily focuses on short-term movements in markets. A trading platform is a software system used to trade securities. Trading platforms let investors open, close, and manage market positions through a virtual financial intermediary like an online broker. Brokers frequently offer these online trading platforms for free or at a discount in exchange for maintaining a funded account and/or making a specified number of trades per month. Being a broker can be a high-stress job but, for those with the right skills, it can be extremely lucrative. The best trading platforms offer a mix of robust features and low fees. An investing class will teach you what to look for in a trading platform and the pros and cons to keep in mind.
Investing can teach you valuable lessons in patience. Medium or long-term investors are not looking to earn quick portfolio returns; they’re willing to ride out the highs and lows to secure a better position in the future. It can be tempting to cash in when something is doing well or to give it up when you’ve lost out. Successful trading requires patience while you stick to your strategy, regardless of what happens.
Investing is a great hobby and can help individuals offset the cost of high-quality financial advice and management, but mastering the subject may not come easy. Learning investing can be challenging for a variety of reasons. The amount of technical information, finding reliable resources, and understanding the reactionary market are three of the major factors that contribute to the level of difficulty. Additionally, because investing itself takes patience and longevity, mastering it does as well.
Investing is a constantly evolving environment that requires consistent attention, so the amount of research required is arguably the most challenging part. It’s crucial that you stay informed and up-to-date on market changes and financial strategies. Watching the market and making strategic decisions take time to both learn and do, so having patience and perseverance can impact how easy or difficult it is to master investing.
Due to its multifaceted nature, mastering investing can take more time than you might think. Most experts say it takes anywhere between one and five years to understand the stock market, depending on several factors that have been listed above. This will, of course, vary depending on your goals (i.e., learning for your own personal financial freedom or to start a new career).
Just like investing strategy, investing education is a long game. And, while it may take more than a year to become confident in all things investing, you can usually gain familiarity with the basics (like the stock market and entry-level trading practices) within a few months. Learning about investing can have a direct impact on your financial success, so becoming an expert is still worthwhile, whether it takes you a few months or several years.
There are several factors to consider when answering this question. The first factor you’ll want to consider is what learning environment is best suited for you. Do you thrive in a collaborative environment where you can interact with your peers and receive in-the-moment feedback from your instructor? Or, do you prefer a more solitary learning environment, perhaps one where you can learn at your own speed?
You’ll also want to consider how much time you can commit to your education and what level of flexibility your schedule requires. Are you looking to immerse yourself in an intensive program? Do you work full-time and need your classes to be scheduled for evening and weekend hours?
In-person classes offer face-to-face interaction with both your fellow students and your expert instructor. This collaborative environment is available for both full-time and part-time classes and provides structure and accountability, two things that can help you succeed. Online courses may lack this in-person interaction, but they make up for it with increased flexibility. Live online classes still offer instant feedback from your instructor and interactions with other students, while on-demand virtual courses allow for the most flexibility since you can decide where and when you learn.
The good news is that, no matter which option you choose, you can obtain a quality education with a top-notch curriculum and expert instructors.
Technically, it is possible to learn investing for free online. YouTube videos, blogs, and free short workshops can all be a great way to learn the basics without spending any money. But, when it comes to the more advanced skills, an in-depth training course is going to be your best option. These courses will contain a curriculum developed and taught by experts and offer you the chance to receive feedback or troubleshoot any issues with your instructor or a support team. Formal training can also provide the structure and accountability that some students need to stay focused, creating an environment where you’re more likely to succeed. So, if you’re looking to master more than just the basics, a formal course or class is a better choice than free online resources.
There are several software programs and tools that will help you with investing. Excel is a great basic program to start with. Excel spreadsheets can keep track of investments and calculate things like performance and degree of volatility, the difference between an asset's current price minus its entry price, and the percentage return on an asset and assess profit and loss. One particularly helpful Excel feature is its ability to calculate standard deviation, a complex formula that assesses risk.
Having an understanding of at least one Portfolio Management System (PMS) is also helpful to learn alongside investing. Also known as wealth management software, a PMS tracks and manages investor portfolios. These systems are used by investment professionals to build, track, and manage their clients’ investment portfolios. Investment portfolio management software consists of communication tools to facilitate client-investor communication and is designed to be used by investors, financial advisors, and their clients. If you plan to turn investing into a career, you’ll definitely want to become familiar with a PMS.
Brushing up on your math skills can’t hurt (accounting, calculus, and business math), and studying subjects like computer science or economics can be extremely beneficial as well. It’s best to list out the areas of investing that may be difficult for you and, from there, you can pinpoint various subjects that can help you strengthen those skills.
Revered for its natural beauty and rich history, Virginia is becoming equally well known as an ideal location for working in finance and investing. Several industries are thriving in the region, each of which will have a need for investment experts for a variety of roles.
Healthcare and social assistance consistently has the highest employment of any industry in the Commonwealth, according to QCEW annual averages. The industry is responsible for 13.1 percent of total employment in Virginia, with an annual average of 488,927 jobs in 2020. This sector also accounts for 11.1 percent of total wages at $27.1 billion. Additionally, wages have risen steadily over the last five years, showing continued demand and growth for healthcare professionals.
This industry has the second-highest average annual employment in the Commonwealth, accounting for 446,738 jobs in 2020, or 11.9 percent of total employment in Virginia (a 10 percent growth in employment since 2015). Additionally, professional, scientific, and technical services account for more than $50.7 billion in total wages, approximately 20.8 percent of total wages in the region. Computer systems design and related services account for roughly 38.1 percent of all employment in this industry and have added more than 16,700 jobs over the last five years. The management consulting services sub-sector has also contributed to the growth of this industry, seeing an increase in employment of 18.8 percent during the last five years.
The retail trade industry accounted for 10.4 percent of statewide employment in 2020, just about 390,953 jobs. Grocery stores are one sub-sector that has seen impressive growth in employment. Since 2015, grocery stores have added over 6,000 jobs, an increase of 8.4 percent. Employment growth in some specific subsectors of the retail trade industry has helped to offset the losses of traditional department stores and clothing stores, helping to keep this large and constantly changing industry alive and well.
Employing around 279,000 people, and accounts for 2.4 percent of Virginia’s total wages at just over $5.8 billion. The full service and limited service restaurants sub-sectors alone are responsible for 78.0 percent of the total industry employment. Wage growth, coupled with an increase in the number of establishments indicates that accommodation and food services is likely to continue to be one of the largest employing industries in Virginia.
Investing can lead to a vibrant and successful career in a variety of industries. There are several roles you could pursue, depending on your level of experience. Listed below are a few of the most common positions you’ll see listed, as well as a brief description of what each does and how much you can expect to be compensated.
An Investment Advisor, also referred to as a stockbroker, has a government registration allowing them to choose, manage, and recommend investments for clients. Unlike other financial advisors who may not be regulated, investment advisors are regulated by their state or the SEC (depending on how much money they manage) and can also offer services like retirement planning. The average salary of an Investment Advisor in Virginia is $74,000-$96,000, with senior-level advisors earning well over six figures.
Investment Analysts are hired by brokerage firms, investment advisors, and mutual fund companies to prepare investment research for multiple purposes. They are trained to evaluate financial and investment information, typically for the purpose of making buy, sell, and hold recommendations for securities. Buy-Side Analysts identify investment opportunities for their firm while Sell-Side Equity Analysts work for big investment banks and issue buy, sell, and hold recommendations and company-specific research. You can expect to make $84,000-$128,000 in this role in Virginia.
Revenue Managers oversee the revenue data and analytics for various businesses and industries. They use databases to collect, store, organize, and process data that relates to a company's financial health and also use technology systems to forecast revenue that a company may earn by making strategic decisions about pricing and services. On average, Revenue Managers make $86,000-$128,000 in Virginia.
Portfolio Management Directors lead the change in an organization or business. They typically manage an immediate team of portfolio officers but can be responsible for scores of other people within the business. A Portfolio Management Director is adept at the latest portfolio management practices and also knows how to adapt to suit the culture and environment of the business. Salaries for this role can vary depending on the amount and types of portfolios you manage but typically range between $117,000 and $200,000.
While there currently aren’t any in-person classes available in Virginia, there are several online options that could be a great fit. Below are some of the top contenders for virtual classes, along with a brief description so you can get a feel for what each one offers. And remember, new classes are being created every day, so in-person classes near you could become available soon.
Noble Desktop offers this hands-on course that boasts a comprehensive understanding of stock investing, valuation, and stock movements. You will learn the essentials of valuation (such as P/E ratios and DCF analysis), financial statements, and fundamentals of stock investing while analyzing recent earnings releases and valuation multiples of companies. Focused on a sound understanding of how financial markets work rather than providing get-rich-quick trading schemes, the principles taught in this course are approved by value investors like Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham.
NYC Career Centers’ bootcamp covers common topics asked in investment banking and Financial Analyst interviews, preparing you with all the essential skills you need to succeed as a professional who specializes in building financial models. You’ll start by mastering advanced Excel functions for finance like VLOOKUP and IF statements, and then move on to review corporate finance and accounting concepts before building a valuation model on a public company. This course comes with a custom workbook and one free retake so you can revisit what you’ve learned.
Investment Risk Management
Coursera offers this quick course that focuses on how to quantify risk-to-reward using the Treynor Ratio and calculate the value at risk for an investment portfolio. A collection of pre-recorded videos will guide you through topics like introduction to risk; monthly returns and standard deviation; calculating beta, Treynor Ratio, value at risk; and graphing. To take this project-based course, it is required that you are familiar with basic financial risk management concepts, so an intermediate level of investing knowledge is recommended.
If you’re looking to offer in-person or online training to your office or team, Noble Desktop can help. They offer a variety of corporate training programs, including in social media marketing. You can order vouchers in bulk at a discount, choose which courses are available to employees, and even let your employees choose their own schedule. Plus, you can choose to have your training hosted at a location of your choosing, live online, or at Noble Desktop’s Manhattan office.
With a top-notch customizable curriculum and instructors who are experts in their industries, Noble Desktop’s corporate training is designed to cater to your business or organization’s needs. For more information or to schedule a free consultation, you can reach out to Noble Desktop at corporate@nobledesktop.com.