Artikelomschrijving

Basis Concepts in Finance
The management of any corporation has a task and a mission to create value for all parties involved in that corporation, its stakeholders. Within this group, it is in particular the suppliers of capital who are of vital importance. They are the shareholders and the providers of interest-bearing loans. Without their capital and their collaboration a corporation cannot exist. Still, they will only offer support if they expect a sufficient rate of return on their invested capital.

For this reason the central objective in financial management is to enlarge a company’s market value for its capital providers while taking into account the interests of other parties involved. Financial managers, however, can only live up to this promise if they are familiar with the way in which this market value is determined and with the elements that play a role in this valuation process.

This book presents a clear description of the fundamentals of Finance, supported by illustrative examples. It offers everyone involved in the management of a company an opportunity to become a better discussion partner for financial experts, and it ultimately offers them a solid basis to become financial experts themselves.

Special Topics in Finance
In our first book Basic Concepts in Finance, we presented the fundamentals of finance, supported by illustrative examples. However, a number of more complicated aspects of finance were left undiscussed. In this book, Special Topics in Finance, we take a closer look at these special topics and show readers how to think smart about these numbers.

The following areas are covered:
Chapter 1: Risk and Return and Cost of Capital
Chapter 2: Efficiency of Markets
Chapter 3: Capital Structure and Limits on Debt
Chapter 4: Basic Concepts of Options
Chapter 5: Valuation Models for Options
Chapter 6: Mergers

Although these topics are considered more complicated and comprise more theories than those discussed in our first book, we describe them in the same way, using clear explanations and examples. Those new to the field of finance will find material that is easily accessible and that offers them the right foundations to start communicating about advanced and important topics in finance. They will also see that this book provides them with the most central intuitions of finance that are useful for (financial) managers as well as for investors.