FX.co ★ How to upgrade your trading skills: available online courses

Most programs are still in English prepared by American and European universities and companies. Nevertheless, experts predict the growth in the number of Russian-language courses in the near future due to their relevance.

Experts highlight the pros and cons of educational programs. Among the advantages: accessibility and opportunity to choose (not only Russian but also world platforms); courses give actual and more close to reality information than can be found in textbooks. Many investors agree that such programs will help beginners get up to speed and tell them what to invest and where. Theory is theory, but, nevertheless, practice remains the basis of learning.

Foreign courses have an advantage over domestic ones, primarily in the form of content submission. The key points of financial economics and investment are presented visually with videos, dialogues, and disputes of different specialists. But, on the other hand, foreign universities often ignore the specifics of emerging capital markets when preparing their courses and this limits their use by Russian investors.

Elementary level

Let's start with a review of foreign educational programs. Stanford University, one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the US, offers a course "Value Investing: An Introduction." As a result, traders will learn how to analyze the company's financial performance, forecast their further development and find undervalued assets. The course is designed for 10 weeks at a cost of $695. The course is designed for up to 65 people at a time.

The University of Geneva together with the UBS Swiss bank has prepared several online investment programs: "Securing Investment Returns in the Long Run," "Meeting Investors' Goals." The duration of most of these courses is four weeks (from one to three hours per week). In addition to university professors, traders are lectured by UBS experts, for example, the head of the European investment division, Themis Themistocleous. The course is hosted on Coursera where users can pay $49 for a monthly subscription.

The French business school HEC Paris together with practicing investors prepared the program "Investment Management in an Evolving and Volatile World."

Courses for novice investors were created by the University of Illinois: "Investments I: Fundamentals of Performance Evaluation" and "Investments II: Lessons and Applications for Investors".

Among the Russian-language programs on investing, it is worth highlighting "Financial Instruments for a Private Investor", developed by the Higher School of Economics. The program includes the following courses: "Personal finance management", "Investments in stocks", and "Portfolio investments: active and passive strategies". They are very popular, because they take into account local specifics more than foreign ones.

Emerging markets are described in a course called "Trading Strategies in Emerging Markets" prepared by the Indian School of Business (ISB). It can also be found on Coursera.

Advanced level

Now, online courses more often contain the information not about traditional directions for investment but about new areas or new methods and tools. For example, you can find programs on cryptocurrencies (the course "Cryptocurrency Fundamentals: Buy, Sell Trade Cryptocurrency"), and quantum trading (when investment decisions are made automatically on the basis of mathematical models).

This way of investing is becoming more common. Educational programs in this area balances between financial education and computer science. Investors who are interested in this topic will like the following courses: "Machine Learning for Trading" by Georgia Institute of Technology; "Analytics of Finance" prepared by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

For venture investors, several programs on investing in startups were prepared by the South Korean University of Yonsei: "Financial Analysis For Startups", "Applying Investment Decision Rules for Startups".