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UdemyFinance & AccountingPaid courseBeginner level

Financial Derivatives Basics (Udemy.com)

The Course is structured to help students understand structure of Derivatives instruments

4.5
1,104 reviews

Created by: CFINACC Trusted Mentor in the Field of Finance & Accounting

Last updated May 2019

Our take

Based on the ratings of 1,104 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in May 2019. No course pays to be reviewed.

A free, 70 minute primer on what derivatives are and how forwards, futures, options, swaps and credit default swaps work. It is 18 short lectures across three sections, and the syllabus shows the bulk of the time goes to forwards and futures. The pitch is CFA Level 1 candidates and university finance students who need the vocabulary before tackling pricing. Reviewers confirm that is the right audience: people brushing up on basics call it a good refresher, and complete beginners say it starts from scratch. Nobody should expect valuation math or trading strategy here.

The praise is consistent: the CFINACC instructor uses plain language, avoids jargon and moves at a slow, steady pace, which even a 20 year FX veteran called one of the best basic level derivatives courses they had taken. The complaints are just as consistent. Three star reviewers say it stays theoretical, with few worked examples; one had to use other sources to grasp the concepts, and another wanted more on what a short position is. Production is the other sore point. Audio is rough, the video could look more professional, and one two star review is about a smoke detector beeping in the background. One listener needed time to adjust to the accent.

Value is hard to argue with since it costs nothing and takes an evening. The courses it sits beside are full finance programs covering accounting, valuation, modeling or Python, so this one is a narrow warm up rather than a rival. The content dates from 2019 and has not been touched since, though derivatives basics age slowly. Take it if you want the terminology before a CFA reading or a textbook chapter, and skip it if you need pricing models or practice problems.

Best forCFA Level 1 candidates and finance students who need the derivatives vocabulary before the pricing chapters.
Skip it ifYou want valuation math, worked pricing examples or anything on trading strategy; this stops at definitions.

Pros

  • Every concept explained in plain language with no jargon, according to several five star reviews.
  • Free, and only 70 minutes across 18 lectures, so it fits in one evening.
  • Slow, clear delivery; beginners and a 20 year FX professional alike say it is well explained.
  • Forwards and futures get the most time, 35 minutes, with examples that build on earlier lectures.

Cons

  • Audio and video could be better; one two star review is entirely about a smoke detector beeping in the background.
  • Theory only, with few worked examples; some students needed other sources to fill gaps.
  • Not updated since May 2019, and there are no quizzes or practice questions.
The teacher has explained every concept in very simple language, and that's the beauty of this course. No jargon, and straight to the point.
Amey K, a student

Genuinely beginner friendly, but the requirements assume basic maths and some finance fundamentals first.

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What you will learn

  • Derivative Markets and Instruments, forwards, futures, swap and options.

Course content

3 sections · 18 lectures · 1.2 hours of video

  1. 1Introduction 1 free preview6 lectures · 16 min
  2. 2Forwards and Futures8 lectures · 35 min
  3. 3CDS, Options and Swaps4 lectures · 20 min

Who it is for

The instructor says it suits

  • Finance Students
  • CFA Students

What you need before you start

  • Basic Mathematics and Fundamentals of Finance.

How it compares

Against the other 376 rated Udemy courses in Finance & Accounting on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.5 out of 5higher than 47% of them
  • Reviews1,104#112 of 377 by number of reviews
  • Length1.2 hoursshorter than 91% of them
  • Last updatedMay 2019earlier than 93% of them

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Course Description

What you will learn?

  • Types of Derivative Instruments and markets

  • Definitions and terminologies

Requirements

  • None

Description

If you are a beginner and don’t know much about Financial Derivatives. Then you have come to the right place as I have covered all the concepts from scratch.

Why you should take this course? What value it will add?

Let me first discuss some problems and issues that students encounter when they study Financial derivatives.

  • First, Financial derivatives is one of the complexed courses in Finance, as the students need to have a strong knowledge about fundamentals of Finance to understand the pricing and valuation of financial derivatives instruments.

  • Second, one concept leads to another, so students find it difficult to understand linkages between various interlinked concepts.

  • Third, many of the concepts covered in Financial derivatives are difficult to relate to real life examples as compared to the other subjects in Finance such as Corporate Finance or Financial Reporting and Analysis.

I have tried to address the above mentioned issues

  • By adding complementary lectures to explain fundamentals of finance which are relevant to the topics covered in the Financial derivatives

  • I have divided the concepts into various parts and explained each part separately and also how all components are related to one another

  • I have included examples and focused on relating a concept to a situation. This will help students to visualize, which in turn help them to retain the concepts

  • Used plain language

This course is divided into three sections

  • Introduction

  • Forward & Futures

  • CDS, Options and SWAPs

I will advise you to watch the videos in the manner that they are listed as videos in the later sections contain examples explained in the earlier videos.

Who this course is for

  • This course is for CFA Level 1 Candidates

  • This course is for students who are interested in studying Financial derivatives at University level programs
Read More Beginner Beginner Level product length iconTime: 1.2h

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Instructor Details

CFINACC Trusted Mentor in the Field of Finance & Accounting

CFINACC aims to positively impact millions of students around the world using online platforms by providing access to a high quality teaching material on finance, accounting and related disciplines.

The founder of CFINACC has over ten years of experience in teaching and mentoring Finance Professionals and Students and professional experience in Corporate Finance and Portfolio Management. 

Read More

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Reviews

4.5

1,104 ratings on Udemy

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By Amey K on 2/6/2025

The teacher has explained every concept in very simple language, and that's the beauty of this course. No jargon, and straight to the point. Was a good refresher course for me on basics!

By Rav Ram on 4/3/2024

As a Fintech professional with 20 years working in the FX markets, this is one of the best financial derivatives basic level courses I have taken. It is very good, as explained very well. It gets to the point with no unnecessary junk.

By Ketan Kulkarni on 10/6/2021

The lecturer is teaching from the very basics and with utmost clarity. I am thankful to udemy for offering this course for free, because this is a really paid worth course and very helpful for someone who doesn't know anything and has started learning it from scratch.

By Azim Iqbal Shaikh on 9/25/2021

The explanation method is quite good but it can be better that is why i am giving 3 star but over all experience is good

By Vishal Vishnu M on 2/7/2021

Content is well explained! Audio could be improved, but the course is offered for free and will definitely help understand basics! I hope we have few more courses from this teacher to cover the basics of Mutual funds, hedge funds, equity and bonds as well!

By Jefferson Bien-Aime on 6/8/2020

This is above my expectation! This is one of the best course I ever had regarding derivatives. I didn't have any knowledge on this. Now I understand everything. One suggestion! Can you make a detailed map of all types of derivatives and all types of underlying assets? This will be very helpful for all newbies.

By Mpumelelo Maphalala on 5/25/2020

Lovely course, poorly presented. Lacked a lot of information. Had to use other sources to grasp concepts.

By Adeyemi Oluwaseun on 4/9/2020

I enjoyed this course. It has opened me up to understanding financial derivatives, what they are, what they are used for, and the dimensions of the contract.

By Amit Agrawal on 3/30/2020

Overall theory and practical examples were on point. Got a thorough knowledge of Derivatives. I would be expecting more advance online courses on this topic/subject.

By Rohit Sharma on 6/25/2019

Explanation of different contracts types with an example made it easy to follow the course. I want to understand the different contract types and this course really helped me.

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Quality Score

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Overall Score : 90 / 100

Financial Derivatives Basics
Visit course on Udemy Write a review
  • Video Duration: icon 1.2h
  • Price: Free
  • Provider: icon Udemy
  • Updated: icon May 2019
  • Level: Beginner Beginner
  • Language: icon English
  • Certificate: icon No
  • Lectures:18 in 3 sections
  • Students:10,400
  • Subtitles:1 language

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