Investment Analysis & Portfolio Management - Core Finance (Udemy.com)
Financial Analysis Done Right - Rigorously Analyse Investments & Manage Portfolios using Excel® & Google Sheets
Created by: Fervent #LearnWithDistinction
Last updated August 2026
What you will learn
- Calculate stock returns manually as well as on Excel and Google Sheets, using real world data obtained from free sources.
- Estimate the Expected Returns of Stocks using the Mean Method, State Contingent Weighted Probabilities, as well as Asset Pricing Models.
- Calculate the total risk, market risk, and firm specific risk of stocks from scratch, and explore how the different risks interact.
- Understand why the math works, and why equations work the way they do - even if your math is weak and if math freaks you out.
- Witness the power of diversification and how the risk of your portfolio can be lower than the individual assets that make up the portfolio!
- Measure your investment portfolio's performance by calculating portfolio returns and risks.
- Optimise your investment portfolios by maximising your returns while minimising your risk.
How it compares
Against the other 376 rated Udemy courses in Finance & Accounting on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.5 out of 5higher than 47% of them
- Reviews4,226#35 of 377 by number of reviews
- Length8 hourslonger than 66% of them
- Last updatedAugust 2026more recently than 78% of them
Course Description
Say hello to Financial Analysis done right. You'll master sophisticated investment analysis and portfolio management techniques that are rigorously grounded in academic and practitioner literature.
Explore and master powerful relationships between stock prices, returns, and risk. Quantify and measure your investment risk, from scratch.
Discover what your financial advisor should be doing to manage your portfolio - to manage your investments.
Do all of this, and a whole lot more... manually, as well as on Excel® and Google Sheets, working with real world data.
There’s no prior knowledge required. We’ll start you from the very basics, and build you to a financial analysis PRO thanks to:
6 SECTIONS TO MASTERY (plus, all future updates included).
Introduction: Understanding Investment Security Relationships & Estimating Returns
Understanding powerful relationships between risk, return, and price.
Intuitively explore the baseline fundamental law of Financial Analysis - The Law of One Price.
Calculating stock returns for dividend and non-dividend paying stocks, manually.
Downloading and working with real world data, and estimating stock returns on Excel® / Google Sheets.
Estimating Expected Returns
Estimating expected returns using the average (mean) method.
Estimating expected returns using 'state contingent weighted probabilities'.
Estimating expected returns using Asset Pricing Models including the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM).
You'll learn each approach theoretically AND practically, ensuring you fully understand why the formulas work the way they do, and that you're able to download relevant data and conduct the initial financial analysis by computing expected returns for any stock you want.
Understanding and Measuring Risk and Relationships
Estimating the total risk of a stock.
Estimating the market risk of a stock.
As a by-product of learning to measure the market risk, you'll also learn how to quantity the relationships between securities - something that will be a focal theme of portfolio management and investment / financial analysis.
As with the expected returns, you'll learn to measure risk manually as well as on Excel® / Google Sheets. Thanks to a solid understanding of why the equations work the way they do, you'll see how Google Sheets can get things wrong, and what you can do to make sure you conduct financial analysis without incorrect / inaccurate estimates.
Measuring Portfolio Risk and Return
Estimating the return of a 2 asset and multi-asset portfolio.
Measuring the risk of a 2 asset and multi-asset portfolio.
Discover the 3 factors that influence / impact portfolio risk - 1 of which is more important than the other two combined!
Exploring Diversification & Optimisation
Risk reduction by diversification.
Exploring Optimal Diversification - Number of Securities to Hold
Optimising portfolio weights to achieve a target expected return.
Minimising your portfolio risk (mathematically) using robust financial analysis techniques.
Decomposing Diversification
Investigate and explore why, fundamentally, diversification works for financial analysis / investment analysis.
Rethink the way you measure the relationships between securities for financial analysis by extending the current measure.
Explore precisely how and why the most important factor of risk influences / impacts portfolio risk.
DESIGNED FOR DISTINCTION
We've used the same tried and tested, proven to work teaching techniques that've helped our clients ace their exams and become chartered certified accountants, get hired by the most renowned investment banks in the world, and indeed, manage their own portfolios. Here's how we'll help you master financial analysis and turn you into an Investment Analysis & Portfolio Management PRO:
A Solid Foundation
You’ll gain a solid foundation of the core fundamentals that drive the entire investment analysis and portfolio management process. These fundamentals are the essence of financial analysis done right.
Example Walkthroughs
Every major concept is taught with example question walkthroughs, so you can literally see how we analyse investments and conduct rigorous financial analysis, one step at a time.
Loads of Practice Questions
Apply what you learn immediately with 150+ practice questions, all with impeccably detailed solutions.
Cheat Sheets & Resources
Mathematical proofs, one page cheat sheets, workable Excel® & Google Sheet spreadsheets – all included.
Say goodbye to information overload.
Engage with carefully thought out, clutter-free, and engaging study materials that focus on the 20% finance fundamentals that drive 80% of the results.
Easily follow through complex financial analysis concepts with great visuals that don’t overdo it.
Explore byte-sized lectures that don’t cut corners – so you receive the right amount of information which will hold you in good stead wherever you go, whatever you move on to do.
Watch your confidence grow.
Apply what you learn immediately in example question walkthroughs and progressively challenging quizzes with impeccably detailed solutions.
Engage with over 150 questions ranging from simple true and false ones to more complex problems that take you outside your comfort zone.
Questions are relevant for Ivy League / Russell Group University students studying any core Finance / Financial Analysis course, as well as professionals studying for the ICAEW CFAB, ACA, ACCA, and CFA qualifications.
All questions designed in-house, by Russell Group Distinction Tutors.
Finally understand why the math works.
Learn why we divide some variables by something, and multiply other variables by something else. Get past the painful approach of memorising countless equations. Not only will we rip apart each equation one variable at a time, we’ll also give you mathematical proofs that show the equation’s logic one step at a time. Save yourself time and effort by understanding why the equation works the way it does. Then go out and create your own equations, and redefine the way you conduct your own financial analysis.
Instructor Details
- 4.5 Rating
4,226 Reviews
Fervent #LearnWithDistinction
Fervent empowers you to master complex concepts in Finance and Accounting with distinction.
Explore student-centric courses that help you gain a genuine understanding of the intricacies of Finance and Accounting.
Learn by relying on the data, math, and logic exclusively. Not subjective opinions.
As a standard, Fervent's courses come with:
- Carefully thought out, clutter-free HD video lessons that break the subject down to its core
- Quizzes to help you test your understanding and track your progress
- Assignments that take you outside your comfort zone.
Enroll now and start to Learn with Distinction.
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Reviews
By Sreetama Maitra on 5/9/2026
As a student of statistics, I am truly fascinated by the profound applications of statistical concepts in the world of finance. This course offered an insightful blend of theory and practical relevance, making the learning experience both intellectually stimulating and highly engaging.
By Matteo Ferrando on 11/20/2025
Informative and super useful. After experimenting with those various Google Sheets tricks, I've implemented my own Investment Plan and already started a "Playground" where I can observe my decisions based on the analytics data. I loved this course. Thank you so much
By Marc Schwärzli on 3/11/2025
The course is very well structured and teaches the content from the scratch to a high level. The presenter shows very goog knowledge about the subject. The slides are highly informative and relevant and reduce content to the necessary, which supports the learning progress. Quizzes and assignments help to establish the progress and make the course more practical. Absolvents are able to analyze real world data. I wish there would be more courses like this one.
By Raghav Gupta on 7/17/2024
The structure, clarity, and depth with which the topics are explained, is absolutely incredible. I had purchased this course earlier but delayed starting it until the past month, and now I can confidently say that I’m so glad I finally took the plunge. The way the complex concepts are broken down and made accessible was truly impressive. The teaching felt like a full 360-degree experience, not just in terms of content but also in shaping how we think critically about investment analysis and portfolio management.
By Derek Burks on 12/2/2023
The course overall was excellent, well presented however I was overwhelmed with the mathematical equations (not a born maths lover), having said that the equations were explained well. The reason why it did not get the 5th star because I sent an email about the MS solver which I could not get it to work in my spreadsheet, I am still waiting a response Derek Burks
By Mradul Agarwal on 1/12/2021
So, basically, I am good with calculations, and that's why I find this a little bit easy when compared to other students. This is a very detailed course. Just wanted to know is there any huge difference when doing it in excel or python. Should I buy the python one too ?
By Disha Malay Vaishnav on 11/21/2020
The way you explain i understood and the quiz is also helpfull.
By Samuel Horgan on 11/14/2020
Good course to take if a complete beginner or a student who is looking to supplement more academically taught finance modules with plenty of practical application
By Alberto Serra on 11/9/2020
I really enjoyed this course, instructor Vash often replied to me when I asked for assistance. But there is one thing that I did not like, in the verification tests at the end of the lesson, especially in the calculation ones, instead of giving the answer with the elaboration there was a link to the lecture only. I found this a weakness in the course.
By Batuhan Gur on 11/7/2020
Learning by heart
By Carlos Helder on 11/7/2020
100% ..
By Sameer Sukumaran on 11/7/2020
Amazing, Includes also the derivation of the formulas. Step by step guide for analysis along with real world data.
Quality Score
No CourseDuck member has rated this course yet. Taken it? Give each part a thumbs up or down.
Overall Score : 90 / 100









