Change is Good

We just entered our 15th year and a lot has changed since many of you worked with us or attended one of our training sessions. We want to take this opportunity to share some updates and to introduce our newsletter.

To start, we are very pleased to announce that we were recently named one of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies in the 28th annual PROFIT 500 ranking. This recognition is a testament to the strength of our growing team, our passion for financial modeling and the loyalty of our clients. 
 

What’s Changed?

1. Our Mandate
   We now focus on three pillars within the world of financial modeling: Training, Consulting and Accreditation
    
   1. Training - we have a number of new courses, including:
      • Mining Modeling
      • Project Finance Modeling
      • VBA Macros, and more
      • See our full list of courses by clicking here
         
   2. Consulting 
      • We provide a wide range of financial modeling consulting services to banks, large companies, pension funds and insurance companies
      • Our services include model rebuilds, reviews, improvements and automation
      • Click here for more information on our consulting practice
         
   3. Accreditation 
      • Our Financial Modeling Accreditation Program (“FinMAP”) is off to a great start
      • Our goal is for FinMAP to become the gold standard in measuring modeling skills
      • To date, 21 people have passed the challenging exam and achieved the Accredited Financial Modeler (AFM) status
      • The next exam is scheduled for November 5, 2016 in Toronto
      • Click here for more information on FinMAP
         
2. Our Team
   We have grown to a team of 12 (plus 3 TAs) and we continue to look for more good people. In fact, we are currently looking for a full-time Director of Marketing. If you know anyone great who might be interested, please let us know.
    
3. Our Location
   We recently moved into new offices at 56 Temperance Street in downtown Toronto, just north of First Canadian Place. Stop by if you’re in the neighborhood!

What hasn’t changed is our commitment to excellence in the field of financial modeling.

What you can expect from our newsletter

Our plan is to send out a thoughtful newsletter every couple months with great content and lots of helpful modeling ideas. We promise not to bombard you on a weekly basis.

What’s in a name? We are actually still looking for a great name for our newsletter so we thought we would turn it into a contest. If you have a clever idea, please e-mail any of us or send your idea to our general mailbox at info@MarqueeGroup.ca. We have a prize package for the winning submission.

What you can expect in the newsletter:

• Excel tips and keyboard shortcuts
• Modeling ideas on efficiency tools and best practices
• Finance articles that are relevant for corporate finance professionals
• Course profiles on some of our newer courses
• A Q&A section to respond to questions from our readers
• A listing of upcoming public courses and accreditation exam dates

Our mission is to be the “go-to” resource and thought leader in the field of financial modeling. If you know someone who might be interested in receiving the newsletter, they can click here to add themselves to our distribution list.

We hope you enjoy this inaugural newsletter and we look forward to your feedback.

Ian Schnoor, Principal and Founder
 

Keyboard Shortcut – The Double F2 Key

Everybody (well, almost everybody) knows that pressing the F2 key in Excel activates the “editing” mode for the active cell – the cursor goes into the cell so that you can change the contents and the various cell references in that formula turn different colours.

What many people don’t know, is that there are actually two modes for the F2 key, and it’s critical to understand both modes in order to use the keyboard quickly and effectively.

Click here to read more

Finance Article – Valuation Using Growth Adjusted Multiples

Using comparable trading multiples is a common way to value a company or an asset. In an efficient market, it makes sense that investors should be willing to pay roughly the same amount (per dollar of cash flow or earnings, etc.) for two similar companies. But relying too much on multiples can be problematic if we just use them at face value without understanding what information is really embedded. 

Click here to read more

Course Profile – Mining Financial Modeling

Excel can help you find gold. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but Marquee’s mining course has been taught at some of the world’s major mining companies to rave reviews. The course is a compilation of modeling best practices with mining industry insights.

The course can be delivered as a one, two or three-day program. The content is applicable for anyone at a mining company or in a capital markets role who analyzes and evaluates mining assets and companies.

The next open enrollment sessions are on November 10th as a one-day offering, and on Nov. 30/Dec. 1 as a two-day offering. Check the calendar page of our website for more information. 

Please contact Duncan McKeen at Duncan.Mckeen@MarqueeGroup.ca if you have any questions.

Upcoming Open Enrollment Events

October Training Courses

Oct 13, Toronto, ON 
Building a Financial Model (of a Company)
Register Now

Oct 19, Markam, ON
Building a Financial Model (of a Company)
Register Now

Oct 19, Toronto, ON
Data Manipulation with Excel – Part 1
Register Now

Oct 20, Toronto, ON
Data Manipulation with Excel – Part 2
Register Now

Next Accreditation Exam

Nov 5, Toronto, ON
Register Now

For a complete list of all upcoming public courses, click here.