The FT Guides – serie

‘Understanding valuation is relevant to everyone with an ambition in business. For us a Cevian Capital it is an absolutely critical skill. This book will take you there faster than any other in the field.’

Christer Gardell

Former Partner McKinsey, Managing Partner and co-founder of Cevian Capital

‘A handy, accessible and well-written guide to valuation. The authors manage to capture the reader with high-level synthesis as well as more detailed insights in a great way.’

Anna Storakers

Head of Group Strategy & Corporate Development, Nordea Bank AB, formerly with Goldman Sachs & Co and McKinsey & Co

”If you can envision the future value of a company you are a winner. Make this comprehensive and diligent book on corporate valuation your companion pursuing transactions and you will succeed.”

Hans Otterling,

Founding Partner, CEO Northzone Capital

“Both in my previous position as an investment banker and today as an investor in high growth technology companies, corporate valuation has been a most critical subject. The Financial Times guide to Valuationserves as the perfect introduction to the subject and I recommend it to entrepreneurs as well as fellow private investors."

Carl Palmstierna, former Partner Goldman Sachs, Business Angel

‘Not only will Financial Times Guide to Corporate Valuation provide you with the basic understanding of corporate valuation, it also gives you an interesting insight into non-operational challenges that companies will face. And it does it all in an unexpectedly efficient and reader friendly manner. If you want to learn the basics and only have a few hours to spare, invest them into reading this book!’

Daniel Hummel

Head of Corporate Finance, Swedbank

‘In this highly accessible and reliable introduction to valuation, Messieurs Frykman and Tolleryd have succeeded in selecting only the essential building blocks in a topic that can otherwise be difficult to navigate. Indeed a guide, this book will prove handy to many of us and a breakthrough to some.’

Per Hedberg, Academic Director Stockholm School of Economics Russia

‘This book provides an accessible and informative entry point to the vast topic of valuation. The book covers mechanics as well as how value is linked to intangibles, growth opportunities and industry structure, all the way providing clear examples of every key idea. The authors understand value: they know what is useful, what is practical and what is critical, and give any reader great guidance to the challenge of getting values right.’ 

Bo Becker Assistant Professor Harvard Business School

"I read Frykman & Tolleryds book on Corporate Valuation the first time in the late 90's - the book has not only thought me how to value investments, but also how important it is to focus on long term cashflow when building and leading an organization"

Mikael Schiller

Owner, Chairman, Acne Studios

‘The easy, no-nonsense approach to corporate valuation.’ 

Fiona McGuire, Corporate Finance Director FGS

Understanding corporate valuation is crucial for all business people in today’s corporate world.  No other measure can indicate as completely the current status as well as the future prospects of a company. 

The Financial Times Guide to Corporate Valuation is a quic

From bestselling author Glen Arnold, this is a jargon-busting book that describes how financial markets work, where they are located and how they impact on everyday life. It assumes no specialised prior knowledge of finance theory and provides an authoritative and comprehensive run-down of the workings of the modern financial system.

Using real world examples from media such as the Financial Times, Arnold gives an international perspective on the financial markets with frequent comparisons in the workings of major financial centres such as the Bank of England and the City, the Federal Reserve System and Wall Street, the Japanese Central Bank, the European Central Bank and IMF and World Bank.

Learn how to evaluate any investment fund before deciding where to place your money so you can ensure you generate more wealth and protect your cash.

This valuable guide will help you make the right investment decisions by:

- Explaining the procedures that should be followed before investing money anywhere.

- Helping you cut through marketing language to get a real sense of how risky a company’s strategy may be.

- Showing you what questions to ask of investment fund managers so you’re more comfortable investing in a company.

- Showing you how to recognise the warning signs of risky investments.

This book will also help you identify companies who consistently deliver high returns, thereby allowing you to generate more wealth by investing in successful, and stable, funds.

The Financial Times Guide to Options, will introduce you to the instruments and markets of options, giving you the confidence to trade successfully. Options are explained in real-life terminology, using every-day examples and accessible language. Introducing three key options markets – stocks, bonds and commodities, the book explains options contracts from straight vanilla options to strangles and butterflies and covers the fundamentals of options pricing and trading   

Originally published as Options Plain and Simple , this new edition includes:

Like all investment strategies, options offer potential return while incurring potential risk. The advantage of options trading is that risk can be managed to a greater degree than with outright buying or selling.

The Financial Times Guide to Options is a straightforward and practical introduction to the fundamentals of options. It includes only what is essential to basic understanding and presents options theory in conventional terms, with a minimum of jargon. This thorough guide will give you a basis from which to trade most of the options listed on most of the major exchanges.  The Financial Times Guide to Options includes:

The Financial Times Guide to How the Stock Market Really Works is an introduction to the complex world of the financial markets. Whether you are new to investing, or already have a share portfolio, this is an intelligent guidebook will guide you safely through the often confusing world of investing. Written especially for the ordinary investor, it will provide you with the key strategies you need to make money on the stock market.

An introduction to the fast growing $1.5 billion foreign exchange trading marketplace, showing you how the markets work, how to trade them successfully and how to mitigate risk.

The Financial Times Guide to Foreign Exchange Tradingis the authoritative primer, the first port of call for anyone interested in foreign exchange trading and wants to know what it is all about before taking the plunge.

Gives you the confidence to ask the right business questions, make the correct finance decisions and competently speak the language of commerce to your colleagues, managers, customers and stakeholders.

The Financial Times Guide to Finance for Non-Financial Managers will show you how to transform seemingly complex financial information and statistics into data that makes sense. And into data that you’ll feel confident talking about. You’ll learn the language of finance, which will help you better formulate decisions on a day-to-day basis. The book will also help you identify the warning signals and understand key performance indications and ratios. You’ll learn how to make better financial decisions, identify ways to increase profits and have increased confidence in approaching capital projects and making sound business decisions.

The critical knowledge you need to plan, write and deliver your next presentation with maximum impact. Written by a co-founder of the Professional Speaking Association, this book focuses on getting you the results you need from your presentation, whether you are selling a product or service, a proposed change or even your own skills and abilities. It will show you how to persuade your audience by being relevant, clear, engaging and memorable.

FINANCIAL TIMES ESSENTIAL GUIDES: THE KNOW-HOW YOU NEED TO GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT

With over 650 tips, tactics, techniques and thought provoking business questions, The Financial Times Guide to New Business Development is the authoritative, down-to-earth guide to attracting more customers and clients, getting them to pay the prices you want and influencing them to recommend others to buy from you as well.

By the time you have read and digested the 650+ tips, tools, techniques and strategic questions in this book you will have the answers to all of these questions. You will also know what to do to get bigger and better results.

“I am 100% confident that you will find the book engaging, provocative and informative and that, if you follow the steps, you will automatically experience massive improvements in your business development results.” – Ian Cooper

Shortlisted for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship category in the 2012 Chartered Management Institute's Management Book of the Year Awards.

Whether you are writing a proposal, a report, a presentation or an email, this book will show you how to write to persuade staff, colleagues, board directors and customers. The Financial Times Essential Guide to Business Writing demonstrates how your choice of language can influence your reader. It gives you clear examples to show you the dos and don'ts of successful business writing and essential tips that are proven to make your writing more effective.

It shows you how to write for different audiences and in different media using style, structure and the psychology of language to your advantage. It also gives you the writing secrets used by the world's best advertising writers, which you can use to great effect in your own business writing.

Gain the knowledge and confidence you need to build and manage budgets and forecast financial information.

This book demystifies budgets and forecasts, providing simple explanations and clear examples. It includes integrated checklists, goals and milestones, to ensure you are on target to achieve the best results.

Part of The Financial Times Essential Guides series: Task-focused and results-orientated, the essential guides are for every manager who wants to move their skills beyond the ordinary to the best.

The tools and ideas to help you lead with confidence and achieve better results through your team.

This book provides all the tools and skills to help you be more effective in leading your team and achieving higher levels of performance. It focuses on three key elements: you as the leader, the principles of team working and team building, and getting individuals to contribute and perform.

As well as identifying obstacles and pitfalls, it assists you in improving your skills and coaches you to work out what you could be doing better.

‘One of the best books on stock market investing that I’ve ever read.’

Christopher Gilchrist, Editor, The IRS Report

‘Lucid and perceptive – any intelligent person can follow this guide and be on equal terms or better with the best professional money managers.’

Dr Peter Johnson, Saïd Business School, Oxford University

Is your investment strategy right for you?

Could you be making more money?

The Financial Times Guide to Selecting Shares that Perform helps you identify the approach to buying and selling shares that is best suited to you. It will help you to align your strategy based on the time and money you have available, taking into account your overall objectives and your attitudes to risk and loss.

In this thoroughly updated fifth edition of their bestselling investment classic, Richard Koch and Leo Gough explain 10 distinctive and proven investment techniques for you to choose from. They describe the different tactics needed to succeed in today’s market conditions and show you how it can be fun and profitable to try to beat the stock market.

The Financial Times Guide to Selecting Shares that Perform gives you:

‘Practical, concise and full of tips that every manager needs to know, The Financial Times Guide to Management provides a powerful guide for leaders at every level.’

Arianna Huffington, Chairman, President and Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post Media Group

‘This is clear, encouraging and packed with good sense – just like its author. A winner.’

‘Amidst the myriad of books on leadership, this guide presents an unusually concrete, comprehensive and practical set of principles and learnings for managers at every level.’

John Pepper, Former CEO & Chairman P&G; Former Chairman Walt Disney

From motivating a team and developing star talent to controlling budgets and fostering innovation, The Financial Times Guide to Management is your authoritative guide to becoming an effective manager.

Full of practical tips and advice, this defi nitive handbook offers

solutions to the everyday challenges of:

There is also on-the-ground advice from the executive frontline,

with insights from leaders including Paul Polman (CEO, Unilever),

Steve Marshall (Chairman, Balfour Beatty) and Cilla Snowball

(Chairman and CEO, AMV BBDO).

Whether you’re a new team leader or an experienced director,

this book contains everything you need to know to become an

outstanding manager.

Want to take your company to the next level?  You need a roadmap, a strategy.  Preferably one that is simple, workable and saleable.  This book provides you with just that.  It sets out a straightforward strategy development process, the ‘Strategy Pyramid’, and guides you through it.  It uses a lively central case study throughout, as well as drawing on examples of how real businesses have developed winning strategies.  Whether you are intent on growing your business, or setting out on your start-up, this book offers an uncomplicated, practical and readable guide on how to get the strategy you need for your business to succeed.

It offers sound advice on the following areas:

The FT Essential Guide to Developing a Business Strategy will help businesses of all sizes to chart and realise their growth ambitions.

‘A great, practical guide to all aspects of networking – stuffed with lots of quick and easy tips to help you leverage the power of your network.’

Ivan Misner, NY Times bestselling author and founder of BNI and Referral Institute

'This practical and easy-to-read book will quickly get you the results you need from your network.'Charlie Lawson, BNI UK and Ireland national director

‘A “must read” for anyone wanting to use the power of face-to-face AND online networking to generate career and business success.’

Andy Lopata, author of Recommended and And Death Came Third

Up to 80 per cent of opportunities come from people who already know you, so the more people you know, the more chance you have of winning the new business or career you want.

The Financial Times Guide to Business Networking is your definitive introduction to a joined-up networking strategy that really works. This award-winning book has now been fully updated to include new chapters on generating referrals and boosting your confidence when networking, as well as the latest advice on social networking sites. 

The Financial Times Guide to Wealth Management is your comprehensive guide to achieving financial security and stability by planning, preserving and enhancing your wealth. As well as being fully updated throughout, it includes five new chapters on socially responsible and impact investing; property, land and woodlands; single premium investment bonds; non-trust structures and young people and money.

Whether you’re a beginner wanting an introduction to financial planning or an experienced investor looking to pass your wealth on to others, this is the book for you.  Drawing on his 25 years’ experience as a financial adviser to successful families, and written in clear and concise language, Jason Butler will give you both the understanding and confidence you need to make successful financial decisions, enabling you to:

- Define your life goals and financial personality so that you can build an effective wealth plan

- Navigate the maze of investment options and choose the best one for your needs

- Understand when and how to get professional help which delivers value

- Clarify the need for and role of insurance, tax structures, pensions and trusts

- Develop a wealth succession plan which matches your values and preferences

One of the most important financial plans you can have is saving and investing for your retirement. Quite simply, the success of this plan determines whether you’re going to live comfortably after you stop working.

The Financial Times Guide to Saving and Investing for Retirement will lead you through a bewildering maze of financial tools and provide advice on crucial investment decisions. It provides everything you need to know about how to save and invest so that you can successfully plan for your retirement. It is packed with invaluable information on taxes, ISAs, pensions, investing across different assets and buying property.

The Financial Times Guide to Saving and Investing for Retirement will help you:

‘A comprehensive framework for savings, investment and consumption in the real world - a must read for every individual.’

Prof. Narayan Y. Naik, Professor of Finance & Co-Head of Finance Department, London Business School

'Yoram Lustig cuts through the noise to give you the practitioner’s insight on developing and implementing a robust financial plan'

Nick Bartlett, CFA, Director of Education, CFA UK

‘Anyone whether they are 20, 60 or 80 should read this book. It will make retirement much more financially enjoyable.’

Lawrence Gosling, Founding Editor of Investment Week and Group Editorial Director of Incisive Media, which is the publisher of Professional Pensions

How does a business differentiate itself through the customer experience and win exemplary levels of customer advocacy and love?

Customer  Experience  is  a  hot  topic  in  business  circles,  for  good  reason,  managing  the  customer experience has become increasingly complex, yet also essential for businesses to compete and grow.  Whilst in no way trying to diminish the importance of this work, there is an elephant in the room called differentiation. This is where the Brand takes centre stage.

In this book, you'll discover what is meant by the Branded Customer Experience, why it’s so important today, some of the common hurdles in executing a brand experience strategy, compelling examples from companies that are getting it right, and simple steps that companies can start taking today to deliver a customer experience that is not only efficient, but reflects (and never loses sight of) what is distinctive and desirable about the brand.

Making your capital work hard has never been more important than it is today. Investment trusts, often over looked as an investing vehicle, are a key tool in getting better returns on your money.

The Financial Times Guide to Investment Trusts is your concise and jargon free introduction to one of the City’s best kept secrets. It explains how investment trusts differ from unit trusts and OEICs and explores the pros and cons of investment trusts including their superior performance. It also helps you identify your investment objectives, discusses the basic principles of successful investing, and how to run a trust portfolio.

Whether you are a novice DIY investor or have many years’ experience and wish to question the experts; the FT Guide to Investment Trusts:

·    Provides a detailed overview of what investment trusts are and how they differ from other funds

·    Examines the factors which help to explain the better performance of trusts – including cheaper fees, discounts and gearing

·    Analyses the stepping stones to successful investing

·    Shows you how to construct and monitor a trust portfolio

·    Highlights the workings of two live and benchmarked portfolios which John has been sharing with Investor Chronicle readers over the years.

87% of companies state I&D is a value or priority area for them, but only 10% of I&D programmes are fully mature . This is even though research shows that organisations with an inclusive culture perform better, are more innovative and agile, and achieve better business outcomes.

Written by a respected I&D expert, The FT Guide to Inclusion and Diversity shows you everything you need to know about how to create and implement a I&D strategy that will have a positive impact on people performance and business results.

This book gives you a step-by-step guide to the tools, theory and the latest new thinking you need to design a compelling I&D strategy for your organisation. Clear, compelling and comprehensive, this book is designed for leaders and executives to ensure they can bring talented people together from different backgrounds and thinking, creating greater success and benefits to business performance and profitability.

This book takes you through a fair and equal approach developed specifically for senior business leaders. It will help you:

The Financial Times Guide to High Impact Negotiation provides a comprehensive and strategic roadmap to the whole negotiation process from preparation to execution. Follow the practical steps to complete negotiation successfully, build relationships and finalise your deal.

Whether you’re about to start your own business or have already taken the plunge and want to keep everything on track, make sure you have a copy of The Financial Times Guide to Business Start Up on your shelf. Regularly updated, this edition covers all the latest legal and financial changes you need to be aware of following the Budget.

All you need to know to make your start up a success.

Doing business in a sustainable way is more important than ever. But for many leaders, it can be difficult to understand and apply in practice. It is not always clear what sustainability means for your business or how to take the right steps. This book is a clear and practical guide for leaders who want to make a real difference. It answers key questions such as why it matters, what actions to take and how to put them into practice. 

The Financial Times Guide to Sustainable Business gives you a clear and simple framework to take action. It brings together research and real business experience to explain what works in practice. The book is organised in a logical way, making it easy to follow and apply in your daily work. 

After reading this book, you will be able to lead with confidence. You can build a clear strategy and take actions that benefit both your business and society. This book is for business leaders, professionals and students who want to build a better future. It is also useful for investors, consultants, policy makers and leaders in public sector organisations and NGOs.