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

2025 Thinkers 50 Coaching and Mentoring Award - Shortlist

Runner Up - Leadership Book of The Year (The Leadership Awards 2024)

The research on mentoring is clear. Those who are mentored, out-earn and outperform those who are not. They make higher salaries, get promoted more often, have greater job and career satisfaction and lower rates of burnout. For organisations that invest in mentoring their employees, they benefit from higher productivity and greater loyalty. Mentoring works as a great retention tool. But despite all this, only 76% of people understand the undisputed benefits of having a mentor, and only 37% of people actually have one.

But how do you do mentoring well, both as a mentor and in building a mentoring programme in your organisation? The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring gives you the tools you need to understand what mentoring is and its benefits, learn how to mentor effectively, and be mentored.

By breaking down each stage of the process, this book will enable senior and aspiring executives to both give the support they need to act as a mentor to future talent in their organisation and seek mentoring for themselves that they had thought no longer relevant but which will stretch them and fast track their further career progress. While it's likely that they will have been mentored at some point in their career, in our experience many senior executives turn at some point from being mentored to mentoring others.

Financial Times Guide to Income Investing is the complete reference guide for all investors wanting their shares and investments to provide market beating — and continuous — income.

This book provides you with the necessary tools of the trade so you can work out the best strategy to follow guiding you through the mainstream, and not so mainstream, investment vehicles.

Beginning with an introduction describing the basics of risk, return, volatility, structure, inflation and investing, the book introduces the simplest and safest products and funds before moving on to those higher risk strategies that will pay the highest income.

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:

Whether you are an executive or a student, beginner or expert, this book is designed to explain and illustrate the working essentials of finance with clarity and speed.

This desktop companion deliberately combines essential theory with real-world application, using short, focused chapters to help you find what you need and implement it right away. www.pearsoned.co.uk/estrada

 If you think spread betting is complex and high risk then think again. Stuart Fieldhouse demonstrates that with the right knowledge and approach it needn’t be. From opening an account and carrying out basic technical analysis through to assessing market opportunities and minimising risk, this book offers a comprehensive walk-through of everything you need to know to trade successfully.

The Financial Times Guide to Spread Betting gives you the tools to spread bet with confidence. The book includes:

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

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.

Since the first edition of The Financial Times Guide to ETFs was published in 2009, the number of ETFs in issue has doubled and ETFs are now common both on investor platforms and increasingly amongst financial advisors. This massive increase in demand has highlighted an urgent debate – just how dangerous are ETFs and how much do investors and advisers understand about the structure of the index tracker?

The second edition of this book attempts to answer this debate and is the indispensable bible on trackers for professional advisers and serious private investors.

This new edition also features a chapter based around the theme of Due Diligence and a new chapter on How to use ETFs and Index Funds for theLong-term, as well as a new Jargon busting section and a-new appendix looking at new ideas beginning to emerge.

Learn how to make your company more efficient, increase customer value with less work and make better use of your organisation’s resources by implementing a Lean management strategy.

The Financial Times Guide to Lean is a guide to the tools that are used to implement Lean, showing you how to apply Lean practices fully into your organisation or company.

This book offers a comprehensive and objective look at lean strategy and how it can be tailored for different companies.

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.

Everything you need to know to become a first class business trainer, from working out how people learn, to finding out if you can be a trainer, through to showing you the tools and models that will allow you to be a successful educator and teacher.

The Financial Times Guide to Business Training shows you how to develop, design and deliver outstanding business training. Written by two of the UK’s leading business trainers and based on extensive research into what the best trainers say and do, this book:  

· Is a single reference for anyone involved in business training whether you are newly qualified or experienced, a freelance trainer or already embedded in learning and development departments

· Provides a comprehensive resource of ideas, tools and approaches

· Will help you improve the quality of all aspects of your training needs, including analysis, planning and delivery

· Reveals the secrets of outstanding business training so that you can improve your reputation and results

· Answers commonly asked questions

· Offers support on your training journey via www.ftguidetobusinesstraining.com

The Financial Times Guide to Leadership is a one-stop shop for professionals at every stage of their leadership journey. Whether you’re just starting out or are looking to upgrade your current skills, this practical guide takes you through the core building tools of self-awareness, influence and execution.

With thought-provoking exercises and action points throughout, plus handy chapter summaries for when you need to access information, this book is your roadmap to becoming a better leader. This definitive guide to leadership includes:

Everything you need to know to become an authentic and dynamic leader.

"My shelves groan under stacks of leadership books. But just a very few stand out as solid gold. The Financial Times Guide to Leadership merits inclusion in that select company. There is simply no excuse for not applying its very practical steps. I'd urge you to start or continue your journey here!"

Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence

"Finally, a first-class leadership book that focuses on the 'how' and 'what' as well as the 'why' and 'when'. Full of practical steps to take you to the next level."

Doug Richard, entrepreneur and founder of School for Startups

"Leadership is at the intersection of competence, charisma and the ability to think big for yourself and for others. The Financial Times Guide to Leadership gives you the tools you need to navigate this junction with success." 

Mercedes Erra, Executive President of Havas Worldwide

‘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:

This jargon-busting book describes how the bond and money markets work 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.

It’s in the money markets where money, or the value of money, can be bought and sold. It’s the place where Treasury bills, deposits, repurchase agreements, short-lived mortgages etc, can be traded. These are crucial to the global economy because they provide liquidity funding for the global financial system.

Bond markets operate in the same way but are financial markets where participants can issue new debt or buy and sell existing debt – known as bonds. As with money markets, bond markets are key because they provide money where no money previously existed (think of your mortgage).

Using real world examples from media such as the Financial Times, bestselling author Glen Arnold gives an international perspective on these markets.

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. 

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.

'The most damaging half truth for savers is “performance matters more than expenses”. Read this book carefully and the financial services industry will have one fewer easy victim, but you will have a sound base for a lifetime of successful investment.'Martin White, Chair of UK Shareholders Association

This is one of those great big books to buy and then tuck away for constant reference. It's a tour through everything from managing a portfolio to establishing a fair intrinsic value for a share. If it moves in the world of investing, it’s probably here.'

David Stevenson, 'Adventurous Investor' in the Financial Times

‘Informative and easy to read, Glen Arnold has produced arguably the most comprehensive book there is today on stock market investing and one that unquestionably will give an edge to any retail investor. This is a must read for anyone serious about investing.'  

Simon Thompson, Companies Editor, Investors Chronicle

AN UPDATED VERSION OF THE BESTSELLING INVESTING BOOK IN THE UK

The Financial Times Guide to Investing is the definitive introduction to the art of successful stock market investing by debunking the myth that investing is only for the wealthy.

Bestselling author Glen Arnold covers the basics of what investors do and why companies need them, through to the practicalities of buying and selling shares and how to make the most from your money. Learn how to understand different types of investment vehicles, pick the right companies and understand their accounts so you can compile and manage a sophisticated portfolio.

The fourth edition of this investing classic has been thoroughly updated and will give you everything you need to choose your shares with skill and confidence.

New for this edition:

YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO STRATEGY. PLAIN AND SIMPLE.The Financial Times Guide to Strategy is your unbeatable reference on strategy. It offers an incisive overview of both corporate level and business unit level strategy, an A to Z of the world’s leading strategic thinkers and introduces the key strategic tools and techniques you need to develop your own strategy. Based on long experience and on conversations with leading strategists around the world, Richard Koch helps you discover each critical step in creating, delivering and understanding successful strategy. The fifth edition of this bestselling book is your easy-to-read, jargon-free guide to the strategic models and thinkers you really need to know about. Updated with new tools and examples, The Financial Times Guide to Strategy shows you which questions to ask, how to go about answering them, and then what action to take. This is the smartest and most readable strategy guide available anywhere.

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. 

The Financial Times Guide to Leadership is a one-stop shop for professionals at every stage of their leadership journey. Whether you're just starting out or are looking to upgrade your current skills, this practical guide takes you through the core building tools of self-awareness, influence and execution.

With thought-provoking exercises and action points throughout, plus handy chapter summaries for when you need to access information, this book is your roadmap to becoming a better leader. This definitive guide to leadership includes:

Everything you need to know to become an authentic and dynamic leader.