The FT Guides – serie

Do you want to feel more confident about your investment decisions?

Do you need to have a better understanding of how the stock markets value a business?

Do you want to know what the key ratios are that drive share price performance?

The Financial Times Guide to Making the Right Investment Decisions is the insider’s guide to how the market examines companies and values shares. It helps you understand the factors that drive long term wealth creation as well as highlighting the key risks that lead to value being destroyed.

Originally published as Analysing Companies and Valuing Shares, this new edition has been fully revised and includes a new and easy to follow framework for understanding valuation. Perfect for investors at all levels, it guides you through the investment maze, and highlights the key issues you need to consider to invest successfully.

The Financial Times Guide to Making the Right Investment Decisions:

· Gives you an easy to follow framework to guide your decision-making

· Explains clearly and concisely key financial concepts and how they drive valuation

· Shows you the key ratios to monitor and how they affect share prices

· Illustrates the key risks and warning signals that will help you avoid losses

· Identifies the qualities of company management and governance that differentiates winners from losers

· Brings the issues and numbers to life with real examples and case studies

In a challenging economic and stock market environment, the need to take better informed decisions is vital. This clear, common sense guide provides a comprehensive and accessible framework for understanding the valuation of a business and what drives its share price. Knowing the key numbers, ratios and techniques that professional investors use will help you to reduce your risk and invest more profitably.

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 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.

Whether you need to understand other people’s calculations to make confident business decisions, or formulate investment choices based on your own numbers, this book will give you the tools you need.

Banks and financial institutions, businesses and politicians often spin their statistics as they know they can rely on customers or constituents not to understand or check maths and formulas.

This book introduces you to the basic tools of maths, statistics and business calculations so that that you can understand the numbers, work out your own calculations and make better investing, saving and business decisions.

 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:

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.

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.

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.

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

‘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. 

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.

In the ten years since the much-praised first edition, coaching has become a core requirement for

leadership. It's a core part of business school programmes, it's the norm on all leadership development programmes, and all leaders and managers now have to be able to coach. The FT Guide to Business Coaching is the book on which many leaders rely, and this updated edition will give readers a comprehensive introduction to coaching.

Being a successful business coach means having exceptional listening skills, asking great questions and

applying the best techniques at just the right time. But how do you learn to do that?

The Financial Times Guide to Business Coaching shows you the way. It gives you a sure footing in the

basics and provides you with a step-by-step overview of all the tools and techniques you need to build

your own unique and well-grounded approach as a coach. Ultimately it enables you to take your coaching from good to great. This indispensible guide covers:

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.

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. 

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.