Learn the craft,
then prove it.
The same material our analysts train on, and a companion to the courses we teach. Build the foundation, then defend a real pitch with real capital on the line.
Two tracks,
one standard.
Analyst Training
A structured path for fund members. Onboarding starts with accounting and valuation, builds to a defensible pitch, and continues with portfolio and risk work through your time in the fund.
Course Companion
Supplemental material for the finance courses we teach. Readings, concept explainers, and slides that sit alongside lectures for students who want to go deeper.
The learning path.
Accounting & Financial Statements
Read the three statements, see how they link, and judge earnings quality from the footnotes.
Valuation
DCF mechanics, trading comps, and precedent transactions, and when each one actually applies.
Industry & Competitive Analysis
Five forces, moats, unit economics, and sizing the addressable market.
Building the Pitch
Thesis, variant perception, risks, and catalysts, assembled into the SMIF pitch format.
Portfolio Construction & Risk
Position sizing, diversification, benchmarking, and drawdown discipline.
Markets, Macro & Fixed Income
Rates, the yield curve, and credit, and how the top-down frames bottom-up ideas.
Reading list.
The Intelligent Investor
Benjamin Graham
The framework for value, margin of safety, and Mr. Market.
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
Philip Fisher
Qualitative scuttlebutt and what makes a business great.
The Most Important Thing
Howard Marks
Risk, cycles, and second-level thinking.
Investment Valuation
Aswath Damodaran
The reference text for DCF and relative valuation.
Financial Statement Analysis and Security Valuation
Stephen Penman
Accounting-based valuation, done rigorously.
Expectations Investing
Mauboussin & Rappaport
Reading the expectations priced into a stock.
Competition Demystified
Bruce Greenwald
A practical approach to moats and barriers to entry.
Security Analysis
Graham & Dodd
The original deep dive on analyzing securities.
Poor Charlie's Almanack
Charlie Munger
Mental models and the multidisciplinary approach.
Example models.
Worked examples from our analyst training. Open them, tear them apart, and build your own.
Key terms.
Intrinsic Value
What a business is actually worth based on the cash it will generate, independent of its market price.
DCF
Discounted cash flow. Project future free cash flows and discount them to today at the cost of capital.
WACC
Weighted average cost of capital. The blended required return on a firm's debt and equity; the discount rate in a DCF.
Free Cash Flow
Cash left after operating costs and capital expenditures; what's actually available to investors.
Terminal Value
The value of a business beyond the explicit forecast, often the largest piece of a DCF.
EV / EBITDA
Enterprise value over EBITDA. A capital-structure-neutral valuation multiple.
Margin of Safety
Buying well below intrinsic value so analytical errors don't become permanent losses.
Economic Moat
A durable competitive advantage that protects a company's returns from competitors.
Catalyst
A specific event expected to close the gap between price and value.
Alpha
Return earned above what the benchmark would predict.
Beta
A stock's volatility relative to the broader market.
Sharpe Ratio
Excess return per unit of risk; risk-adjusted performance.
The resources are free.
The seat is earned.
Members get the full training and a senior mentor. Applications open each fall and spring.