Chevron Left
Back to Understanding Financial Markets

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Understanding Financial Markets by University of Geneva

4.8
stars
5,593 ratings

About the Course

In this course, you will learn what the main financial markets and their characteristics are as well as how they are linked to the economy. Our very diversified team of experts will start by teaching you how the price of stocks and bonds are computed and why they move while you will become increasingly aware of the notion of risk and why it matters when measuring an investment's performance. The focus will then move to less popular markets such as gold, emerging markets, real estate, hedge funds and private markets. These will be analyzed with an emphasis on their particular risks and return opportunities as well as how they can help in building efficient portfolios. Finally, the policies of central banks and their impact on financial markets will be presented to you along with the link between the economy and the price of financial assets. All along these different steps, experts from UBS, our corporate partner, will show you how the concepts you just acquired are effectively applied in a leading global bank. This focus on practicality means you will not only understand what is going on in global financial markets but also start to figure out how you can use them to achieve financial goals, be it a client's or your own. Course Director and main teaching contributor: Dr. Michel Girardin, Lecturer in Macro-Finance, University of Geneva...

Top reviews

MC

Jul 16, 2017

Mr. Michel is really an amazing teacher! His lectures are vivic and greatly attracts my attention. I hope to take more of his classes because I've Learned more than I nomally can do in a short class

RK

Oct 5, 2020

Thank you! Coursera for providing me the platform for boosting my knowledge in Financial Markets, as i have learned various financial parts in this subject and this will help me in my carrier too.

Filter by:

26 - 50 of 1,176 Reviews for Understanding Financial Markets

By Catherine Y

Apr 3, 2020

I find this course is very challenging as I never work for a bank. After each lecture it is necessary to find extra material to read and study, in order to pass each "test". Overall, I am satisfied. After this course, I am able to read financial news with a better understanding of the situation.

By Danilo A E

Mar 5, 2016

A little too theoretical and the subjects are not easy to follow.

It should have more step by step and deep explanation (math stuff).

The interest rates vs bonds are difficult for begginers, it should be transmitted in different ways.

By Ahmad H H

Nov 25, 2017

The course is nice, but I was under the impression that this course is for beginners, while the lecturers did not explain the terms they used clearly. for example i finished the course and passed it without understanding what is the duration of the bond!! practically speaking, I used to learn the terms from the lecturers and google them to understand and the website investopedia was my main help in this matter. I also think practical examples might be useful in this matter

By Sagar L

Dec 25, 2020

It was hard to follow the instructors sometimes. The formulas should have been derived better and discussed as length. The different modules should have been made more coherent. Lastly, Michel was great but other instructors could have done better.

By mahmoud s

Aug 6, 2019

I think this course is not for someone beginner on finance, because many fundamental topics are missed like :

*what are Economic indicators and the business cycle (before using chart with GDP and talk about emerging/developped country, it should explain how to mesure economic of a country)

*difference between real, nominal interest

*more explications about : inflation, stagnation, recession...

before passing any quize, it's should be more exercices for practice.

I noticed that quizs, keep the same questions, when you try to retake the quiz

By Marcus K

Oct 16, 2019

Very disappointed. The whole course lacked a grasp on reality. Too much general theories that could be read from any book or the internet. Too much focus on mathematical equations and in general, I wouldn't say this course actually gives a proper overview of financial markets. It will most likely leave the attendees confused, rather than educated. Mr. Michel Girardin was the highlight of the course, but he was pretty much the only good thing in this course and only because of his good teaching techniques.

By OTTO H

Sep 20, 2020

I have been trying to UNENROLL from this course for over 2 months and I stopped following the classes. I am not interested at all in this course. I request to be UNENROLLED immediately. Thanks.

By Tega O

Apr 9, 2020

I want to log out of this course its not working

By Adilet Z

Aug 21, 2023

I had the opportunity to take the "Understanding Financial Markets" course, and I must say that it exceeded all my expectations. This course provided an in-depth and comprehensive exploration of financial markets that left me with a solid understanding of how these complex systems work. "Understanding Financial Markets" course is a must-take for anyone looking to gain a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of financial markets. Whether you're a novice or have some prior knowledge in the field, this course offers valuable insights and practical knowledge that can benefit you in various professional and personal contexts. I wholeheartedly recommend this course to anyone interested in expanding their financial literacy and market expertise.

Thank you, Adilet

By Hong z

May 1, 2020

I've been really very satisfied by the course. I've chosen this course for the willing of start to understand financial instruments and products to help management of personal weath and I must say that the course has fulfilled in a very excellente way my expectation. And I've enjoyed specially the teaching art of Prof. Michelle who is so good at explain in very clear and simplified way the concepts that otherwise would seem rother complicated.

I spent the quaranteen days for coronaviurs by increasing my personal acknowledgement and that's the best time and money spent - thanks a lot the Coursera platform, I will recomand it to friends for sure.

By Marita B

Feb 29, 2020

A fantastic course,thank you very much for this opportunity! This course creates the foundation for the very basics of financial markets and builds up on it gradually in a smooth way and in small chunks which are easy to understand. In the past I had exposure to the sector and read many articles in financial websites and analysis, however always found myself researching one bit or the other to fully grasp the meaning. Through this course I have a much better understanding. I found it very enjoyable both in delivery and in the helpful notes which come in really handy when following the lectures. Looking forward to more. Thank you!

By Tomas V

Apr 28, 2019

The course gives a comprehensive overview of financial markets including bonds, equities, real estate, gold, emerging markets and hedge funds. It also covers key drivers of financial markets such as inflation, central bank policy, foreign currencies and business cycles. It covers key basic concepts in finance such as bond yield, duration, market valuation, discounted cash flows, net present value and purchase power parity. Michel is a brilliant teacher with a sense of humor! The only improvement point would be to add videos about the time value of money and giving more of an introduction before jumping into valuation of equities!

By Dimitri C

May 13, 2016

This specialization is great! I really enjoyed discovering the basics of financial markets through the internet, it's a (not so) new way of learning, and it was completely adapted to my learning methodology. This way of teaching and transmitting informations is very intuitive, so you don't get all the inconvenient of a normal class. But my opinion might be biased, as I am currently studying Economics at the University of Geneva, and therefore Dr. Girardin Is my teacher every week!

It's strange to see your teacher face to face Monday morning, and later on your computer when studying!

Can't wait to complete the next ones!

By Tsotne K

May 7, 2020

The only thing that I did not like is exams when you fail and try again, questions remain the same, it makes it easier to pass and makes the certificate look less appreciated for others comparing to other certificates issued not online. On the other hand, some of your clients won't like if they won't pass and exams will be more hard for them, but if you think it could raise demand because the ivy league universities are most wanted because it is considered very hard to pass exams and graduate, so it makes you look unique or really educated. Otherwise, the course was really good! Thank you!

By valur b

Aug 19, 2016

This was a fantastic course that give the student a good understanding of the concepts in which asset investors use on a daily basis. Michel is in my opinion a world class lecturer in which he explains topics so clearly and in few words. Its very obvious he loves what he does and is very good at it. I would recommend this course to anyone who has an interest in financial markets and plans to take an active role in managing the assets they own; whether it be cash in the bank, the house you live in, your retirement fund or your child's college fund.

By Melanie A

Aug 2, 2016

Fantastic course. Videos are clear, informative, have a good mix of theoretical and real-world examples and Michel Girardin (one of the lecturers) has really good, original examples to explain concepts and also keep one entertained (online courses with hours of financial theory can be tough in this regard sometimes!). Also, the video content is interspersed with mini quizzes (generally not graded) which help keep your attention and test learning. Overall very, very pleased - definitely the best online course I've taken in years.

By Evan B M

Sep 9, 2022

A great course for beginners! Highly informative and covering 'all the bases' in the 'financial world.'

It is a difficult subject but the leaner is not expected to 'grasp' all the math, formulas and calculations neccessary in the professsional world... only to 'be exposed' to the concepts and understanding that they exist in this 'first course' of the 'specialization.'

The quizzes themselves are structured as a 'learning process' as well... and can be retaken (with notes about what you did wrong) until you get it right.

By Himanshu B

Jul 2, 2020

This course of Understanding Financial Markets helps to understand financial information about the trending markets about the world . I would like to thank course era , University of Geneva and UBS Corporate for giving this wonderful opportunity.

Thank You

From Himanshu Bhatia

By leong s y

Jul 14, 2020

I love this course!! The outline of the course really suit what i wish to learn. I like the details and information share in the lecture slides. However, I wish to have more example or scenario that can guide us to learn the financial related to current markets, and perhaps some good recomendation on books to basic financial? Maybe some website we can focus to get updates on financial overview ,....if there is... well, I'm always too greedy to learn more. Hope to continue in the 2nd course!

By 向灿

Aug 11, 2018

Very concise course in fundamental financial markets, absolutely suitable for beginners. The workload of one week is reasonably low, most of videos are 10 minutes or so, sometimes slides goes maybe a little fast for beginners but you can always pause to have a better look at the slides. I like Michel the most, he is very well prepared with the materials and sometimes he will surprise you with some "experiments", and of course he will always amuse you by his charming smile.

By Alexandre S

Feb 26, 2021

The course offered by Unige is of excellent quality and effectiveness. In addition to the techniques to invest better, I learned how to train at home broker and identified my difficulties in speaking fundamentalist analysis. I believe that the great differential of this course is the practical training, which will happen throughout the learning: we have the opportunity to put the techniques of the theoretical part of the course into practice.

By Tushar T

May 8, 2020

Exceeded all expectations that I had. I really felt like I learnt several things of value from this course, and am honestly surprised by the quality of the content itself, as well as its delivery. Definitely do recommend this to anyone who is considering looking for basic or beginner's course in finance. Oh, and Professor Michel Girardin is an absolute pleasure to listen to. He truly enhances the learning experience.

By Keshav V

Dec 1, 2020

This course helped me to realize that the knowledge of financial markets is like ocean . you can dive as much deep you want. there's no limit to it. it comprises of topics in brief which i would really like to explore more in future . really glad that my college and coursera helped me and given me this opportunity to pursue this course of my interest from one of the leading university of the world, thanks alot !!!!

By Ts. C K L

Feb 20, 2016

I like this course very much , it provides us some introduction to the financial market. I completed this course on 15 February 2016. Highly recommended !

One the other hand, I feel proud because this is the first batch of this course offering and specifically related to investment management specialization. I'm committed to follow this specialization until completing the capstone project.

Thank you very much.

Chan

By ARVIND S

Mar 18, 2019

Excellent course to start learning portfolio management. Very high on concepts such as asset classes, alternative asset classes, hedge funds management, valuations, learning from clients, emerging markets etc. Lays a strong foundation for the other courses in the specialization. Lectures by UBS executives have a strong practical content. Would have liked it to be a little more quantitative, though.