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About Fundamental Edge

Fundamental Edge offers training solutions for enterprise clients who are looking to improve analyst performance and foster cohesiveness across investment teams. Since the beginning of 2023, we have trained over 1,200 buyside analysts across our menu of programs.

Our core objective is to equip analysts with the foundational tools and processes necessary to work on the buyside. We have partnered with a number of enterprise clients to provide custom training programs based on the client’s needs.

Instructors

Brett Caughran
Founder & Lead Trainer

Brett brings 13 years of buy-side experience at Maverick, D.E. Shaw, Citadel, Bell Rock (fund launch), Two Sigma and Schonfeld along with experience teaching FIN 494 “the hedge fund analyst process” at Arizona State University.

Andrew Carr
Senior Analyst Trainer

Andrew has nearly seven years of buy-side experience (Balyasny ExodusPoint, Blackstone / Strycker View) and years of independent analyst coaching experience.

Paul Johnson
Instructor

Paul brings over 35 years of experience as an investor and business school professor. He is the founder of Nicusa Investment Advisors, an adjunct professor at Columbia and Fordham, and author of “Pitch the Perfect Investment.”

Guest instructors and speakers

  • Rocky Cahan

    Co-Instructor/Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy/Analyst Academy
    “Portfolio Strategy and Stock Selection”
    “Quant Tools for Idea Generation”

  • Rich Falk-Wallace

    Co-Instructor/Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy/Analyst Academy
    “Risk Factors, Risk Models”

  • Sandeep Varma

    Guest Instructor

    Factor Academy
    Managing a Portfolio with a Factor Risk Model

  • Wes Sapp

    Guest Instructor

    Factor Academy
    Quantitative Stock Selection

  • Michael Gatto

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Credit Investing”

  • Marc Greenberg

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “A Quantamental Approach”

  • Giuseppe Paleologo

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “Factors 201”

  • Howard Marks

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Investing Through Cycles”

  • David Zion

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Deciphering Stock Based Comp”

  • Rob Arnott

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “Factors for the Fundamental Investor”

  • Chad Myrhe

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “The Allocator Perspective”

  • Jared Kubin

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “The PM’s Perspective”

  • Mark Carver

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “A Fireside Chat on Factors”

  • Meb Faber

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “The Factor Investing Landscape”

  • Melissa Brown

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “Factor Risk Management 101”

  • Omer Cedar

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “Themes and Factors”

  • Wes Gray

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “Common Sense Factors”

  • Ricky Sandler

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Long Short Investing”

  • Lisa Mogi

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Your Market Mindset”

  • Alix Pasquet

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Anatomy of an A+ Analyst”
    “Approaches to Field Research”

  • Francois Trahan

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Making Sense of Macro”

  • Rishi Dixit

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Investing in India”
    “Shorting Fraud”

  • Matt Ober

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Applied Alternative Data”

  • Tom Elnick

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Expert Networks 101”

  • Aaron Hoffman

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Management: The IR Perspective”

  • Aswath Damodoran

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Valuation Mastery”

  • Freddy Brick

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Activist Short Selling”

  • Ben Lieblich

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Introduction to Equity Risk Models”

  • Steve Galbraith

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “30 Years on the Street”

  • Derek Vincent

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “Consumer Market Neutral Investing”

  • Ted Seides

    Guest Speaker

    Analyst Academy
    “The Limited Partner’s Perspective”

  • Adam Parker

    Guest Speaker

    Factor Academy
    “Factors for the Fundamental PM”

PRograms and intensives

COURSE OVERVIEW

Analyst Academy is a comprehensive masterclass designed to help buyside analysts develop skills and habits to thrive through the rigors of the seat. The curriculum is designed with practicality in mind, walking analysts through every step of the investment process—from understanding how the market works to identifying, developing, and pitching ideas.

Analyst Academy is taught by Brett Caughran, who spent 11 years on the buyside as both an analyst and a PM. Content is delivered through pre-recorded video sessions, live office hours sessions, and downloads of supplemental materials and readings.

COURSE OUTLINE

Foundational Tools

Module 1: Fundamental Foundations

- Purpose of Fundamental Analysis

- Sources of Mispricing

- Alpha and the Expectations Gap

- The 10% Mindset

Module 2: Life on the Buy-side

- What is the Buy-Side?

- The Role of the Analyst

- Process and Skillset

- Performance and Industry Trends

Module 3: Thesis Development

- Sourcing Ideas

- Valuation and Expectations

- Isolating Key Drivers

- Generating Differential Insight

Module 4: Why Stocks Move Up and Down

- Supply and Demand Dynamics

- Stock vs Business

- Flow and Narrative Factors

- Institutional Behavior

Module 5: Idea Generation

- Sources of Idea Flow

- Pattern Recognition

- Fishing in the Right Pond

- Alpha Buckets and Thematic Investing

Module 6: Buyside Modeling

- Why Models Matter

- Structure and Formatting

- Creating a Revenue Build

- Earnings Season and Updates

Intermediate Tools

Module 7: Analyze a Business

- Reading Stack

- The Three B's

- Due Dilligence

- The Focus Five

Module 8: Analyze an Industry

- Industry Coverage Playbooks

- Industry Mapping

- Maintaining Coverage

- Identifying Winners and Losers

Module 9: Management & Capital Allocation

- Traits of Good Managers

- Assess Management Fit

- Stock Based Comp and Incentives

- Management Meetings and Access

Module 10: Assessing Expectations

- The Expectation Gap and Alpha

- How the Bar is Set

- Price Implied Expectations

- Buy-Side Whisper

Module 11: Applied Valuation

- The Faces of Mispricing

- Application of Multiples

- Earnings Power and Normalized Earnings

- Making Probabilistic Bets

Advanced Tools

Module 12: Short Selling

- Mechanics of a Short

- Challenges of Shorting

- The Importance of Shorting

- Short Idea Generation

Module 13: Earnings Season

- Earnings Season Volatility

- Preparing for a Print

- Strategy and Execution

- Reaction Patterns and Post Print

Module 14: Pitch Like a Pro

- Building a Thesis

- Tell a Story

- Delivery and Visuals

- Handlling Questions and Pushback

Module 15: Wrapping Up

- Risk and Reward

- Thesis Creep

- Process and Judgement

- Factor Models and Portfolio Management

COURSE SAMPLES

Full Academy Module

Academy Module Section

Office Hours Sample

COURSE OVERVIEW

Factor Academy equips fundamental investors with the knowledge and toolkits needed to navigate the complex world of factor-risk models and factor-driven markets. Factor Academy was created to help analysts develop a level of factor fluency that will allow them to effectively manage a portfolio and understand modern quantamental investing strategies in use across the buy-side. Video modules are supplemented by live office hours and factor labs, which allow students to see portfolio optimization happening in real time.

Head trainer Brett Caugran is joined by Rich Falk-Wallace and Rocky Cahan. Rich brings 8 years of buyside experience as an anlyst and PM at Silver Point, Viking Global, and Citadel. He currently serves as the CEO and co-founder of Arcana. Rocky is a portfolio strategist at Emperical Research Partners, and formerly led Deutsche Bank's top-ranked U.S. quantitative strategy team. Rocky has also held roles at Macquarie Bank and Citi Group, with published work in prominent finance journals.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1

Factors for the Fundamental Investor

- What is a factor? And why should I care?

- THe building blocks of factor analysis

- Factor attribution and return decomposition

- Factor-based investing

- Factor-based risk models

- Fundamental investing in a factor-focused world

- Factor lab: Case study: Consider optimal factor hedge

Week 2

Module 1: Factor-based investing

- Frameworks for factor-based investing

- Identifying alpha with factor frameworks

- A deep dive into common factors

- Applied factor investing

- Frameworks for factor timing

- Quantamental factor investing approaches

Week 3

Week 4

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