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Blair Cook, Director of Clarke Inc
Many time CFO of both public and private companies, three current corporate director roles, CPA and Chartered Accountant. Provides professional development services to "big 4" public accounting firms.
This instructor has 29 courses »To Access This Course:
CEO’s, CFOs and Boards are ultimately measured on their record of generating returns for their shareholders, and the single most important determinant of shareholder returns is capital allocation. This course takes a compelling look at how to master capital allocation to create shareholder value and competitive advantages for your organization.
This course covers:
- How capital allocation can be used to supersize shareholder returns
- How to define capital allocation and evaluate cap allocation decisions
- Operating sources of cash
- Investment of capital
- Cash raised from financing
- Dividends and repurchases
We also take a look at the six traits of highly successful CEOs, such as Jack Welch and Warren Buffet, who have proven to be masters of capital allocation over decades of creating astounding results for their shareholders.
Learning Objectives
- Define what is capital allocation and identify the relevant tools
- Identify and evaluate sources of cash generated by the business
- Integrate financing strategy with capital allocation to preserve flexibility and maximize returns
- Evaluate uses of surplus cash to pay dividends and/or repurchase shares
Last updated/reviewed: May 20, 2022
28 Reviews (118 ratings)Reviews
Not as enlightening as some of Blair's other classes. Lots of hero worship of Welch and Buffett, and lots of sloganeering. The notion that a CEO must be EITHER an operator or a capital allocator is absurd. Most boards expect their CEOs to perform both roles. The Gamestop example was excellent and the share buyback material was very helpful. The rest of the course suffered from a lack of concrete, actionable advice.
Liza Koftikian
(Business & Tax Consultant at Lisa Koftikian, MBA, MA, CPA, CGMA)
Once again Blair delivered a jam-packed session with great enthusiasm and eagerness to explain very important concept in Finance. This was a very insightful presentation with excellent content which I highly recommend to every Finance professional. Many thanks to both Proformative and to Blair.
Lawrence DeParis
(Founder & CEO at C-Level Solutions LLC)
This as an exceptionally informative course. The instructor provided practical insights and opinions that add significant value to the underlying material. Mr. Cook is one of the best instructors I have experienced online and I highly recommend his courses.
Richard Dandan
(Senior Accounting Specialist at National Food Authority)
Excellence in motion! Mr. Cook once again delivered a 5-star piece. He really has a knack of explaining/ delivering contents in an excellent manner. Great lecturer/ speaker. Well done sir. Great job!
Judith Moscova
(Accountant at N/A)
As straight forward as the course seemed to be, it covered a lot of ground and I need to sit through it again. It is one of those classes that needs one's undivided attention.
Anonymous
(Senior Financial Analyst)
The instructor was on one of the best I come across for my continuing education courses. He was enthusiastic and made the material relatable.
Anonymous
(Retired Finance Professional with active..)
Very informative course. This is an area that is very important to the business but not easy to find courses that cover this topic.
Ara Toroyan
(Director - Financial Planning & Proc.. at NCCI Holdings, Inc.)
Goodf overall look at capital allocation. Light on technique for evaluation but that is beyond the scope of this presentation.
Wael Ghaith
(Canada Controller at Tesco Corporation)
A very informative course, full of useful examples, very well presented, and make a complicated topic quite easy.
Thank you.
Anonymous
(Vice President, Finance)
Incoming and sitting CFO's would benefit greatly from this course. In depth, full of insight, and clearly delivered.
Brett Peterson
(Consultant at DLC Group)
Great instructor, great course. Helpful for CFOs and non-CFOs alike; great information to be aware of
Anonymous
(-)
I continue to be impressed with Blair Cook's lessons. Very important topic and expertly presented.
Anonymous
()
This was a good conceptual course to reinforce the core purpose of a for-profit entity.
Anonymous
(Independent Financial Consultant)
Great course. Discusses an important topic that many overlook.
Brenda Au
(None at None)
Great, effective instructor. Definitely a fun course to take.
Prashant Shah
(Manager-FP&A at jda)
Good Course. I recommend all users to go through this course
Anonymous
(SVP, Finance)
Valuable course for someone on track to be a finance leader
Pamela LaPlaca, CPA
(Controller at EG USA)
Blair is very informative and always fun to listen to!
Anonymous
()
Really great course. Covered the basics and then some.
Sami Jabra Seedhom
(Accounting Department Manager at Edrak Int. For Commercial Services)
Thank you very much for the valuable course.
Anonymous
(None)
Excellent, the best course you provide.
Anonymous
(Chief Financial Officer)
Good content and well organized
Greg Vaughn
(Director of Accounting and Finance at Pinelake Church)
Good overview of capital...
Anonymous
(CFO)
Good introductory course.
Qingkui Qiu
(Finance supervisor at Wanli New energy corporation LTD.)
great course!
Anonymous
(Chief Financial Officer)
Good overview
Kerry Reeves
(Senior Internal Auditor at Ms.)
Interesting
Good study
Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Intermediate
Prerequisite: Exposure to corporate finance
Advanced Preparation: None
Education Provider Information
Company:
Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact:
For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
I enjoyed taking this course, however where can I find more information regarding analyzing share buybacks? In particular, how do I determine when it is better to buyback shares as oppose to making other investments, e.g., acquisitions or other growth initiatives?
Thanks in advance.
Share buybacks are discussed in most finance textbooks, but the level of discussion mimics what is included in the course. The real crux of your question is what is the best use of free cash - to buy back own shares or to grow the business. This is a multi-faceted question that is unique in each case.
The mathematical answer is to compare the returns. If you believe your stock is undervalued, the buyback has an associated return based on the delta between trading price and intrinsic value. Compare that return against what an investment in growth might do for share price. Easier said than done because both analyzes are based on assumptions, though arguably the buyback has a higher certainty of operating assumptions. However, to generate the return under the buyback, the stock price needs to normalize, the timing of which is uncertain.
If you find someone who has figured out a way to model these uncertainties to make this decision, please do share. It would advance discussion in boardrooms everywhere, which generally go along the lines, do we believe management can profitably grow the business or should be just look at the most efficient way to return capital to shareholders. Sadly, the discussions rarely get into the deep valuation type analysis.