Premieur Institute

Learn how the buyside works, and how to do the work.

From the news

Read the story, then the idea behind it

The curriculum

Five tracks, from the firms to the code

87 lessons · about 18.6 hours
01

Buyside firms

Who allocates the capital, from hedge funds to sovereign wealth, and how a fund is built and measured.

6 modules · 27 lessons · about 4.9 hours
02

Finance fundamentals

The ideas every number rests on: the time value of money, the three statements, and the asset classes capital moves between.

6 modules · 25 lessons · about 4.9 hours
03

Valuation and financial modelling

What a company is worth and how to show the work, from a single multiple to a full buyout model.

3 modules · 10 lessons · about 2.5 hours
04

Deals and M&A

How a company changes hands: the process, the price, the paper that holds it together, and what happens after closing.

4 modules · 14 lessons · about 3.5 hours
05

Quants and programming

Risk, return and the code behind them: the statistics a quant desk runs on, the strategies built from it, and Python and SQL to do it yourself.

3 modules · 11 lessons · about 2.8 hours
Templates

Take the model home

38 files

The workbooks, documents, notebooks and data the lessons use, ready to edit. Included with a Premieur membership.

ExcelBuyside firms

Fund cash flow and J-curve model

One private fund's calls, fees, distributions and NAV over 12 years, the J-curve, and DPI, RVPI, TVPI and net IRR each year.

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ExcelBuyside firms

Cap table and liquidation waterfall

A startup cap table from founding through Seed, Series A and Series B, with SAFE and note conversion, the option pool shuffle, dilution by round and a liquidation waterfall at several exit values.

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ExcelBuyside firms

VC investment memo and waterfall

A Series B underwritten from the fund side: metrics against the bar, round terms, reserves, bear, base and bull exits through the preference stack, MOIC, IRR, fund contribution and a one page memo.

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ExcelFinance fundamentals

NPV and IRR calculator

NPV, IRR, MIRR, payback and an NPV profile for a cash flow schedule, plus annuity, loan and perpetuity sheets.

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ExcelFinance fundamentals

Bond pricing and duration

Price, Macaulay and modified duration, DV01 and convexity, and the estimated against the full price change for a yield shock.

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ExcelFinance fundamentals

Real estate pro forma

A ten year office pro forma built tenant by tenant, from rent roll and lease rollovers to NOI, loan sizing, levered returns and sensitivity grids.

Goes with Real estate
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ExcelFinance fundamentals

Real estate acquisition memo

A value add apartment acquisition with a renovation business plan, sources and uses, an LP and GP promote waterfall, sales and rent comps, and a committee summary with pass or fail tests.

Goes with Real estate
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ExcelFinance fundamentals

Infrastructure project finance model

A greenfield toll road from financial close to handback: construction funding with IDC, 25 years of operations, debt sculpted to a DSCR under a gearing cap, DSRA and lock up, project and equity IRR.

Goes with Infrastructure
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ExcelFinance fundamentals

PPP and concession model

An availability payment PPP: unitary charge with indexation and deductions, lifecycle costs, sculpted senior debt, shareholder loan and share capital, handback retention and the value for money test.

Goes with Infrastructure
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ExcelFinance fundamentals

Infrastructure debt sculpting

Debt sized by sculpting to a target DSCR against a mortgage style annuity, with the flat DSCR, principal schedule, debt capacity and the effect of the tail and a higher target.

Goes with Infrastructure
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ExcelFinance fundamentals

DSCR analysis

A property loan by year: DSCR, debt yield and LTV, cash trap and default tests, rent, vacancy and rate stresses, maximum loan sizing and the refinance test.

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ExcelValuation and modelling

DCF valuation model

A five year unlevered free cash flow forecast from operating drivers, WACC from CAPM and relevered peer betas, terminal value by growth and exit multiple with the implied cross checks, the bridge to value per share and a football field.

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ExcelValuation and modelling

LBO model

A full leveraged buyout on a worked example: sources and uses, a five tranche debt schedule with revolver, sweep and PIK, credit statistics, MOIC and IRR at exit in years 3, 5 and 7, the value creation bridge and sensitivity grids.

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WordDeals and M&A

100 day plan

Governance and reporting, quick wins, value creation workstreams with owners and day 30, 60 and 100 milestones, KPIs and risks.

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ExcelDeals and M&A

Precedent transactions analysis

Ten deals with enterprise value rebuilt from offer terms, control premiums, stake and recency filters, the implied value range and a check of the premium paid against the present value of synergies.

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ExcelDeals and M&A

Direct lending credit memo

A sponsor backed unitranche underwritten end to end: base and downside cases, pricing and lender yields, covenant headroom, recovery, debt capacity and a risk rating.

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ExcelDeals and M&A

Covenant compliance tracker

Eight quarters of leverage, coverage and liquidity tests with capped add backs, step downs, headroom, equity cures, a compliance certificate and a six borrower portfolio monitor.

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SQLQuants and programming

Financial data schema and queries

A PostgreSQL schema for securities, prices, holdings, trades and FX, with sample rows and commented queries for returns, value, rankings and drawdowns.

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Glossary

The words of the trade, in one line each

40 terms
Accretion and dilution
Whether an acquisition raises (accretive) or lowers (dilutive) the buyer's earnings per share.
Merger accretion and dilution analysis →
Add-backs
Costs a seller argues are one off and should be added back to EBITDA. The first thing diligence tests.
EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and add-backs →
Capital call
A GP drawing down part of an LP's commitment to fund a deal. Uncalled commitments are the dry powder.
Committed, called and unfunded capital →
Carried interest
The GP's share of fund profits, typically 20%, paid after LPs get their capital and preferred return.
Waterfall and carried interest math →
Co-investment
An LP investing directly alongside a GP in one deal, usually with lower or no fees.
Co-investment and secondaries →
Comparable companies (comps)
Valuing a company from the trading multiples of listed peers.
Comparable company analysis (trading comps) →
Continuation vehicle
A new fund a GP sets up to buy one or more companies out of its own older fund, letting existing LPs cash out or roll over.
Co-investment and secondaries →
Control premium
What a buyer pays above the market price for the right to control a company.
Precedent transactions and control premiums →
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
Valuing a company as the present value of the cash it will generate.
Discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation →
Distribution waterfall
The order in which fund proceeds are paid out: capital back, preferred return, catch up, then the profit split.
The distribution waterfall →
DPI
Distributions to paid in capital: cash actually returned to LPs. The metric LPs ask about first today.
TVPI, DPI, RVPI and MOIC →
DuPont analysis
Splitting return on equity into margin, asset turnover and leverage to see what actually drives it.
Financial ratio analysis and the DuPont framework →
EBITDA
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A proxy for operating cash profit, with known blind spots.
EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and add-backs →
Enterprise value
The value of the whole business to all its capital providers: equity plus net debt.
Enterprise value vs equity value →
Equity value
What the shares are worth: enterprise value less net debt.
Enterprise value vs equity value →
EV/EBITDA
Enterprise value divided by EBITDA. The default price tag in private equity.
EV/EBITDA, EV/EBIT and EV/Sales →
Family office
A firm that manages one wealthy family's capital, increasingly buying companies directly.
Family offices →
Free cash flow yield
Free cash flow divided by market value. The cash return on the price paid.
PEG ratio, FCF yield and dividend yield →
General partner (GP)
The firm that raises and runs the fund, picks the deals and earns the fees and carry.
LPs, GPs and the LPA →
Hurdle rate
The minimum return, often 8%, LPs receive before the GP earns carry.
The distribution waterfall →
IRR
Internal rate of return: the annualised return that accounts for when cash went in and came out.
IRR and XIRR for private funds →
J-curve
A fund's returns dipping in early years, as fees and costs land before gains, then rising.
The J-curve and pacing →
Leveraged buyout (LBO)
Acquiring a company with a large share of borrowed money, repaid from the company's own cash flow.
Building an LBO model →
Limited partner (LP)
An investor in a fund, such as a pension or endowment, with capital at risk but no say in deals.
LPs, GPs and the LPA →
Management fee
The annual fee, often 1.5% to 2% of commitments, a GP charges to run the fund.
Management fee math and fee offsets →
MOIC
Multiple on invested capital: total value returned divided by what was put in.
TVPI, DPI, RVPI and MOIC →
Multiple expansion
Selling at a higher multiple than you bought at. One of three sources of LBO return, and the least in your control.
LBO returns attribution →
P/E ratio
Share price divided by earnings per share. What the market pays for a dollar of profit.
Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio →
Precedent transactions
Valuing a company from the multiples paid in past acquisitions of similar businesses.
Precedent transactions and control premiums →
Private credit
Loans made by funds rather than banks, mostly to private equity backed companies.
Private credit firms →
Private equity
Investing in private companies, usually taking control, improving them and selling within a few years.
Private equity →
Public market equivalent (PME)
What the same cash flows would have earned in a public index. The honest test of a private fund.
Public market equivalent (PME) →
Quality of earnings
How much of reported profit is repeatable and backed by cash, rather than timing or accounting choices.
Earnings quality and accounting red flags →
Revenue recognition
The rules for when a sale counts as revenue. Where aggressive earnings usually start.
Revenue recognition under ASC 606 and IFRS 15 →
Secondaries
Buying existing fund stakes or portfolio interests from investors who want liquidity before the fund winds down.
Co-investment and secondaries →
Subscription line
A loan to the fund, secured on LP commitments, that delays capital calls and can flatter IRR.
Subscription lines and IRR distortion →
TVPI
Total value to paid in capital: distributions plus remaining value, over what LPs paid in.
TVPI, DPI, RVPI and MOIC →
Vintage year
The year a fund first invests. Funds are benchmarked only against others of the same vintage.
Vintage year benchmarking and quartiles →
WACC
Weighted average cost of capital: the blended return debt and equity holders require. The discount rate in a DCF.
Cost of capital: WACC and CAPM →
Working capital
Receivables and inventory less payables. Cash tied up in running the business, and a classic price adjustment at closing.
Working capital and the cash conversion cycle →