Commodities An Introduction

Course OverviewThis course is designed to give delegates a broad overview of the commodities market. The programme starts off by identifying the links between different commodity markets and then moves on to look at the different physical and financial market participants.

Attending the course will help you:

• Understand the various participants in the commodity markets

• Define what is meant by a commodity

• Look at the main traded commodity markets

internationally recognised qualifications for the

financial market

Commodities - An Introduction

Commodities - An Introduction

internationally recognised qualifications for the

financial market

Course ContentThe course content is divided into several topic areas, which are then broken down into multiple subtopics:

1. Commodity Fundamentals• Identify the links between different commodity

markets• Themaintradedcommoditymarkets• Why commodity markets are essentially

forward markets

2. Forward Pricing• Theconceptofaforwardprice• Whynormalforwardpricingconditionsdonot

applyincommoditymarkets• Conditionsofcontangoandbackwardation

and the situations in which they are most likely to occur

• Themaincommodityparticipantsandtheirlikelyactivityalongtheforwardcurve

3. Physical Market Participants• Thenatureofasupplychainfordifferent

commodities• Thenatureoftheirassociatedpricerisks• Demandandsupplypatternsfordifferent

commoditycomplexes(i.e.metalsvs.energyvs.agriculture)

• Themainpricedriversofcommodityprices

4. Financial Market Participants• Howmarketparticipantscaninvestin

commodities(e.g.indexfundsvs.ETPsvs.MTNs)• Themaincommodityindicesusedbythemarket• Themainsourcesofreturnfromindexinvesting

(i.e.theconceptoftherollyield)• Themainfeaturesofexchangetradedproducts• Structuredcommodityproducts

Course FormatThecourseisaonedayclassroom-basedprogramme,takingplaceinLondonatvarioustimesduringtheyear.Thisisanon-examinedcoursebutdelegateswillreceiveacertificateofattendance,issuedjointlybyICMAandHenleyBusinessSchool,UniversityofReading.

Target AudienceThiscourseissuitableforanyonewithanunderstandingofthefundamentalconceptsoffinancewhohasaninterestinunderstandinghowcommoditiesfitintotheworldoffinance.Nopriorstudyisrequired.

Course DirectorNeilSchofieldisavisitingfellowattheUniversityofReadingandisafreelancetrainingconsultant.From2001to2008,hewasglobalheadoffinancialmarketstrainingatBarclaysCapitalinLondon.Hewasresponsibleforthedesignanddeliveryofalargenumberofseminarsin a variety of different asset classes to many differentaudiences.

PrevioustothathewasaDirectoratChisholmRothtraininginLondonandhasalsoheldpositionsatChaseManhattanBankaswellasSecurityPacificHoareGovett(nowtradingasBankofAmerica).Neilhasover20yearsofexperienceinfinancialmarkets.In2008,hepublishedhisfirstbook“CommodityDerivatives”andhissecondtext“TradingtheFixedIncome,InflationandCreditMarkets”waspublishedin2011.

ICMA Executive EducationFormanyyearsICMAExecutiveEducationhasbeenregardedasthebenchmarkintrainingforboththefrontofficeandoperationsareasofbusiness.Ourcoursesareinternationallyrecognisedandarerequiredtrainingbymanyofourmemberfirms.ICMAExecutiveEducationisuniqueinthatICMAandtheICMACentre,HenleyBusinessSchool,UniversityofReadingworktogethertodelivertrainingcourses,taughtbycurrentandformerfinancialmarketspractitionerswhichblendpracticalandacademicknow-how,sothatcandidateshaveathoroughunderstandingofthetopicsbeingdiscussed.

FiveCertificateProgrammesareoffered:

• Financial Markets Foundation Course (FMFC)

• Securities Operations Foundation Course (SOFC)

• Fixed Income Certificate (FIC)

• Operations Certificate Programme (OCP)

• Primary Market Certificate (PMC)

Allarerecognisedascertificatesofcompetenceinthecapitalmarketsandaresuccessfullycompletedbylargenumbersofinternationalparticipantseachyear.Inadditiontoourcertificateprogrammes,wealsoofferaselectionofspecialistcoursesthroughouttheyear.Theseprogrammesaresingletopicsubjects,coveredwithinourintermediatecourses,butinmuchmoredepth. Thecoursesarefocussedandprovideanopportunitytonetworkanddiscusstheissuesaffectingthefinancialmarketswithyourindustrypeers.

ICMAExecutiveEducationisabletoprovideanyofourpubliccoursesonanin-housebasisifrequired,ifanorganisationwishesanumberofdelegatestoattendaspecificcourse.

ICMA CentreTheICMACentre,UniversityofReadinghasaninternationalreputationforprovidingqualityteachingprogrammestailoredtothecapitalmarketsindustry.Establishedin1991withfundingprovidedbytheInternationalCapitalMarketAssociation(ICMA),theCentreishousedinapurpose-builtmodernistbuildingwithstate-of-the-artfacilitiesincludingtwodealingrooms.In2008,ICMAenabledanexpansiontothebuildingthatnowincludesanadditional50seatdealingroom,170seatlecture theatre as well as new seminar rooms and a dedicatedresearcharea.

The International Capital Market AssociationTheInternationalCapitalMarketAssociationisthetradeassociationrepresentingconstituentsandpractitionersintheinternationalcapitalmarketworldwide.ICMA’smembersarelocatedinover50countriesacrosstheglobe,includingalltheworld’smainfinancialcentres,andcurrentlynumberinexcessof470firms.ICMAperformsacrucialcentralroleinthemarketbyprovidingandenforcingaself-regulatorycodeofindustry-drivenrulesandrecommendationswhichregulateissuance,tradingandsettlementintheinternationalfixedincomeandrelatedinstruments.

Further Information And Course RegistrationForfurtherinformationandtoregisterforany ofourcourses,pleasevisit: www.icmagroup.org/education orcontactusat:education@icmagroup.org

International Capital Market Association Limited23CollegeHill,LondonEC4R2RPUnitedKingdomTel:+44(0)2072130310Fax:+44(0)2072130311Email:education@icmagroup.orgwww.icmagroup.org

ICMAandtheUniversityofReadingworktogetheras“ICMAExecutiveEducation”underanoperatingagreement.Coveringtechnicalproduct/marketsandoperations,theprofessionalqualificationsandtrainingprogrammesaredeliveredinmajorfinancialcentresaimedatmarketpractitionersinthefinancialmarkets.