Understanding Financial Markets (Coursera)

Offered by University of Geneva,
Understanding Financial Markets (Coursera)

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.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

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 1 of 5 in the Investment Management Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1: General Introduction and Key Concepts
WEEK 2: Major Financial Markets
WEEK 3: Other Financial Markets
WEEK 4: Financial Markets and the Economy

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Biases and Portfolio Selection (Coursera) Coursera
Rice University

Biases and Portfolio Selection (Coursera)

Investors tend to be their own worst enemies. In this third course, you will learn how to capitalize on understanding behavioral biases and irrational behavior in financial markets. You will start by learning about the various behavioral biases – mistakes that investors make and understand their reasons. You will learn how to recognize your own mistakes as well as others’ and understand how these mistakes can affect investment decisions and financial markets. You will also explore how different preferences and investment horizons impact the optimal asset allocation choice.

Jun 15th 2026
4 Weeks
Investment Management in an Evolving and Volatile World by HEC Paris and AXA Investment Managers (Coursera) Coursera
HEC Paris

Investment Management in an Evolving and Volatile World by HEC Paris and AXA Investment Managers (Coursera)

Have you ever wanted to invest in financial markets, but were always afraid that you didn’t have the proper tools or knowledge to make informed decisions? Have you ever wondered how investment management companies operate and what fund managers do? AXA Investment Managers, in partnership with HEC Paris, will introduce you to the most important ideas and concepts in investment management, to help you better understand your financial future.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
U.S. Bond Investing Basics (Coursera) Coursera
Interactive Brokers

U.S. Bond Investing Basics (Coursera)

In this fixed income course, you will learn to distinguish between different types of U.S. dollar-denominated corporate and municipal debt issuance, identify corporate and municipal bonds available to purchase and sell on an online trading platform, grasp the market mechanics underlying each type of fixed income instrument, as well as conduct basic analyses, and flag critical investment risks.

Jun 22nd 2026
3 Weeks
Global Financial Markets and Instruments (Coursera) Coursera
Rice University

Global Financial Markets and Instruments (Coursera)

Get a running start in the high-stakes world of financial investment! This first course is designed to help you become an informed investor by providing you with the essential concepts for long-term success in managing money. You’ll start by learning the role of financial markets and financial assets in a well-functioning economy. From there, you’ll learn about the wide range of financial instruments available in major asset classes, their features and valuations.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Bonds & Stocks (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Bonds & Stocks (Coursera)

In this course, we will apply the central concept and applications of Time Value of Money (TVM) to explore the structure and pricing of stocks and bonds at an introductory level. In this course, you will learn about bonds, different types of bonds (Zero Coupon bonds, Government bonds). You will learn about bond pricing calculations and see their direct connection to market data on bonds. You will also learn about stocks, and their pricing and valuation. You will learn about growth and dividend stocks and how to use market data.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Securing Investment Returns in the Long Run (Coursera) Coursera
University of Geneva

Securing Investment Returns in the Long Run (Coursera)

In this course, you will learn about the famous dichotomy between active and passive investing, how to appropriately measure and analyze investment performance and what the future trends in the investment management industry are. You will first learn about absolute and relative performance, risk-adjusted returns and how to decompose investment performance. The focus will then shift to the two main categories of investment vehicles, active and passive funds, and what they entail in terms of expected performance.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Trading Algorithms (Coursera) Coursera
Indian School of Business - ISB

Trading Algorithms (Coursera)

This course covers two of the seven trading strategies that work in emerging markets. The seven include strategies based on momentum, momentum crashes, price reversal, persistence of earnings, quality of earnings, underlying business growth, behavioral biases and textual analysis of business reports about the company.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Business Economics and Game Theory for Decision Making (Coursera) Coursera
Illinois Tech

Business Economics and Game Theory for Decision Making (Coursera)

Good decision making and strategy do not exist in isolation: the success and profitability of a business depend not only on the organization’s own strategic moves but also on those that other firms make, especially competitors. Understanding the strategic linkages among firms can therefore be immensely valuable. Economics and Game theory offer tools that can specifically enhance one's understanding and ability to exploit such strategic linkages. This course will cover one of the most crucial decisions that a firm offering a differentiated product needs to make – how to price its product.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Sales Training: Sales Team Management (Coursera) Coursera
HubSpot Academy

Sales Training: Sales Team Management (Coursera)

In this course, you will learn how to define your target market, create a scalable sales process, and build training, coaching, hiring, and onboarding programs to help your sales team grow better. Whether you're already managing a sales team, or aspire to manage one at some point in your career, this course will explain what's involved when it comes to setting up a sales process, coaching your team, hiring new team members, and getting those team members up to speed as fast as possible.

Jun 22nd 2026
2 Weeks
Financial Markets and Instruments (Coursera) Coursera
Yunus Social Business Fund Bengaluru

Financial Markets and Instruments (Coursera)

This course is part of a Specialization titled “Strategy and Finance for a Lifecycle of a Social Business”. The beauty of a modern decision-making framework is that it can be used to understand value creation at any level – the individual or business or societal. The applications however become increasingly complex as your lens expands from the individual to the corporate/nonprofit to the global society.

Jun 24th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Firm Level Economics: Consumer and Producer Behavior (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Firm Level Economics: Consumer and Producer Behavior (Coursera)

All goods and services are subject to scarcity at some level. Scarcity means that society must develop some allocation mechanism – rules to determine who gets what. Over recorded history, these allocation rules were usually command based – the king or the emperor would decide. In contemporary times, most countries have turned to market based allocation systems. In markets, prices act as rationing devices, encouraging or discouraging production and encouraging or discouraging consumption in such a way as to find an equilibrium allocation of resources.

Jun 15th 2026
4 Weeks
Los portafolios y las inversiones en el mercado de capitales (Coursera) Coursera
Universidad de los Andes

Los portafolios y las inversiones en el mercado de capitales (Coursera)

En la medida en que las personas o las entidades requieren invertir sus posiciones de liquidez en el mercado de capitales se hace necesario estudiar los activos financieros y entender el funcionamiento del mercado de valores para tomar decisiones informadas y sustentadas que permitan a los inversionistas decidir adecuadamente los niveles de riesgo-retorno que se desea tomar. Este curso aborda la idea principal de la diversificación vía la conformación de portafolio de inversión con el objetivo de maximizar la rentabilidad minimizando el riesgo.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks