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LeadAfrik
Mixed · Self-paced2026 Edition

Equities — All You Need to Know

The asset class that has compounded wealth more than any other. Ownership rights, share classes, primary and secondary markets, exchanges and ECNs, indexes and the rise of passive, fundamental valuation (multiples, DCF, sum-of-the-parts), short selling, dividends and buybacks, corporate actions, equity derivatives, ETFs, factor investing, and the institutional ecosystem from sell-side research to long-only and hedge funds.

12

Modules

~10h 0m

Reading time

Mixed

Level

Self-paced

Format

§

Syllabus

  1. 01

    What equity is

    Ownership claims on residual cash flows. The historical equity risk premium and why stocks have outperformed bonds long-term.

    ~45 minModule 01
    →
  2. 02

    Share classes, voting rights, and capital structure

    Common vs preferred. Dual-class structures (Meta, Alphabet, Snap). Pre-emption rights, anti-dilution. Why founders fight over share structure before pricing.

    ~45 minModule 02
    →
  3. 03

    Primary markets — IPO, direct listing, SPAC

    How a private company becomes public. The bookbuilding process, allocation, the greenshoe, lock-ups, and the rise and fall of the SPAC.

    ~55 minModule 03
    →
  4. 04

    Exchanges, ECNs, dark pools

    NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE, NSE Kenya, JSE. Lit vs dark venues. Maker-taker pricing. How equities actually trade in 2026.

    ~50 minModule 04
    →
  5. 05

    Indexes and the rise of passive investing

    S&P 500, FTSE 100, MSCI ACWI, NSE 20. How indexes are constructed and rebalanced. The structural shift to passive that now exceeds 50% of US fund assets.

    ~50 minModule 05
    →
  6. 06

    Fundamental valuation — multiples, DCF, SOTP

    P/E, EV/EBITDA, P/B, dividend yield. When each multiple makes sense and when it lies. Sum-of-the-parts for conglomerates. The triangulation approach that buy-side analysts use.

    ~60 minModule 06
    →
  7. 07

    Dividends, buybacks, and capital return

    Cash dividends, special dividends, buybacks. Why buybacks took over in the US after the 1982 SEC rule. The tax-arbitrage and the signalling debate.

    ~45 minModule 07
    →
  8. 08

    Corporate actions — splits, rights, M&A consideration

    Stock splits, reverse splits, rights issues, scrip dividends, M&A consideration (cash, stock, mixed). How each affects shareholders and what a portfolio manager actually does.

    ~50 minModule 08
    →
  9. 09

    Short selling — mechanics and ethics

    Borrowing shares to sell. Recall risk, hard-to-borrow rates, short squeezes (GameStop, VW). The role short-sellers play in price discovery — and the regulatory pushback they face.

    ~45 minModule 09
    →
  10. 10

    Equity derivatives — options, futures, swaps

    Single-stock and index options. The Greeks, briefly. Equity index futures. Total-return swaps. How a fund actually hedges or expresses a view efficiently.

    ~55 minModule 10
    →
  11. 11

    Factors — value, momentum, quality, size, low-vol

    Fama-French 3-factor, 5-factor. AQR's factor research. The factor zoo and the replication crisis. What survives, what was data-mined.

    ~50 minModule 11
    →
  12. 12

    The equity ecosystem — sell-side, buy-side, alts

    Sell-side research and the MiFID II unbundling. Long-only funds. Hedge funds (long/short, event-driven, quant). Activists. ETFs. How everyone plays a role around the table.

    ~50 minModule 12
    →

How to use this course

Start with module 01 if the material is new; skip ahead if you have prior exposure. Each module is self-contained but the arc is sequential — the projects in the final module assume the toolkit from modules 1-11. Every module ends with key takeaways and a curated further-reading list with primary sources.