Message from AIF Managing Director
CFA accreditation for AIF courses

Every now and then the sun shines through in Holland. As I write this we have been experiencing what can only be called a real summer here in the Netherlands - with warm, bright days. Our latest news from the Institute is also a bright message for finance professionals.

I am pleased to inform our alumni and other interested readers that AIF’s courses have been certified by the globally recognized CFA Institute, based in the US. For those finance professionals who have their CFA designation, attendance of an AIF “CFA Approved-Provider Program” course leads to a designated amount of approved credits towards continuing professional development. More than 83,000 professionals internationally have passed all three of the CFA Institute’s rigorous exams and are CFA charter holders. The CFA designation has become the globally accepted standard of excellence for investment professionals.

AIF’s website, brochure, and individual courses will soon reflect the “CFA Approved-Provider Program” logo. AIF looks forward to continued cooperation with the CFA Institute in the future.

I wish all of you a very pleasant summer and look forward to sharing our continuing developments later in the year

Brenda L. Childers  
Managing Director

Share Buybacks: creating shareholder value and beating the market

Recently featured in a two-page spread in the leading Dutch financial newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, AIF Program Director and INSEAD Professor Theo Vermaelen has published a new book entitled Share Repurchases.

Theo will also be sharing his more than 25 years of experience in share buybacks in his new course, Share Buybacks, to be held at AIF on October 9 - 10, 2006. The course will be looking at share repurchases as a tool to enhance shareholder value by optimizing the company's capital structure, payout policy and investment policy. In the context of ‘beating the market’, Theo will also examine the performance of companies who utilize share buybacks.

Newspaper article: "De Anomalie van de Buyback", by André de Vos, available in Dutch language to FD subscribers via www.fd.nl.  If you do not subscribe to the FD or would like an English version of the article, please contact AIF at info@aif.nl.

In-company news

AIF is pleased to welcome our new staff member Kati van Tuyll. Originally from Finland, and fluent in English and Dutch, Kati will be responsible for coordinating AIF’s many in-company programs.

Kati has been kept busy from the start, as AIF is experiencing a record year in terms of in-company training. In the first six months of 2006, AIF offered in-company programs from Amsterdam to Singapore, and exceeded the total number of  programs given in 2005. The programs were provided for a variety of organizations, ranging from international listed firms to smaller companies, and involved working in close partnership with the client to ensure a value-added program.

Finance for Lawyers update

AIF's course Finance for Lawyers has become increasingly popular since its introduction in 2003.  This course aims to fill the financial knowledge gap experienced by lawyers who deal with financial terms and concepts as part of their practice.

This September, Professors Piet Eichholtz and Dirk Brounen, and Mr. Ad Veken, will also be joined by Professors Rogér Otten and Gerard Mertens in giving the course. The expertise of all five should contribute greatly to the financial understanding of lawyers attending the course.

New IPO course

The market for Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) may be recovering after a few quiet years. AIF is introducing a new, stand-alone IPO course to our portfolio of corporate finance courses.  Before, the subject of IPOs was an integral part of AIF’s ‘Financial Restructuring and IPOs’ course, now recently retired.

The new Initial Public Offerings course will delve into the inner workings of the IPO process, including identifying potential IPO candidates, the regulatory and disclosure costs of going public, preparing and structuring an IPO, alternative IPO methods, and what to expect in the longer term from investing in IPO firms. The course will begin with an optional day on valuation, which will analyze the valuation techniques for IPO companies.

Recommended for senior managers interested in preparing their company for an IPO, as well as finance professionals working in the IPO market, the course will be taught by AIF faculty member Paolo Fulghieri, Professor of Finance at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina and a renowned expert on IPOs. The course will be held on May 14 - 16, 2007.

Equity Investment

AIF’s Equity Investment course is back, to be taught by AIF faculty member and INSEAD professor Pierre Hillion. The course has had a hiatus since its previous long-term teacher retired from AIF’s faculty more than a year ago.

The course will be held during the week of November 13, 2006. The actual course dates and course outline are in the process of being finalized, but the course will touch on risk management, allocation, and other issues. AIF will inform our newsletter recipients of information regarding dates and a course description as soon as it is available.

AIF Survey

AIF would like to thank all our alumni who took part in the recent AIF survey. The aim of the survey was to improve how we communicate course information to AIF alumni and also reach new participants.
 
At AIF, we have decided not to market ourselves by constantly sending our alumni and clients mailings, either by post or by email. We would however like to keep all interested parties up-to-date with the latest course information and developments at the Institute. First results from the survey indicate that people prefer to receive (and find) information electronically - it looks like we were on the right track when we introduced this e-newsletter!

The survey results also indicate that hard-copy brochures are still being used and retained as a reference. We will continue to publish our annual course brochure, which will be sent to you this October. Please remember to let us know if your address details have changed. If you no longer wish to receive a hard-copy brochure, contact us via info@aif.nl.