Best Corporate Finance Books To Read During Your MBA

A list of six books to grow professionally as an investment banker:

International Taxation in a Nutshell

Benjamin Franklin said there were only two things certain in life: death and taxes. While on the former we do not have control, we instead can have control over the latter. Indeed, in globalized world taxation has become extremely important, not only within nations but especially for cross-border activities. International Taxation in a Nutshell by Richard L. Doernberg is a comprehensive introductory guide to the international taxation topic.

Applied Corporate Finance

Valuation is more of an art than a science. Assessing the value of a stock or a business can be a very tricky task. What is most difficult is the assessment of the risk of any organization. Indeed, the relationship between risk and reward will help us to determine the worthiness of an investment. But how do we assess risk?

How do we decide what the level of acceptable risk is? What is the reward we are looking to take that risk? Applied Corporate Finance by Aswath Damodaran is definitely among the best Corporate Finance Books. Indeed, the textbook not only gives you a theoretical framework, but most important a practical one. Aswath Damodaran is a professor of finance and equity valuation in the MBA program. He received his MBA and Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles. Thanks to Applied Corporate Finance you will gain insight into the Corporate Finance world.

Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions

There is no doubt that Investment Banking is the most dynamic, challenging and rewarding profession in the Finance Universe. Although, many do not approach the discipline because they find it overwhelmingly difficult.

Investment Banking has never been so easy thanks to Joshua Rosenbaum and Joshua Pearl’s book “Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions.” The authors rather than be mere professors are practitioners. Indeed, Joshua Rosenbaum is Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets while Joshua Pearl is an investment analyst at Brahman Capital Corp.

The book shows a systematic approach to the discipline from two practitioners with years of experience in the field. Once read the book you will be surprised at the simplicity of the discipline, and you will wonder why you waited for so long before approaching it!

Security Analysis

The smartest investor (and billionaire) on earth Mr. Warren Buffet affirmed countless times the necessity to have a robust theoretical framework for investing. Buffet found this framework when he was just 19 years old in the book Security Analysis, by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd. Benjamin Graham, the father of “value investing” together with his partner David Dodd explain the techniques used over their decades as investors.

Benjamin Graham was not a professor who lectured his students; but rather a practitioner that used his firm as a laboratory where experiments were carried out. From Graham’s tests came out Security Analysis, a comprehensive guide on how to outperform the stock market. Benjamin Graham beat the stock market by an annual average of at least 2.5 percentage points for more than two decades.

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management will be among the most significant concerns for any manager which wants to make a difference in the business world. Indeed, in an increasingly competitive world, driving revenues up is not enough anymore.

In today’s world companies must be able to manage their expenses effectively. Managing expenses do not mean to cut costs simply, but rather to get the most out of the organization with the minimum required effort.

For such reason practitioners in the supply chain management field are becoming indispensable and often earn five figure salaries. In this international panorama, Supply Chain Management by Sunil Chopra and Peter Meindi is a practical manual to master the techniques used in the field.

Excel Bible

Although many software help us today to get the work done, there is no software as useful as Excel. If you want to undertake a career in the financial world, then, Excel will become your best friend. From simple formulas to more advanced functions, up to micros and VBA Excel is a potent tool. And the difference between being a good Excel user to becoming an Expert can make or break a career.

Therefore, to have (almost)guaranteed success in the business/finance world Excel is the access key to the main door. In Excel 2013 Bible, John Walkenbach a.k.a. Mr. Spreadsheet leads us into this fantastic journey of (Excel)discovery. From the most basic concepts to the most advanced ones, at the end, you will become an expert of the subject.