Global Advanced Finance Certificate

Finance is becoming an increasingly strategic function, with increasingly complex challenges. Pressures to become cost-efficient and stay on top of worldwide competitive disruption are mounting. Against this backdrop, this program is more pivotal than ever for senior executives who want to take themselves and their organizations to the next level of success.

Throughout the program, you'll gain cutting-edge financial tools and frameworks for high-stakes decision-making. The customized curriculum of six open-enrollment electives meets you at your experience level — allowing you to fill the gaps in your knowledge and explore your individual goals, whether you are a senior financial executive or in a general management role that involves financial strategy. You can reignite your career, becoming more well-rounded in your financial expertise, expanding your knowledge of global markets, aligning finance and strategy for exceptional impact, and exploring new, cutting-edge areas of the discipline.

What's more, Booth offers the only flagship finance certificate where executives can study at three global financial hubs; you can elect sessions held at Booth's Chicago, London, and Hong Kong campuses. This prestigious certificate awards Booth alumni status, giving you access to a network and resources that facilitate success.

Program Benefits

• A curriculum tailored to your development needs. Immerse yourself in the subjects that will provide the most benefit to your career and organization.
• A flexible schedule for busy executives. The program's modular format requires only one week away from work at a time, and—for additional flexibility—you can start the program at any point during the year.
• Immediate application. You'll put your sharpened skills to work between sessions, discussing results with a program mentor to optimize your learning journey.
• A global approach. At Booth, you'll join a truly global community. Learn from industry leaders and peers from around the world, and enroll in select elective sessions held in London and Hong Kong.
• Gain Chicago Booth alumni status in addition to becoming a member of the Executive Education past participant community.
• Receive a certificate from Chicago Booth Executive Education.

Curriculum Benefits
In this multi-disciplinary program, leaders will not only upskill with cutting-edge finance knowledge but also leverage their financial expertise into a broader strategic management context. You'll come away with enduring knowledge and frameworks you can use for the rest of your career. 

Key learning benefits from our electives:

• Learn an interdisciplinary approach to success in financial leadership.
• Gain the analytical frameworks and tools necessary to successfully execute mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructuring.
• Deepen your skills and gain an understanding of current trends in capital markets and corporate finance to increase value and improve performance in your organization.
• Gain the management and finance tools to enhance sustainable privately-held company growth.
• Discover a multidisciplinary, data-driven approach to optimize your firm's revenue, growing its value.
• Grow your corporate valuation expertise. Learn how strategic decisions impact the value of an organization, and make informed decisions about selling, expanding, and making/seeking investments.
• Discover the latest strategies and best practices in investments and portfolio management.
• Gain a comprehensive, integrated, and strategic approach to your individual or family wealth management.
• Strengthen yourself as a finance leader by adding strategic value to your company. Learn how to create and implement the right strategy and innovation goals for your organization, and align financial goals with the overall strategic objectives of your firm.
• Prioritize where innovation will most help your organization win in the future, and integrate innovation and digital transformation into your company's culture.

This program is designed for senior executives involved in making strategic financial decisions for their organization. The program is a good fit for leaders who are looking for a customized, flexible program that addresses their specific development needs.

Job titles include:

• Senior finance leaders such as CFO, VP/SVP of Finance, or Controller.
• Strategic decision-makers such as CEO, COO, Chief Strategy Officer, President, General Manager, President, Consultant.
• Owners and partners of firms
• Investment executives including senior portfolio managers, endowment trustees, private equity, M&A, or venture specialists.
• Senior professionals who require in-depth knowledge of finance to complete deals, advise clients, and other activities to move their firm forward; titles include board member and consultant.
• Executives seeking to expand their expertise into new areas of finance.

You'll work with an enrollment advisory team to select a track of six electives that fit your unique learning objectives.

Sessions are held in Chicago unless otherwise noted

• The Accelerated Valuation Program

  • Overview: Gain the analytical frameworks to evaluate and engage in strategic investments across both public and private markets.
  • Faculty Director: Douglas J. Skinner, Sidney Davidson Distinguished Service Professor of Accounting

• Portfolio Management: Investment Strategies for Executives—Offered in London, Hong Kong, and Chicago

  • Overview: Enhance your understanding of portfolio management and strategic asset allocation. Explore key investment management principles and the latest in sustainable investing for designing optimal investment portfolios.
  • Faculty Director: Pietro Veronesi, Deputy Dean for Faculty and Chicago Board of Trade Professor of Finance  

• Executive Program for Prospective CFOs

  • Overview: Learn a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary approach to success as a senior finance leader. Sharpen analytical skills, effectively manage relationships with constituencies, and drive strategic direction to lead enterprise transformation and growth.
  • Faculty Director: Randall S. Kroszner, Norman R. Bobins Professor of Economics

• The Executive Finance Program

  • Overview: Deepen and update your skills in capital markets and corporate finance to increase value and improve performance in your organization.
  • Faculty director: Douglas J. Skinner, Sidney Davidson Distinguished Service Professor of Accounting

• Mergers & Acquisitions

  • Overview: Gain the analytical frameworks and tools to successfully execute mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructuring.
    
  • Faculty director: Merle Erickson, Professor of Accounting

• The Executive Development Program for Private Companies

  • Overview: Designed for executives in privately held companies to gain the management and finance tools to enhance sustainable growth while retaining what matters to their organization.
  • Faculty Director: Michael Minnis, Deputy Dean for Faculty and Fuji Bank and Heller Professor of Accounting 

• Private Wealth Management: For Individuals and Families

  • Overview: Apply the Chicago Booth Approach to grow your personal wealth. You'll learn a comprehensive and strategic approach to overseeing advisors, setting family goals, and stewarding your wealth for generations to come.
  • Faculty Directors: John C. Heaton, Joseph L. Gidwitz Professor of Finance | Stuart Lucas, Co-Managing Partner, Wealth Strategist Partners

• Pricing for Profitability—Offered in London and Chicago

  • Overview: Discover a multidisciplinary, data-driven approach to optimize your firm's revenue, growing its value.
  • Faculty Director: Jean-Pierre Dubé, James M. Kilts Distinguished Service Professor of Marketing and Charles E. Merrill Faculty Scholar

• Chicago Booth Approach to Finance Workshop

  • Overview: Designed for general management, strategic leaders, and other non-financial executives, this program provides a sophisticated overview of measuring, analyzing, and communicating your firm's financial performance.
  • Faculty Director: Haresh Sapra, Charles T. Horngren Professor of Accounting

• Strategic Organizational Management*

  • Overview: Gain the leadership tools to align your organizational structure with the right strategy. You'll grow your ability to envision your organization's future and lead an energized workforce to efficiently reach goals.
  • Faculty Director: Michael Gibbs, Clinical Professor of Economics

• Executive Program in Corporate Strategy*

  • Overview: Strengthen yourself as a leader by adding strategic value to your company. Translate objectives into an execution plan across multiple units, learn how to coordinate and communicate corporate strategy, and evaluate your strategy to combat competition.

• Digital Innovation Strategy and Management*

  • Overview: Integrate innovation, Artificial Intelligence, and digital strategy into your organization's DNA to become a more resilient, proactive organization that leverages technology-driven innovation for growth.
  • Faculty Director: Robert C. Wolcott, Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship

*Participants can select one of these three strategy-focused programs

Elective Track Suggestions
Participants build their own track with their program mentor and guidance from faculty. Example tracks include:

• If you are an entrepreneur or business owner focused on company growth, and seeking more involvement in the financing and deal side of your business, as well as new perspectives on financial strategy, business strategy, and value creation, we suggest including The Accelerated Valuation Program, Mergers & Acquisitions, the Executive Development Program for Private Companies, and your choice of strategy elective. You may also benefit from Private Wealth Management.
  

• If you are a corporate finance leader, this program will provide you with the latest financial updates and cutting-edge techniques, expand your skills into new areas of the field, and help you leverage your finance experience to provide strategic and management value that can transform your organization.
  • We suggest you consider including the The Executive Program for Prospective CFOs, the Executive Finance Program, Accelerated Valuation Program, and the Executive Development Program for Private Companies in your elective choices.

• If you are an investment professional or investor, this program will give you an edge with evaluating and implementing innovative investment approaches, and grow your broader strategic perspective for further impact to businesses.
  • We suggest you include Portfolio Management, Pricing for Profitability, Accelerated Valuation Program, and Mergers and Acquisitions in your elective choices. You may also benefit from Private Wealth Management.

• If you are a strategic decision-maker, you'll emerge from this program uniquely positioned to leverage finance to create sustainable value for your organization.
  • We suggest you include the Executive Finance Program, Digital Innovation Strategy and Management, and The Executive Development Program for Private Companies in your elective choices.

As the alma mater of countless alumni who are CFOs of Fortune 500 and entrepreneurial firms, home of 10 Nobel laureates who have helped define the study of economics and the nature of today’s financial markets, and we consistently earn top rankings from prestigious institutions, including U.S. News & World Report.

Our programs are taught by some of the most highly-regarded finance professors in the world. In our programs, you'll experience The Chicago Approach™ to business and finance: a multi-disciplined, collaborative approach to help you define issues, ask better questions, and develop innovative solutions. We teach concepts and frameworks for continually generating the best solutions and applying them effectively in your current organization— and for the entirety of your career.

Our Global Locations
We are the first and only US business school with permanent campuses on three continents—Chicago, London, and Hong Kong.

Our Faculty
Each of the six sessions you elect is taught by world-renowned Chicago Booth faculty—the same faculty who teach in the Executive MBA and full-time MBA programs. Many of our executive education programs also include leaders in industry, guest speakers, and alumni who provide real-world applications to our programs.

Chicago Booth faculty collaborate and consult with firms, serve on corporate boards, start their own companies, and are sought out for their award-winning research and renowned analyses. World leaders, media outlets, and top global companies regularly turn to our faculty members for their expertise and insights. When you attend our executive education programs, you’ll learn from our faculty as well as top industry leaders — putting you on the cutting edge of knowledge and practice.

The list of faculty for each elective session is displayed within the individual open enrollment program pages.

Flexible, Customized Format
You can start your application process at any point during the year. To complete the certificate, select six sessions from a track of your choice. Electives are held year-round, with many held in the spring and fall months.

This program's modular format is designed for busy executives; programs require only one week away from work at a time and most electives run twice per year for additional flexibility. This design allows you to practice your learnings in between sessions and apply your selected learning topics to your immediate challenges.

Tailored Guidance and Mentorship
Participants will be guided through their track selection and elective process with a program mentor to ensure their specific learning objectives are met. This mentor will be part of your learning journey and will provide one-on-one sessions to help tie learnings to real-world applications.

A Global Network
There are many paths to a successful career. But you can’t get there without a network of people willing to help you. At Booth, you'll tap into a supportive network across 120 countries. You'll join a powerful community of financial strategists, as countless Booth alumni and Executive Education participants are CFOs, senior investment professionals, and other C-suite and senior leadership roles within their organizations.

Applications for this program are accepted on a rolling basis; candidates may apply at any point during the year.

To apply for the program, candidates submit:

1. A completed application
2. A resume or CV
3. A letter of recommendation from a senior member of the sponsoring organization*, describing the applicant's background, motivation for enrolling in the program, and why the applicant would benefit from attending.
4. Commitment form signed by the applicant and member of the sponsoring organization.

Once your application has been received in full, the Booth team may schedule an interview to discuss your application and candidacy for the program.

We take a holistic approach to admissions, taking into consideration career progression and achievement, commitment to the program, appreciation for Chicago Booth's approach to business education, and ability to contribute to the Chicago Booth community.

*If self-sponsoring, equivalent professional reference

Does this program confer alumni status?
Upon successful completion of the program, you will be granted Chicago Booth alumni status and join a powerful global network. With more than 56,000 alumni living and leading in 120 countries, Booth’s MBA alumni community extends around the globe and into every industry and function. You'll join a powerful network of financial strategists, as countless Booth alumni are CFOs, senior investment professionals, and other C-suite and senior leadership roles within their organizations.

In addition to alumni status, you'll receive select Chicago Booth alumni benefits, gaining access to professional growth and lifelong learning opportunities.

What do I receive upon completion of the program?
In addition to alumni status, you will earn a Chicago Booth Executive Education certification upon successful completion of this program. You'll join Booth's Executive Education network, which represents 31,000+ executives across 140 countries. You will also receive a digital badge that can be shared among your social networks, including LinkedIn.

What is the timeline to complete all 6 elective sessions?
Participants must complete all six elective sessions within a 24-month period. It is possible to complete the program more quickly than 2 years. Booth’s program advisor can help you select a sequence of sessions that fit your schedule and needs.

Can I take more than 24 months to complete the program?
All six sessions must be completed within 24 months of your first session.

Is there an application deadline? When is the best time of year to apply?
Admissions are done on a rolling basis, so you can apply as soon as you are ready to commit to the program (at any time of year). We encourage you to apply at least three months in advance of the first elective you wish to attend, as this allows sufficient time for you to create an ideal program elective schedule with our Program Advisor.

Note that elective sessions are held year-round at our global campuses; many are held in Spring (March-June) and fall (September-November).

What is the payment schedule?
A $15,000 deposit is due within 30 days of acceptance into the program. The balance is due 90 days after acceptance to the program.

I need to cancel my enrollment; what should I do?

• If you are already enrolled in the GAFC program and need to cancel or reschedule one of your elective sessions, we are happy to reschedule your attendance for the next elective session date. Your Program Advisor can also work with you to identify a more convenient session or elective choice. No fees will be incurred for rescheduling an elective as long as the request is completed 10 days prior to the elective start date.
• Cancellation of the Global Advanced Finance Certificate program: Cancellations for the entire GAFC program received more than 30 days prior to the start of the first elective session in your learning journey will receive a refund. Please review our payment policy (found within the program application) for additional details.

I’ve already taken a program at Booth Exec Ed; can I receive credit toward completing this program?
If you have recently attended an open-enrollment program that is also one of this program’s electives, you may be eligible to receive credit toward completing the GAFC. Please contact us for more information. Please note, if you have taken a custom program held by your company, that program is not eligible for credit.

What is included in the program price?
The program fee includes tuition, educational materials, lunches, and some class dinners and networking events*. Accommodations, transportation, and most dinners are not included. 

*Please review the schedules of the individual elective programs to learn more about which group dinners and other activities are included.

What forms of payment do you accept?
We accept several payment methods: check, wire transfer, or online credit card payments (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express). When you enroll, you will receive an email confirmation and a link to an invoice. We accept purchase orders.

Do you offer scholarships or financial aid?
This program does not offer scholarships, nor can we facilitate student loan requests. This program is often paid by participants’ employers; participants can also self-sponsor.

What is the timeline for an admissions decision?
Admissions are approved on a rolling basis; once all admissions materials have been completed, many participants are notified within a week.

I already have a MBA. Can I apply to this program?
Yes. Participants come from a variety of academic backgrounds, and participants with an MBA, Masters, and PhD have benefited from this program. Participants may have received a business or finance education earlier in their career, and as they gain seniority, discover they need a customized, cutting-edge toolkit designed for senior executives so that they can continue to meet their career goals.

Does this program count toward a MBA degree?
No — this program, designed for busy senior leaders, is different from an MBA or EMBA in that it offers more schedule flexibility and more concentrated finance focus. The program consists of six open-enrollment Executive Education programs that you select to meet your individual goals and schedule. You will emerge from this program as part of the prestigious Booth alumni network; however, this program does not confer credit that can be used toward a degree program.

Are there any language requirements?
Proficiency in written and spoken English is required for successful participation in the program.

Is a test score needed to apply?
A GMAT/GRE score, executive assessment, or other entrance exam is not needed to apply.

Where can I find additional information about traveling to Chicago Booth's campuses?
Information about planning your stay in Chicago, London, or Hong Kong can be found here. General information about the Chicago program experience is available here.

I have additional questions or need assistance with my application. Who can I contact?
Please contact our Enrollment Advisors at exec.ed@chicagobooth.edu or +1 312.464.8732.