[MUSIC] Hi, I'm Sean Pinder from the Department of Finance at the University of Melbourne. Welcome to Corporate Financial Decision-Making for Value Creation. The third in the four course Essentials of Corporate Financial Analysis & Decision-Making Specialization, presented by the University of Melbourne in partnership with BNY Mellon. Every second of every day, senior managers of large listed firms are making decisions that will have a significant impact upon its employees, customers, creditors, as well as their own shareholders. This course will consider the four key categories of decisions faced by firms. Firstly, how does the company decide which of the many projects and offers they should invest in? Secondly, how might they fund such investments using a mix of debt and equity. And further, what proportion of profits generated should be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends. Turning our attention to influences outside the firm, we next ask, when does it make sense to invest externally through takeovers, mergers, and acquisitions? Or alternatively, when should the firm restructure its operations via spin-offs, divestitures, and equity carve-outs. Finally, we consider the many different ways that firms might choose to manage risk using derivative securities such as options, forwards, and futures contracts. And we answer the question, how can risk management actually create value for the firm? Together with our partners at BNY Mellon, we here at the University of Melbourne are genuinely proud to present you with this course, Corporate Financial Decision-Making for Value Creation. And we have no doubt that you will find it simultaneously interesting, challenging and insightful. I'll see you on the forums. [MUSIC]