Strategic Financial Management & Forecasting Management Training Course

The Executive Program in Strategic Financial Management & Forecasting Management offered by the Oxford Training Centre (OTC) is an intensive, high-level training designed for senior finance leaders, executive managers, and decision-makers who are responsible for shaping corporate financial strategy and leading teams through complex forecasting challenges. This program blends financial leadership principles with advanced machine learning (ML) forecasting techniques to empower executives to make strategic, data-driven decisions that optimize shareholder value, strengthen governance, and enhance long-term performance.

Participants will gain mastery of traditional and modern forecasting tools — from regression models and time series analysis to neural networks and predictive modeling — while integrating these insights into broader executive finance strategies, capital allocation plans, and stakeholder communication frameworks.

The program also incorporates strategic approaches to Alternative Investments, risk management, and performance evaluation, ensuring leaders are well-prepared to navigate volatile markets, regulatory changes, and disruptive innovation.

Objective

By the end of this program, participants will be able to:

1. Lead Financial Strategy Development
2. Define and communicate a compelling CFO-led financial vision.
3. Align financial planning with corporate strategy, market conditions, and investor expectations.
4. Apply Advanced Forecasting Techniques
5. Use regression models, ARIMA, exponential smoothing, and neural networks for accurate forecasting.
6. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each model for different business scenarios.
7. Integrate Predictive Modeling into Executive Decision-Making
8. Translate technical forecasting results into strategic actions.
9. Support capital allocation, M&A, and portfolio decisions with data-backed insights.
10. Navigate Alternative Investments and Emerging Asset Classes
11. Assess private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure, and ESG investments.
12. Incorporate alternative assets into long-term corporate portfolio planning.
13. Strengthen Governance and Stakeholder Value
14. Apply best practices for corporate governance in financial policy.
15. Use forecasting insights to drive sustainable shareholder returns.
16. Foster Team Alignment and Cross-Functional Collaboration
17. Lead multidisciplinary teams in strategy execution.
18. Build communication frameworks for finance, operations, and marketing alignment.

Target Audience

This program is ideal for:

1. Chief Financial Officers (CFOs)
2. Finance Directors and Controllers
3. Senior Financial Analysts
4. Strategy Executives
5. Portfolio Managers
6. Senior Consultants in Corporate Finance

Course Modules

Module 1 – Strategic Financial Leadership

• The evolving role of the CFO in modern corporations.
• Building and leading high-performance finance teams.
• Strategic capital management and allocation frameworks.
• Governance, compliance, and ethical leadership in finance.

Module 2 – Foundations of Forecasting Management

• Forecasting in strategic financial management: purpose and scope.
• Key forecasting metrics: accuracy, bias, MAPE, RMSE.
• Review of financial planning cycles and their integration with forecasting.

Module 3 – Advanced Forecasting Models

• Regression models: Linear, multiple, and logistic regression in financial contexts.
• Time series models: ARIMA, SARIMA, exponential smoothing, seasonal decomposition.
• Neural networks: Deep learning applications for complex pattern recognition.
• Comparative analysis: when to use traditional vs. AI-driven approaches.

Module 4 – Predictive Modeling in Executive Finance

• Data preparation, cleaning, and feature engineering for financial data.
• Model training, validation, and performance evaluation.
• Translating predictive outputs into strategic executive dashboards.