Debt and Equity Financing – Boardroom Finance: Strategy for Directors Training Course

In today’s corporate world, directors face relentless pressure to balance growth, risk, and shareholder expectations while navigating volatile markets. At the heart of these boardroom discussions lies financing strategy—how a company funds its growth, sustains operations, and maintains enterprise value.

Debt financing and equity financing remain the two primary levers for raising capital. Each comes with consequences for control, cost of capital, leverage, shareholder returns, and governance obligations. Increasingly, boards must also evaluate hybrid instruments—convertible debt, mezzanine financing, private placements, and IPOs—which blur the lines between debt and equity while imposing complex risk profiles and covenant structures.

The course “Debt and Equity Financing – Boardroom Finance: Strategy for Directors” offered by the Oxford Training Centre is designed specifically for directors, non-executive directors, senior executives, and board committee members. It addresses financing not as an accounting exercise, but as a strategic board-level decision that shapes corporate value, market credibility, and long-term sustainability.

This program equips participants with the frameworks, tools, and strategic insights necessary to evaluate financing decisions at the boardroom level. Participants will learn how to balance debt financing and equity financing, understand the implications of bonds, shares, cost of capital, and leverage, and apply practical financial metrics such as leverage rate of return (IRR), payback period, and discounted cash flow (DCF).

Through real-world case studies, risk metrics, and governance discussions, directors will strengthen their ability to oversee financing structures that maximize enterprise value, safeguard against financing risks, and align with shareholder expectations.

Objectives

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

1. Evaluate debt and equity financing trade-offs from a boardroom perspective, understanding the governance, market, and shareholder implications.
2. Assess cost of capital and leverage strategies to maximize enterprise value without overexposing the organization to risk.
3. Apply key financial metrics—IRR, payback period, and DCF—to board-level investment and financing discussions.
4. Oversee complex financing structures such as IPOs, private placements, convertible debt, mezzanine financing, and debt covenants.
5. Strengthen governance of financing risks through the use of KRIs, risk metrics prioritization, cost-benefit analysis, and resource allocation frameworks.
6. Enhance investor and stakeholder communication by aligning financing strategy with transparency, accountability, and corporate reputation.

Target Audience

This program is designed for board-level and senior decision-makers:

1. Board Directors and Non-Executive Directors seeking to deepen oversight of financing strategy.
2. CEOs and CFOs who engage directly with boards on capital structure and financing decisions.
3. Risk and Audit Committee Members responsible for monitoring financial risk, leverage, and covenant compliance.
4. Private Equity and Venture Capital Investors serving on boards of portfolio companies.
5. Senior Executives preparing for board roles and seeking to demonstrate mastery in financing strategy.

Course Content

Module 1: Strategic Debt and Equity Financing

1. The role of debt financing in maintaining control while leveraging credit markets.
2. The role of equity financing in strengthening balance sheets and attracting long-term investors.
3. Bonds and shares: implications for shareholder value and market perception.
4. Cost of capital as a boardroom priority: balancing WACC with strategic growth.
5. Leverage decisions: maximizing returns vs. exposing the enterprise to financial fragility.
6. Boardroom Perspective: How directors frame debt and equity trade-offs in discussions with shareholders and credit agencies.

Module 2: Capital Markets and Hybrid Financing

1. Initial Public Offering (IPO): governance obligations, investor expectations, and timing.
2. Private placement: confidentiality, strategic flexibility, and control implications.
3. Convertible debt and mezzanine financing: how hybrid instruments reshape board risk oversight.
4. Debt covenants: lender-imposed constraints and their effect on strategic decisions.
5. Boardroom Perspective: Directors’ role in approving hybrid financing structures while safeguarding long-term enterprise value.

Module 3: Financial Metrics for Directors

1. Leverage rate of return (IRR): understanding returns from a director’s perspective.
2. Payback period: ensuring liquidity and funding sustainability in project approvals.
3. Discounted Cash Flow (DCF): applying valuation techniques without technical complexity.
4. Enterprise value vs. equity value: metrics that matter to shareholders and analysts.
5. Boardroom Perspective: Equipping directors to interpret metrics quickly, ask the right questions, and challenge assumptions.