Cutler Center student assistants are trained on key financial and library research resources, including Bloomberg, CapitalIQ, and FactSet. Below is a sampling of analytical tool tutorials created by the student assistants to help with research and homework assignments for students at Babson College.

Navigating Finance at Babson College 

Created by Joyce Wang '23, this guide is a valuable resource for first-year and sophomore students who are interested in learning more about finance at Babson College. Learn how you can take advantage of the many opportunities to get involved, access tutorials on the various analytical tools available in the Cutler Center to enhance your learning, and explore helpful tips and resources for applying and interviewing for internships and job opportunities.

Navigating Finance at Babson


 

Bloomberg  

Equity Valuation using Bloomberg - Created by Alex Bowers '25

This tutorial explains where to find information, such as beta, financials, filings, projections and estimates, and comparable companies using functions including DES, FA, EE, BETA, HVT, DDIS, HDS, and others, for equity valuation analysis in Bloomberg. 

PDF » Equity Valuation using Bloomberg

Downloading Data Using the Excel Plug-In - Created by Angan Sarker '21

Step-by-step instructions on using the Bloomberg excel plug-in spreadsheet builder to pull data.

PDF » Downloading Data Using Excel Plug In

Bloomberg for Fixed Income - Created by Professor Glenn Migliozzi, CFA

This video tutorial provides an overview of some of the Bloomberg basics for analyzing fixed-income bonds, exploring functions including world bond markets (WB), security/bond description (DES), yield and spread analysis (YAS), and debt distribution (DDIS), among others.

Accessing the Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) Certification Program- Created by Andrea Torres '24

All Babson students can access and work through the Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) certification program, which is a 8-10 hour self-paced e-learning course that provides an interactive introduction to the financial markets. This quick tutorial walks through the steps on how you can access and set up a BMC account on the terminal in the finance lab. 

10 Functions to Get Started - Created by Angan Sarker '21

This video walks through ten Bloomberg functions to help with company and market research. Functions covered include: DES, FA, EQRV, CF, ANR, BRC, CN, DSCO, TOP, and BI.

Automated DCF Using Bloomberg XLTP Function  - Created by Angan Sarker '21

Instruction on using the automated DCF template from the excel template library (XLTP function) in Bloomberg in your idea generation process.

ESQ Function for Screening - Created by Paurav Barot MSF’20

This video provides an overview of the equity screening process for identifying opportunities in the Energy/Materials space for the Babson College Fund portfolio, using the EQS function in Bloomberg.

Introduction to the Bloomberg Terminal - Created by Tavleen Arora '21 and Gabriel Papa '23

This hands-on session provides an opportunity to create a Bloomberg account and help navigate the Bloomberg terminal. Learn about how to become Bloomberg-savvy through the Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) certification program. Tav and Gabriel also explore some key Bloomberg functionality that is helpful in coursework.

DCF Inputs: Putting Bloomberg into Action - Created by Calliope Cortright '23 and Aditya Agarwal '22

In this hands-on practice, students use the Bloomberg terminal to fill in inputs for an incomplete discounted cash flow model. Calliope and Aditya provide an introduction to key terminal functions to get started then ask students to spend some time individually finding key inputs with one-on-one support. Then, they walk through the example, reviewing inputs, and answering questions.

Excel » Bloomberg Practice Template   

WACC Components in Bloomberg - Created by Calliope Cortright '23 

This video shows students how to find elements of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) using Bloomberg. It starts off with a brief introduction to Bloomberg and how to access it. Students are then introduced to the WACC function. For the remainder of the video, students can learn how to find the cost of debt, cost of equity, weight of debt, weight of equity, and tax rate using Bloomberg functions.

PDF » WACC Components in Bloomberg  


 

Capital IQ  

Basic Functionality and Navigation - Created by Ben Stegeman '21

This tutorial explores how to navigate and use the basic functions of S&P Global’s Capital IQ and addresses the key information needed for building a financial model. 

PDF »  Basic Functionality and Navigation

Performing a Relative Valuation in CapIQ - Calliope Cortright '23

This tutorial helps students navigate and perform a relative valuation analysis in Capital IQ. Relative valuation (otherwise known as comparable analysis, compco, or peer valuation) is a form of equity valuation that looks at a company's competitors’ stock prices to determine the implied stock price of the target company. 

PDF »  Comps in CapIQ


 

Excel   

Keyboard Shortcuts and Basic Knowledge – Created by Calliope Cortright ’23

Microsoft Excel is one of the most widely used business applications. This tutorial will walk students through basic Excel functionality, exploring keyboard shortcuts, conditional formatting, lookup functions, common finance formulas, and sensitivity analysis.

PDF »  Excel Shortcuts, Functionality, and Basic Knowledge

Solver: Optimizing Financial Decisions using Analytics – Created by Calliope Cortright ’23

Solver is an add-in tool in Microsoft Excel for data analysis. This tutorial provides a broad overview of Solver and explains a few use cases within the realm of financial decision-making.

PDF »  Optimizing Financial Decisions using Analytics


 

FactSet  

Equity Valuation using FactSet – Created by Patrick Gregory, CFA

This tutorial explains where to find information, such as beta, financials, filings, projections and estimates, and comparable companies for equity valuation analysis in FactSet.  

PDF » Equity Valuation using FactSet

Building Graphs – Created by Tyson Corner ‘22

Learn how to build, customize, and format graphs using the FactSet active graph function in excel.

PDF » Building Graphs 

Equity Screening and Charting – Created by Tyson Corner ‘22

Learn how to navigate FactSet, including an overview of how to get started on the universal screening, company/security, and charting tabs.

PDF »  Equity Screening and Charting

An Investor’s Guide to FactSet - Created by Patrick Gregory, CFA 

To kick off our Finance Lab 101 series, Cutler Center Managing Director Patrick Gregory, CFA, provides an overview of the Cutler Center finance lab, highlighting the tools and resources available to students, and walks through how tools like FactSet are used to manage the Babson College Fund portfolio.

Introduction to Screening in FactSet – Created by Tyson Corner '22 and Ben Stegeman '21 

This hands-on session is focused on learning the basics of screening in FactSet, featuring an overview of the screening function, a discussion of the importance of screening, and step-by-step instructions for building a screen.

Building an Equity Screen – Created by Patrick Gregory, CFA 

Learn how to navigate the universal screening tool in FactSet to identify a pool of securities with desired characteristics out of a chosen universe.

PDF » Building an Equity Screen


 

Financial Resources   

Introduction to Technical Analysis – Created by Aditya Agarwal ‘22

This tutorial provides an introduction to technical analysis, exploring how to read candlestick charts, common patterns that traders look for, and some of the common technical indicators.

PDF » Introduction to Technical Analysis

Behavioral Biases in Investing – Created by Peter D’Ambrosio ’24

There are countless behavioral biases that impact a person’s decision making and thus their investing. This guide will provide an overview of some of the more common biases and suggest some steps to minimize their impact.

PDF » Behavioral Biases in Investing

ESG Resources – Created by Callum Nicholson '23

This video will provide an overview of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) resources at Babson, how students can get involved with ESG integration on campus, and where you can learn more about ESG. It also walks through the MSCI ESG Manager database, which is one of the major sustainability research databases, for company-specific ESG information.

PDF » ESG Resources Guide 


 

Morningstar  

Easy Screening for Beginners – Created by Sarah Wang ‘20

Morningstar offers public, corporate, and academic libraries real-time access to comprehensive data and independent analysis on thousands of investments, spanning mutual funds, stocks, exchange-traded funds, and closed-end funds. This tutorial will walk through how to get started, screening, and explore market research.

PDF »  Easy Screening for Beginners


 

Pitchbook  

Beginner’s Guide to Getting Started - Created by Cecilia Li ‘23

This step-by-step guide shows students how to access and utilize some of the key features of Pitchbook, a database that provides data, research, and technology covering private capital markets, including venture capital, private equity, and M&A transactions.

PDF »  Beginners Guide to Getting Started

 


 

Rotman Interactive Trader   

LT4 Case Tutorial – Created by Alex Spinnell ‘20

This tutorial will help students, both beginner and advanced traders, use the Rotman Trading Software, specifically for the LT4 case, which is the case used in the annual Babson Trading Competition and is the first evaluation included in the Financial Trading Strategies course.

PDF » LT4 Case Tutorial