Annual Report And Financial Statements: Fill & Download for Free

The easiest way to learn how to analyse financial statements is by comparing 3–4 like for like companies (in the same industry, similar market cap) by annual report.And look at every comparable metric on these statements.Write it all down. Investigate what it means.You'll start your true learning experience the moment you realize, 3 of the 4 firms report one particular metric while the 4th firm does not..Hmm…Why does this firm not disclose this particular metric? And it's direct competitors do? This is where your nose for BS will get developed. Firms will always try to find clever loopholes to report their bullshit. Internal and external auditors are often incapable of finding these pots with gold..

Our first experience with an HOA was when we moved to Colorado. The HOA was having an annual meeting, and I was curious about what they did, and wanted a look at the finances (curiosity). Hmmm. No financial statement. No briefing on finances. HOA is headed by the developer of the neighborhood (still being built out)Another resident asked (politely) about a financial statement- y’know- money in, money out- and got a furious lecture about how much things cost, and how much developer was having to fund, etc etc etc. But no statement. When he finished his tirade, asked if there were any other questions.I spoke up and said yes- state law required an annual PUBLIC financial report be published- where is it? Again the lecture began- and I stopped it- Please answer the question-IS there a public report AS REQUIRED by state law? Lecture resumed. I walked out.Notified the state agency that had oversight of refusal to provide an annual financial report. 30 days later we found out WHY no audited financial statement had been made- the chairman was arrested for embezzlement.The next folks did better. :)

They listen to the BS their university representatives tell them, listen to fellow students, or roam the forums online.Let's imagine a BSc Finance guy who applies for a risk grad programme at HSBC. Unfortunately true story times (endless amount of interviews…)HSBC recruiter: What troubles are we currently facing?Wankstain student: well, I've read in the financial times and the economist that Brexit is causing a lot of uncertainty. You guys must be hedging or mitigating all that risk.HSBC recruiter: what about any internal issues we are facing?Wankstain student: ehh, fintech is probably a hot topic internally.HSBC recruiter: ah, well there is more.. Did you read our annual report?Wankstain; “ehh, no”.HSBC recruiter: “so, given you applied for our risk programme. How do we manage risk within this firm?”Wankstain: “ehh, what do you mean?”HSBC recruiter: “you really didn't read our annual report?..”HSBC recruiter: “ok, ok, let's move on. So lets say as part of your risk grad scheme, you end up doing 6 months in market risk. Could you tell me what products we include in trading and banking activities and how do we measure traded and non traded risk?”Wankstain: Eh traded and non traded market risk?HSBC recruiter: “yeah, something you could have known if you read… the… darn… disclosures…”One reason why I flew through most of my interviews like a knife through butter, is because I actually read the annual reports which give a good idea what the firm is facing, and what it is they do. And if you read that market risk is using VaR, such a fucking outdated risk metric, there must be a reason behind this. Why would a bank disclose VaR? The only 1+1 in your head, should tell you, a regulator enforces the bank to do so..And then you read through the regulator their statements and read that the regulator actually expects you to do so:You should do the same preparation when studying for a interview in credit risk or any other segment of finance you would apply for.These are standard questions I always ask, and I've heard university definitions of market risk (puke), or VaR (puke), or outrageous claims that VaR is “fucking shit because we were taught at university that this metric is outdated, blablabla”. The surprise on wankstains face that VaR is actually used to publish to a regulator makes a confident face change into a grim one. Banks are enforced by a regulator to publish VaR. Banks know VaR has weaknesses. We have to deal with the cards we are given.An annual report and a regulator website offers so much information for preparation of an interview and is 99 out of a 100 times completely ignored.I've heard the standard “i read the economist and financial times” 1000s of times. Universities nowadays only produce similarly wired folks, producing the same shit we heard for decades. Students nowadays feel much more entitled than ever before.This is why I often prefer non-finance students to apply for finance/risk/IB/S&T grad schemes, as their heads aren't infected yet with the BS they learn at university.