May 3, 2026 9:00am - 6:00pm
This training equips students and guests at Chicago Booth with the core financial concepts essential for careers in investing. Designed to support both recruiting and on-the-job success, the program prepares participants for interviews and provides a strong foundation for roles in the industry. Registration is available via Booth Groups. The course covers financial modeling, transaction structuring, and investing in sustainable infrastructure. Whether you’re beginning the recruiting process or looking to sharpen your quantitative skills, this program offers a valuable opportunity to learn directly from experienced professionals in investment banking and energy. Participants will also gain a 1 year access to additional finance modules available on Pivotal180 ($900 value alone!). Note: The in-person event takes place 5/3/2026. The virtual event takes place the week after on 5/10/2026. Topics: Introduction to project finance • Need for project finance in renewable energy. • Parties to the contracts • Risk allocation • Cashflows Debt • Why does borrowing money make sense. • Sizing loans and calculating debt repayments • Calculating DSCR covenant Project operations and sector • Renewable sector overview • Understand capacity vs generation. • Develop simple operating calculations (generation, revenue, costs) to determine. • project cashflows. Tax and depreciation. • Importance of tax depreciation using 5-year MACRS • Net operating losses carried forward. • Tax credit introduction and comparison of efficient vs self-sheltered taxpayers. • Calculating taxes due Returns • Determine project distributions. • Calculated unlevered and levered returns pre-tax. • Post-tax returns • Determining required inputs to achieve desired returns (optimization case study) Best practice modeling overview (discussion) • Presentation • Checks • Sensitivities and scenarios to assist with decision making. • Demonstrate equity bridge and tornado plots.
