Top Wealth Management Courses - Q2 2023

Content Coverage (5/5)

This course is structured into 4 week-long modules, each containing many short videos (less than 10 minutes), a practice quiz, and a module quiz.  Content is presented at the MBA level and is designed for non-financial professionals.  The course contains the minimal topics expected and the concepts are presented in a logical sequence. The course is concluded with a very thorough capstone project that requires the learner to apply most of the concepts covered in a real-world project.

Lecture Quality (5/5)

Each lecture starts off with an introduction of what is to be discussed, followed by a well-organized presentation of the topic presented by the instructor with accompanying visuals, examples, and animations.  The instructor is very confident, knowledgeable, and engaging.  Each lecture is brief (less than 10 minutes), which can allow the learner to study in small chunks.  Throughout the lectures, learners are presented with brief quizzes that they must answer in order to continue the lecture.

Quiz Quality (5/5)

Practice quizzes and final quizzes are offered at the end of each module. Each quiz contains multiple-choice quizzes with plausible answer options.  The questions in the quizzes adequately cover the material of each module.  Quizzes are automatically scored and provide the student with feedback on incorrect answers. The learner is allotted 30 minutes to complete each quiz, with a minimum of 70% to be considered a passing grade.

The class concludes with a 25-question final exam, for which the learner is given one hour to complete.  A minimum grade of 70% is required to earn credit for the final exam.  There are three attempts allowed of the final exam every eight hours.

Assignment/Exercise Quality (5/5)

The course concludes with a Capstone in which the learner is expected to create a forecast for the discounted cash flow analysis.  The instructor provides a formal real-world case, all financial statements, and an Excel template for learners to use in this project.

The project is then augmented with a quiz containing fill-in-the-blank questions that the learner can only derive from completing the analysis correctly. Fourteen capstone questions are then presented to the learner, with one hour to complete, and a minimum of 70% to be considered a passing grade.  This is an excellent hands-on exercise.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

This course is offered by Rice University, offering certification after the course completion.  Located in Houston, Texas, Rice University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).  Instructor James Weston has served as a Professor at Rice University’s Department of Finance since the early 2000’s; and has taught over 153,000 learners.

Content Coverage (5/5)

Financial Planning for Young Adults is designed to assist young learners over a 4-week period in developing basic financial skills, and financial goal setting. Each week consists of lectures, video vignettes, readings, discussion prompts, written exercises, and quizzes.  The content is very thorough and presented in a logical sequence.

Lecture Quality (5/5)

Videos in this course are comprised of lectures, interviews, scenario-based discussions, interview videos, and mock videos.  Downloadable resources accompany some lectures, such as sample budgets.

The lecture videos are well-designed and the instructor is confident and clear.  Some conceptual graphics or animations are used to describe complex topics, but the graphics are relatively simple in nature.

Quiz Quality (5/5)

Quizzes are available at the end of each major section within each module.  This gives the learner plenty of opportunity to reinforce what they’ve learned as they move through the course.  Quizzes are made up of multiple-choice and multiple-select questions. Answer options can sometimes be obvious, but the volume of quizzes per module makes up for this.

Learners are presented with all questions at once.  Upon submission, feedback is given as to whether the learner answered correctly or incorrectly.  Quizzes require a 60% or higher to be considered a passing grade.  Learners can retake quizzes three times within each 8-hour period.

Assignment/Exercise Quality (4.5/5)

There are two types of assignments in this course: discussion prompts and peer-reviewed assignments.

Discussion prompts, though optional, are very well written and require learners to really think about and articulate what they’ve learned.

Peer-reviewed assignments are written submissions that also require the learner to think about and apply what they’ve learned in a lesson or module.  Clear review criteria (rubrics) are provided and the learner is expected to not only submit their own response but also review the responses of others.   For conscientious learners, this can be an excellent learning tool.  However, neither the submissions nor the reviews are supervised by the instructor.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

This course is offered by the University of Illinois through Coursera.  The University of Illinois is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and was established in 1885.  All three instructors are associated with the University of Illinois as Associate Professor, Consumer Economics Educator, and Director of Academic Programs.

Coursera is one of the leading online platform providers.

Content Coverage (5/5)

This course is structured into four densely-packed modules.  Each module contains videos lectures, readings, Excel worksheets (for practice), a module review, quizzes, and peer-graded assignments. Though the content is thorough and well-sequenced, the approach is relatively complex and may not be suited for beginners.

Lecture Quality (3.5/5)

Quiz Quality (5/5)

Multiple choice quizzes conclude each module.  Quiz questions are very well-written, with excellent answer options and content coverage.

The learner is presented with all questions at once and must answer all questions before submitting the quiz.  Quizzes are automatically graded and the learner is provided immediate feedback.  Learners must receive a grade of 80% or higher in order to earn credit for the quiz.  Quizzes can be retaken up to 2 times every four hours.

Assignment/Exercise Quality (4/5)

Each module contains a video describing an assignment, an assignment description with a review rubric, and a video reviewing the assignment.  The assignments often ask the learner to perform an analysis using Excel templates and provide correct answers based on that analysis.

Students are expected to complete the assignment and review assignments completed by their peers.  While this can be an excellent learning tool for conscientious students, neither the assignments nor the reviews are supervised by the instructor.  Also, because the correct answers are not provided to reviewers, they may not be prepared to actually review submissions correctly.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

Investments I: Fundamentals of Performance Evaluation offers a shareable certificate upon the successful completion of the course.   The certificate is provided by the University of Illinois through Coursera.

Instructor Scott Weisbenner is a Professor of Finance at the University of Illinois, College of Business.  The University of Illinois is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and was established in 1885.  Coursera is also one of the leading online learning providers.

Content Coverage (5/5)

The Managing your Personal Investments course is structured into 4 modules containing 4-6 short lectures and a quiz.  The course is designed to teach the learner about various investment vehicles to build a portfolio.

The presented learning objectives align with the expected minimal course topics for a beginner-level course on investing and topics are presented in a logical order.  Learners can expect to spend 1.5 hours on the course, but there is a year to take the final exam after all coursework is complete.

Lecture Quality (5/5)

Each lecture video is short, averaging three to four minutes.  The material in the lectures is clear and easy to understand for a learner that has no background in the subject.   The instructor is very confident and knowledgeable, and the lectures are well-organized and scripted.  Professional graphics and animations are used throughout the lectures to help the learner visualize complex topics.

Quiz Quality (5/5)

Quizzes containing multiple-choice questions are administered at the end of each section.  Questions are well-designed, cover most of the content in the module, and have plausible answer choices.

Learners are presented with one question at a time.  When learners answer questions incorrectly, they are provided helpful feedback and a link back to the lecture covered by the question.  Learners must answer all questions in a quiz to receive credit, but there is no minimum score requirement.

Assignment/Exercise Quality (1/5)

There are no actual assignments or exercises in the course, however, there is one downloadable file available, which contains seven core definitions used throughout the lectures.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

A LinkedIn Learning Certificate is available after the final exam is taken at the end of the course.  This course is associated with the National Association of State Board of Accountancy (NASBA), which means the learner can earn CPE credits.

CPE credits or continuing professional education credits are necessary for maintaining professional licenses.  The learner will need to earn 70% or higher on the exam to qualify for the CPE credits and certificate.

Content Coverage (5/5)

Finance Foundations: The Essence of Finance hosted by LinkedIn is designed for beginner learners in the field of finance.  The course is structured into 9 modules comprised of short, focused video lectures, and a quiz.  The learner can expect to commit 3 hours of total time to the course.  The course offers topics expected as minimum topics for this subject matter.

Lecture Quality (5/5)

Each lecture video is short, averaging two to three minutes.  lecturers are easy to understand and present the material in a clear and concise manner. Simple and well-designed graphics are used throughout each lecture to help the learner visualize more complex concepts.  The lectures are accompanied by one downloadable PDF file containing six definitions used throughout the course.

Quiz Quality (5/5)

There are quizzes administered at the end of each module.  Each quiz varies in the number of questions – up to 14 questions.  Learners are presented with one question at a time.  Upon submission of the question, immediate feedback is provided as well as link back to the video lecture covering the related material.

There is also a cumulative final exam totaling 35 questions. Each question provides immediate feedback to the answer given by the learner. There appears to be no set time limit on the quiz.

The learner must score 70% or higher on the final exam to be considered passing.

Assignment/Exercise Quality (1/5)

There are no assignments or exercises offered in this course.

Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)

The course is led in tandem by two lecturers, Earl and Jim Stice.  Earl Stice is currently a PricewaterhouseCoopers Professor of Accounting at Brigham Young University, as well as a professor abroad. Jim Stice is a Professor of Accounting in the School of Accountancy at Brigham Young University and has been with the university since 1988.

A LinkedIn Learning Certificate is available after the final exam is taken at the end of the course.  The plus is that this course is associated with the National Association of State Board of Accountancy (NASBA), which means the learner can earn CPE 6.8 credits.

CPE credits or continuing professional education credits are necessary in maintaining professional licenses.  The learner will need to earn a 70% or higher on the exam to qualify for the CPE credits and the LinkedIn Learning Certificate.