Emerging economies, fueled by digital adoption, a growing middle class and urbanization, are full of unrealized growth potential. With potential risks and rewards fluctuating daily – and even hourly – investors and financial professionals must grasp the complexities to navigate volatile markets.

“It is truly a universal global challenge, as well as an opportunity,” said Andrew Karolyi, the Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and author of the university’s Emerging Markets online certificate program. “Emerging markets have unrealized growth potential because they have inadequate capital to fuel growth.”

These markets, often referred to as the E20 – or with a more narrow scope, the BRICS countries – are barred from joining the “elite” group of developed countries in terms of GDP per capita, financial infrastructure and life expectancy rates because of a lack of foreign investments that would fund further development.

The phenomena forms well-paying investment opportunities in those markets counterbalanced by significant financial risks. Course content crafted by Karolyi and his co-authors, Lourdes Casanova, director of Cornell’s Emerging Markets Institute (EMI); Anne Miroux, EMI faculty fellow; and Wesley Sine, John and Dyan Smith Professor of Management and Family Business, covers six categories of those risks.

“Emerging markets are now mainstream; however, there is a lot of noise around them and limited knowledge,” Casanova said.

The four courses they created equip professionals with key concepts and tools to understand current economic events. From discussions of the effects of government intervention on the frequency and success of greenfield and M&A investments to examination of state-owned corporations in China and the impact of currency volatility, students will learn the correlation between the political landscape and market risks in the E20, including BRICS economies.

Tailored for financial services professionals and individuals interested in investment in emerging markets, the program is best suited for those with a foundational grasp of data statistics and business terminology.

Enrollment is now open for the Cornell’s Emerging Markets certificate program. Learn more about the program online.