Financial analyst path
I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this thread so please move if necessary. Can someone give a path to becoming one such as what education is required and experience.
I am now going to the second year of Bsc maths at university of Birmingham. I am not sure if I should do the MSc of mathematical finance. I have absolutely no experience at all mainly because I don't know which companies to apply to. Also what types of companies in the UK hire financial analysts? Such as well respected ones.
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I am now going to the second year of Bsc maths at university of Birmingham. I am not sure if I should do the MSc of mathematical finance. I have absolutely no experience at all mainly because I don't know which companies to apply to. Also what types of companies in the UK hire financial analysts? Such as well respected ones.
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Original post by cooldudeman
I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this thread so please move if necessary. Can someone give a path to becoming one such as what education is required and experience.
I am now going to the second year of Bsc maths at university of Birmingham. I am not sure if I should do the MSc of mathematical finance. I have absolutely no experience at all mainly because I don't know which companies to apply to. Also what types of companies in the UK hire financial analysts? Such as well respected ones.
Posted from TSR Mobile
I am now going to the second year of Bsc maths at university of Birmingham. I am not sure if I should do the MSc of mathematical finance. I have absolutely no experience at all mainly because I don't know which companies to apply to. Also what types of companies in the UK hire financial analysts? Such as well respected ones.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Hi there,
Firstly, it'd be good to begin by finding out which division within a bank you might want to begin your career in. The term 'financial analysts' is a little broad.
Birmingham is a semi-target if I am not mistaken, so banks do attend your career fairs. Have you had a chance to attend one yet? It'd be a good idea to do so. There is a wealth of information on this forum, a lot answering the questions you have asked, so do a little research!
Cheers
Original post by RobertJWild
Hi there,
Firstly, it'd be good to begin by finding out which division within a bank you might want to begin your career in. The term 'financial analysts' is a little broad.
Birmingham is a semi-target if I am not mistaken, so banks do attend your career fairs. Have you had a chance to attend one yet? It'd be a good idea to do so. There is a wealth of information on this forum, a lot answering the questions you have asked, so do a little research!
Cheers
Firstly, it'd be good to begin by finding out which division within a bank you might want to begin your career in. The term 'financial analysts' is a little broad.
Birmingham is a semi-target if I am not mistaken, so banks do attend your career fairs. Have you had a chance to attend one yet? It'd be a good idea to do so. There is a wealth of information on this forum, a lot answering the questions you have asked, so do a little research!
Cheers
Banks attending the respective university's career fair does not make it a target. If this would be the case, quite a few universities in the UK then would be considered targets/semi-targets. Birmingham, however, is a pure target for Deutsche Bank Birmingham, which does recruit a lot of FO professionals, although for smaller accounts relative to the London office.
Financial analyst can mean anything from a glorified accountant to someone working in equity research. You shouldn't base your career path on a job title alone, titles by themselves don't mean anything.
Original post by Tokyoround
Financial analyst can mean anything from a glorified accountant to someone working in equity research. You shouldn't base your career path on a job title alone, titles by themselves don't mean anything.
Is investment analyst specific? Sorry I am new to all of this. I would like to go into this because according to sites, maths degree is suited for it so I feel that I have a decent chance.
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Original post by cooldudeman
Is investment analyst specific? Sorry I am new to all of this. I would like to go into this because according to sites, maths degree is suited for it so I feel that I have a decent chance.
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Well, that's slightly more specific, on the sell-side the closest you can get to an investment analyst is research (equity or FICC), everything else if off target. A Maths background is definitely fine, but it is not necessary. Rule of thumb though, a Maths degree does not close any doors (more or less) within finance whereas an Arts degree might.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by cooldudeman
Is investment analyst specific? Sorry I am new to all of this. I would like to go into this because according to sites, maths degree is suited for it so I feel that I have a decent chance.
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Hold on, the q here is what do you understand by financial analyst/investment analyst? What do they do? Where do they work?
An accountant working for a nursery would match your financial analyst. A guy calling you out of the blue asking if youre interested in buying plots of land in chile could be an investment analyst.
Original post by PrincePauper
Hold on, the q here is what do you understand by financial analyst/investment analyst? What do they do? Where do they work?
An accountant working for a nursery would match your financial analyst. A guy calling you out of the blue asking if youre interested in buying plots of land in chile could be an investment analyst.
An accountant working for a nursery would match your financial analyst. A guy calling you out of the blue asking if youre interested in buying plots of land in chile could be an investment analyst.
And I guess you could call yourself a pm if you have a portfolio.
IA's are pretty specific and requirements are dependent on fund strategy OP. Start with ib and worry about it later.
Original post by samba
And I guess you could call yourself a pm if you have a portfolio.
IA's are pretty specific and requirements are dependent on fund strategy OP. Start with ib and worry about it later.
IA's are pretty specific and requirements are dependent on fund strategy OP. Start with ib and worry about it later.
Yup. I have called myself a portfolio manager in the past. The thread is in I.B and thats the only reason we assume he wants to be in I.B. For all we know it could be consultancy or simply working as an analyst at moodys.
Thats why I am asking what he understands about those positions
Original post by IB_Guru
Well, that's slightly more specific, on the sell-side the closest you can get to an investment analyst is research (equity or FICC), everything else if off target. A Maths background is definitely fine, but it is not necessary. Rule of thumb though, a Maths degree does not close any doors (more or less) within finance whereas an Arts degree might.
Is there a perfect degree for it? I'm asking because I would feel threatened if there is since you said maths is fine.
Original post by PrincePauper
Hold on, the q here is what do you understand by financial analyst/investment analyst? What do they do? Where do they work?
An accountant working for a nursery would match your financial analyst. A guy calling you out of the blue asking if youre interested in buying plots of land in chile could be an investment analyst.
An accountant working for a nursery would match your financial analyst. A guy calling you out of the blue asking if youre interested in buying plots of land in chile could be an investment analyst.
From all the research I've done,
An investment analyst researches to give info on investment ideas to fund managers. They examine and interpret data from various sources then judge their investment decision making.
They work with wealthy individuals, life insurance companies, banks, charities.
The one I'd like to be in is a bank definitely.
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Original post by cooldudeman
Is there a perfect degree for it? I'm asking because I would feel threatened if there is since you said maths is fine.
From all the research I've done,
An investment analyst researches to give info on investment ideas to fund managers. They examine and interpret data from various sources then judge their investment decision making.
They work with wealthy individuals, life insurance companies, banks, charities.
The one I'd like to be in is a bank definitely.
Posted from TSR Mobile
From all the research I've done,
An investment analyst researches to give info on investment ideas to fund managers. They examine and interpret data from various sources then judge their investment decision making.
They work with wealthy individuals, life insurance companies, banks, charities.
The one I'd like to be in is a bank definitely.
Posted from TSR Mobile
No, there is no perfect degree background, don't worry, people come in with backgrounds in History, Psychology, Mathematics, Economics, Accounting, Engineering and everything else. The only reason why you see more Economics/Finance/Accounting majors is due to self-selection.
Original post by IB_Guru
No, there is no perfect degree background, don't worry, people come in with backgrounds in History, Psychology, Mathematics, Economics, Accounting, Engineering and everything else. The only reason why you see more Economics/Finance/Accounting majors is due to self-selection.
Can I ask, are banks like barlays and natwest investment banks or just banks. Are all banks investment banks? If I looked for work experience in one of these, would it help my application if I finish my degree and masters.
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Original post by cooldudeman
Is there a perfect degree for it? I'm asking because I would feel threatened if there is since you said maths is fine.
From all the research I've done,
An investment analyst researches to give info on investment ideas to fund managers. They examine and interpret data from various sources then judge their investment decision making.
They work with wealthy individuals, life insurance companies, banks, charities.
The one I'd like to be in is a bank definitely.
Posted from TSR Mobile
From all the research I've done,
An investment analyst researches to give info on investment ideas to fund managers. They examine and interpret data from various sources then judge their investment decision making.
They work with wealthy individuals, life insurance companies, banks, charities.
The one I'd like to be in is a bank definitely.
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Focus on Research and Asset management. If you want to get an internship for 2015 summer you will have to do plenty of research though. Do you follow the markets? Can you pitch stocks? You will need to be able to do that
Original post by cooldudeman
Can I ask, are banks like barlays and natwest investment banks or just banks. Are all banks investment banks? If I looked for work experience in one of these, would it help my application if I finish my degree and masters.
Posted from TSR Mobile
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Obviously not all banks are investment banks, some banks are stand-alone investment banks, some are just retail banks, some have all branches of banking (retail, private, commercial, investment). Any financial services orientated work experience is helpful, but ideally you'd do something that is FO (front office) orientated. Within investment banks that would include M&A, Equity Capital Markets (ECM), Debt Capital Markets (DCM), Sales & Trading (S&T), Research, Structuring, Quant stuff.
Why? Because you get more 'credibility' and the work is more related to what you would do as an 'investment analyst'.
Masters is not required, but it may help, although mostly just in the sense of having a better university on your CV, hence better network as well and because you'd have an extra round of recruitment that you can utilize. Having said that, continental Europeans do like to have a MSc degree alongside their BSc. It's more of a culture thing, in the US, for example, having a masters is very rare when going into a entry-level position.
Original post by IB_Guru
Obviously not all banks are investment banks, some banks are stand-alone investment banks, some are just retail banks, some have all branches of banking (retail, private, commercial, investment). Any financial services orientated work experience is helpful, but ideally you'd do something that is FO (front office) orientated. Within investment banks that would include M&A, Equity Capital Markets (ECM), Debt Capital Markets (DCM), Sales & Trading (S&T), Research, Structuring, Quant stuff.
Why? Because you get more 'credibility' and the work is more related to what you would do as an 'investment analyst'.
Masters is not required, but it may help, although mostly just in the sense of having a better university on your CV, hence better network as well and because you'd have an extra round of recruitment that you can utilize. Having said that, continental Europeans do like to have a MSc degree alongside their BSc. It's more of a culture thing, in the US, for example, having a masters is very rare when going into a entry-level position.
Why? Because you get more 'credibility' and the work is more related to what you would do as an 'investment analyst'.
Masters is not required, but it may help, although mostly just in the sense of having a better university on your CV, hence better network as well and because you'd have an extra round of recruitment that you can utilize. Having said that, continental Europeans do like to have a MSc degree alongside their BSc. It's more of a culture thing, in the US, for example, having a masters is very rare when going into a entry-level position.
So you're saying that you recommend FO work experience? Could you name some investment banks in the UK that might offer this kind of experience.
Also I am going to hopefully do a masters on mathematical finance which on its description trains you to be a financial analyst. I'm hoping I'd have an edge if I do.
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Original post by cooldudeman
So you're saying that you recommend FO work experience? Could you name some investment banks in the UK that might offer this kind of experience.
Also I am going to hopefully do a masters on mathematical finance which on its description trains you to be a financial analyst. I'm hoping I'd have an edge if I do.
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Also I am going to hopefully do a masters on mathematical finance which on its description trains you to be a financial analyst. I'm hoping I'd have an edge if I do.
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http://www.gradnav.com/investment-bank-graduate-programmes/
Original post by cooldudeman
So you're saying that you recommend FO work experience? Could you name some investment banks in the UK that might offer this kind of experience.
Also I am going to hopefully do a masters on mathematical finance which on its description trains you to be a financial analyst. I'm hoping I'd have an edge if I do.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Also I am going to hopefully do a masters on mathematical finance which on its description trains you to be a financial analyst. I'm hoping I'd have an edge if I do.
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Just to let you know, IB isnt the job where you can just fall into it after uni or masters anymore. Competition makes it a necessity to have one or two internships under your belt by the time you graduate.
Don't do a masters because it claims to train you to become a financial analyst, guess what a job as a financial analyst trains you how to be a financial analyst. Masters should be last resort not plan A.
I really suggest you speak to your universities career team, start finding out about any on campus careers events and checking LinkedIn for alumni who have gone into the investing world. You need to quickly find out more about the industry and where you would fit in, then you need to get a move on and secure some work experience. You are going into your second year right? This summer start finding out about recruitment cycles, maybe do some volunteering as it's probably too late to secure meaningful work experience right now, unless you have a family connection working in finance.
As for investment banks in the uk, literally just google 'list of uk investment banks'. You're going to have to get the hang of googling for information there's a ton of good stuff out there that would answer a lot of your questions.
I really suggest you speak to your universities career team, start finding out about any on campus careers events and checking LinkedIn for alumni who have gone into the investing world. You need to quickly find out more about the industry and where you would fit in, then you need to get a move on and secure some work experience. You are going into your second year right? This summer start finding out about recruitment cycles, maybe do some volunteering as it's probably too late to secure meaningful work experience right now, unless you have a family connection working in finance.
As for investment banks in the uk, literally just google 'list of uk investment banks'. You're going to have to get the hang of googling for information there's a ton of good stuff out there that would answer a lot of your questions.
Original post by PrincePauper
Just to let you know, IB isnt the job where you can just fall into it after uni or masters anymore. Competition makes it a necessity to have one or two internships under your belt by the time you graduate.
Do internships get you the job within the any business or just the one in the business that provided the internship? Also should I search for investment analyst internships or financial analysis internships?
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Original post by cooldudeman
Do internships get you the job within the any business or just the one in the business that provided the internship? Also should I search for investment analyst internships or financial analysis internships?
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Have a look at this website and go through "internship opportunities" (mid screen). Let me know which role interests you.
http://joinus.barclays.com/emea/internships/
Internships do what internships do, you ad them to your cv and help you land a full time role.
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