Careers in Financial Analysis

Financial Analyst general job description

Financial analysts translate data into actionable insights to drive business decisions and maximise value, they use history to predict the future

Primary domains of financial analysis

Internal (corporate) entails helping a single company manage its own money, External (investment) entails evaluating other companies or markets for profit

Primary Corporate FP&A roles

Financial Analyst, Senior FP&A Analyst, Finance Manager

Core Responsibilities in Corporate FP&A

Budgeting and Forecasting: Building the annual operating plan & rolling forecasts, Variance Analysis: Explaining the “why” behind the difference between actual results and the budget, Decision Support: Modeling the ROI for new product launches or geographic expansions

Key Stakeholders in Corporate FP&A

Working directly with Department Heads, VPs, and the CFO.

Division in Investment & Equity Analysis

Capital Markets: Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side Roles

Sell-Side (Investment Banking / Brokerage) general description

Roles include equity research analyst and M&A Analyst, the focus is on writing reports and providing “Buy/Hold/Sell” recommendations to clients

Buy-Side (Asset Management / Hedge Funds / PE) general description

Roles include portfolio analyst and private equity associate, the focus is on managing the firm’s own capital and making direct investment decisions

Key Stakeholders in Investment & Equity Analysis

Advanced valuation (DCF, Comps), industry deep-dives, and macroeconomic trend spotting

The goal of Investment & Equity Analysis

Identifying under-valud assets and beating the “alpha” (the market average)

Niche roles in specialised high-growth paths

Credit, treasury, and Fintech

Credit Analyst job description

Evaluating the creditworthiness of individuals or businesses for lending; essential in commercial banking and debt markets

Treasury Analyst job description

Managing the company’s liquidity, cash flow, and risk (currency hedging, interest rate exposure).

Financial Data Scientist / Fintech Analyst job description

The intersection of finance and big data, involves using python, SQL, and machine learning to automate financial models and detect fraud

Risk Management job description

Analysing market, operational, or regulatory risks to protect the firm’s assets