Securities Analysts : Job Prospects & Career Options
A securities analysts job involves
a lot of reading, research, meeting people, writing etc. The analyst has
to study company history, and about its products and services. He
or she may do so by referring books and trade publications, financial
reports, by studying the public records of the company, or by participating
in public conference calls or using reference services like Standard and
Poor's Outlook etc. Based on this preliminary research, the analyst may
shortlist companies in a particular industry he or she is dealing with
and then proceed to study the same thoroughly. Analysts usually study
an entire industry, observing and assessing the current trends in business
practices and industry competition. They must keep abreast of new regulations
and policies that may affect the industry as well as monitor the changes
taking place in the economy, as such happenings affect the earnings of
the companies.
Once the analyst has short listed companies which promise to
be good investment opportunities, the next step is meeting the top management
of the concerned companies and gathering detailed information about them.
After having collected detailed information about companies the analyst
has to prepare a report on the company.
Analysts may use spreadsheet and statistical software packages to analyze
financial data, spot trends and develop forecasts, write reports and make
presentations. A major and important part of an analyst's job is writing
reports. The report should be lucid, concise and persuasive. The report
consists of a description of the business and the company's investment
potential and it may also project future earnings. The analyst may summarize
the report with ratings such as "buy", "sell", "over
perform", "hold" etc. Once the report is ready the analyst
has to use his/ her marketing skills to sell his/ her services to traders,
brokers and investors by making recommendations about investing opportunities
and convincing them to buy or sell the concerned stocks and securities.
Success in this field depends on performance or reputation. If an analyst's
judgment is consistently correct which means they are profitable, his/her
performance record as well as reputation gets a boost. The more outstanding
performance record an analyst has, the more successful he/or she can be
and success in this field translates to good pay packets and compensation
too.
An analysts work is very time consuming in that analysts are
required to put in long work hours. They need to travel a lot- visiting
companies, attending conferences, conventions and tradeshows. Their work
requires constant attention and is quite demanding and absorbing. They
need to take quick decisions as the stock market may fluctuate and thus
need to keep cool in situations where the markets may turn bearish.
Analysts can work their way up to become senior financial analysts or
associates after 3 or 4 years of work at some firm. They can progress
to become investment bankers, investment advisors or financial consultants.
Some may even become portfolio analysts and further become portfolio managers.
Portfolio managers however require licensing from SEBI.
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