This guide is all about becoming a financial analyst, including information on financial analyst degree options, career tracks, and additional training and preparation.
Although nearly every industry seems to be hiring today, there are many roles in exceptionally high demand, and one of those is a financial analyst.
What is a Financial Analyst?
So what exactly is a financial analyst? Financial analysts guide solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, and businesses to improve profits, boost bottom lines, develop a financial strategy, and make sound investments.
This role also involves running financial reports and assessing the overall performance of stocks, bonds, investments, and other strategic opportunities.
The typical responsibilities of a financial analyst include the following:
- Analyze existing and historical financial data
- Evaluate key economic and business trends
- Analyze financial statements
- Prepare periodic reports
- Provide recommendations related to investments, or portfolios to key decision-makers
- Evaluate potential financial opportunities to generate profits
- Measure costs and ROI associated with marketing campaigns
Earning a Financial Analyst Degree
If you are interested in becoming a financial analyst, what do you need to do? The first step is education. At the very least, you will need to earn a Bachelor’s degree. To become a financial analyst, you can take advantage of the following degree programs:
Financial Analyst Bachelor’s Degree
After graduating from high school, aspiring financial analysts need to earn a bachelor’s degree to qualify for most entry-level positions. A Bachelor of Science in Finance could include the following:
- Statistics
- Accounting
- Business Administration
- Economics
Many financial analysts earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration or a bachelor’s degree in finance.
Financial Analyst Master’s Degree
Aspiring financial analysts also have the option to further their education and earn a master’s degree in business administration. Although not necessarily a requirement, financial analysts with a master’s degree can become senior analysts almost immediately after earning the degree.
How to Become a Financial Analyst
Now that you understand both the necessary and optional education paths of a financial analyst, what else can you do to become a financial analyst?
Step 1: Earn a degree
As mentioned above, the first step to becoming a financial analyst is to earn at least a Bachelor’s degree. Although entirely optional, you can continue your education and earn a Master’s degree depending on your desired career path.
Step 2: Develop skills
Successful financial analysts typically have mastered the following skills:
- Mathematics
- Accounting
- Problem-solving
- Critical thinking
- Analytical understanding and thinking
- Technical literacy and savvy
- Financial literacy
- Communication
- Leadership
- Running and analyzing reports and analytics
- Familiarity and comfort with tax laws, economics, and money markets
Step 3: Gain job experience
After earning your desired degree, it’s time to enter the job market. If you earn a Bachelor’s degree, you will qualify for an entry-level financial analyst position at most companies.
Entry-level work experience is important for understanding the overall world of business finance and how individual businesses and organizations fit within that landscape.
This also allows you to determine which specific area of finance to get into. For example, you could steer your career as a financial analyst toward the following:
- Trading securities
- Analyzing global markets or specific geographical regions
- Analyzing specific industries, financial products, or services
- Fintech
Step 4: Supplement your skills
Even after earning at least a bachelor’s degree and landing your first job as a financial analyst, your education shouldn’t stop there. Successful financial analysts take advantage of other opportunities to supplement their skills.
Additionally, due to today’s ever-evolving and continually changing business landscape, all financial analysts need to stay up-to-date on business and financial trends.
Certification, Bootcamp, and Internship Programs
Whether you’ve been a financial analyst for 30 minutes or 30 years, you can benefit from taking advantage of various certification programs, bootcamp programs, and internships.
Although a bachelor’s degree in business or finance is required to step into the world of financial analyst, you can earn certifications or take advantage of bootcamp programs that allow you to expand your knowledge and focus on specific areas.
For example, some programs include the following:
- Corporate Finance Institute Financial Modeling Boot Camp
- Harvard Business School “Leading with Finance” Certification Program
- Fintech Bootcamp NYC
- Finance and Quantitative Modeling for Analysts’ Specialization
- Online Professional Certificate in Corporate Finance
What Does a Financial Analyst Do?
Depending on the type of organization and industry you work in, you might work in a bank, a financial services firm, an insurance company, or a private business or enterprise.
Your day-to-day job as a financial analyst would involve working with a company’s financial data. This also includes a company’s financial historical data, which can be used to evaluate past performance and forecast future trends.
This data is used to identify potential future investments and guide the overall financial strategy for the business or organization. You might also help leadership make financial and investment decisions and build a financial portfolio.
Financial Analyst Skills
As mentioned above, successful financial analysts typically have mastered the following skills:
- Mathematics
- Accounting
- Problem-solving
- Critical thinking
- Analytical understanding and thinking
- Technical literacy and savvy
- Financial literacy
- Communication
- Leadership
- Running and analyzing reports and analytics
- Familiarity and comfort with tax laws, economics, and money markets
Job Description and Annual Salary
What are some of the career paths of a financial analyst? What does a career as a financial analyst look like? How much do financial analysts make?
Here are some examples of different types of financial analysts and their career paths:
- Financial risk specialists – This role involves evaluating threats to investment decisions, such as combining stocks, bonds, and mutual funds into a portfolio, determining how to mitigate risks associated with potential losses, and making recommendations to leadership teams.
- Fund managers – This role involves working exclusively with hedge funds or mutual funds. Both fund managers and portfolio managers must feel comfortable frequently making buy or sell decisions to keep up with quickly changing market conditions.
- Investment analysts – This role involves assessing information involving investment programs or financial data of institutions, such as business valuation. In the case of working for a financial services firm, this role can also include working with clients regarding asset allocation and alternative investment topics, including hedge funds, real property, and venture capital.
- Portfolio managers – This role involves working with a mix of products, industries, and regions for a company’s or organization’s investment portfolio and the overall performance of that portfolio. This role also involves communicating and explaining investment decisions and strategies to stakeholders.
- Rating analysts – This role involves evaluating a company’s or organization’s ability to pay its debts, including bonds.
- Securities analysts – This role involves evaluating securities markets and trends to identify high-yield assets for clients and companies. They may use resources such as bond performance reports, daily stock quotes, market and economic forecasts, and other financial statements and publications.
Like any job function, annual salaries vary greatly depending on various factors, including position level (entry-level, intermediate, or senior), geographic location, and industry. However, to provide an example, according to Glassdoor, the annual salary range for a financial analyst in Boston, Massachusetts, ranges from $76K to $106K per year.
Furthermore, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual salary for a financial analyst in 2020 was $96,220 per year.
Job Outlook
Looking ahead at the job outlook for financial analysts, this role is only expected to grow in demand over the next decade. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), financial analysts are expected to increase by 8 percent through 2032.
This is likely due to the continued rise of the fintech industry. Fintech combines both finance and technology, two areas in demand today. As a result, financial analysts are becoming an essential resource in the ever-evolving and expanding world of fintech.
Regardless of the specific career path you choose, a career as a financial analyst in fintech provides many benefits, including working in fast-paced environments with the latest and greatest technology and the opportunity to be innovative.
As a result, many fintech companies are often exciting places to work, making your career as a financial analyst a rewarding one.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Financial Analyst evaluates financial data, prepares reports, studies market trends, and provides recommendations to help businesses make informed financial decisions. They analyze financial statements, assess economic and market trends, and forecast future revenues and expenditures.
Typically, a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or a related field is required. Some employers may prefer candidates with a master’s degree or certifications such as Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or Certified Financial Planner (CFP).
Key skills include strong analytical abilities, proficiency in financial analysis software, excellent mathematical skills, attention to detail, critical thinking, and effective communication skills. Additionally, a solid understanding of financial markets and regulations is crucial.
Daily tasks might involve gathering financial data, analyzing market trends, preparing financial reports, creating financial models, evaluating investment opportunities, and presenting findings to management or clients.
Beyond technical skills, strong interpersonal skills, the ability to work under pressure, adaptability, and a proactive approach to problem-solving are traits that set successful Financial Analysts apart in the competitive industry landscape.