I majored in biochemistry in college. After graduation, I entered the research department of a large bargaining fund company. Because of my educational background, I was assigned to work for a senior pharmaceutical analyst. The daily work begins with reading the Wall Street Journal and browsing the daily analysis of stockbrokers. Sometimes it is necessary to revise the forecast income and discuss possible transactions with the portfolio manager. The rest of the time is mainly used to analyze the company and predict revenue and profit. I often meet senior drug analysts in stock brokerage companies, and we regularly observe the management of the company together. Prepare for the chartered financial analyst exam in the evening. Because I haven't studied finance in college, this exam is more challenging for me. I hope I can eventually be promoted from research analyst to portfolio manager.
Richard Gradley, project financing of large energy companies.
After graduating from college, I worked in the finance department of a large energy company. In the first year, I mainly helped to analyze the capital investment plan, and later transferred to the project finance team, mainly responsible for analyzing independent energy projects around the world. Recently, I am busy with the preparation plan of a new company to build and operate a large power plant in Southeast Asia. We have established the electronic data model of the project to prove the feasibility of the project. We must also check whether all contracts with the construction unit, operators and providers are ready before we can arrange bank loans for the project. Albert Rodriguez, merger and marketing department of a big bank in new york.
I majored in finance in college and joined a bank after graduation. In the first six months, I received training from various departments of the company. Just before the Brazilian crisis broke out, I was assigned to the Latin American Department. At that time, the interest rate rose to nearly 50% and the currency depreciated by 40%. Everyone is trying to figure out what will happen next and how it will affect our business. My job is mainly to conduct economic analysis and evaluate the development prospect of banking business. We have many opportunities to work abroad, and I really hope to work in one of the Latin American branches, such as Argentina and Brazil.
Sherry Solera, branch manager of regional bank
I completed the basic finance course in college, but I have never taken a course in banking. I started as a cashier and learned about banking through training courses and night classes at local universities. Last year, I was promoted to branch manager, responsible for supervising the operation of the whole branch and helping customers solve various difficult problems. I also spent a lot of time analyzing the credit of enterprises applying for loans. I want to expand corporate customers in branches, but not through loans to companies with poor credit. Before, the company talked about two basic financial decisions: investment decision and financial decision. Therefore, as a financial analyst of a newly joined company, you can help the company evaluate new major investment projects, or in turn help the company raise the funds needed for this project, negotiate loans with banks, or negotiate the lease of factories and equipment. Financial analysts can also do other jobs, such as short-term financing, managing cash recovery and investment, and verifying whether customers can pay. Financial analysts can also participate in risk supervision and control, that is, insure the company's factories and equipment, or assist in buying and selling options, futures and other risk management tools.
If you don't want to work in the company's financial department, you can join a financial institution. Banks are the largest institutions that need financial talents. They should absorb deposits and then lend to companies and individuals. If you join a bank, you may start with a branch of the bank, where you can make deposits and loans for individuals and small companies. You may also work in the head office to help analyze similar business of lending $500 million to large companies.
Banks operate many businesses besides loans, so they provide more jobs than other financial institutions. For example, payment and settlement between individuals and companies through banks. If you work in the cash management department of a large bank, you can help the company transfer a lot of cash electronically, such as wages, taxes and payments to suppliers. Banks are also engaged in foreign exchange business, so you may also work in front of the computer screen of foreign exchange. Another attractive position is working in the financial derivatives department, helping companies manage risks by buying and selling options and futures, which is where mathematicians and computer personnel can give full play to their talents.
Investment banks (such as Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs) help companies sell securities to investors. Investment banks also have a large corporate finance department, which mainly assists companies to complete mergers and acquisitions. When a company issues new securities or tries to acquire another company, it often involves a lot of money, and it is necessary to complete the issuance of securities or the acquisition of the company as soon as possible. Therefore, working in an investment bank will be stressful, the working hours will be busy and the salary will be high.
The insurance industry is another large-scale financial talent demand institution. Many insurance companies are engaged in designing and selling personal life insurance and property insurance, but they are also the main customers of insurance companies. So if you work in an insurance company or a large insurance brokerage company, you may insure a Boeing 767 aircraft in the United States or an oil drilling platform in Indonesia.
Life insurance companies are the main borrowers and investors of commercial real estate companies (life insurance companies mainly invest the insurance money obtained from policyholders in medium and long-term loans, while banks mainly handle short-term loans), so you may be responsible for negotiating a loan of 50 million US dollars, which will be used to build a new shopping center; Or investigate the commercial credit of a family-owned manufacturing enterprise, which applied for a loan to expand production.
Of course, there is also wealth management business, which determines which company's stock to invest in, or how to use high-security securities (such as treasury bonds issued by the US Treasury) for portfolio investment to reduce investment risks. Let's take funds as an example. The fund raises funds from individual investors and then invests the funds in a portfolio of stocks or bonds. Financial analysts of fund companies are mainly responsible for analyzing the development trend of securities and deciding which securities to buy or sell together with fund managers. Many other financial institutions also have investment management departments. For example, you may be a financial analyst in the investment department of an insurance company (insurance companies also invest in tradable securities), or in the fund department of a bank that manages retirement funds, university funds and charitable funds.
(Information provided by NAFSMA)