Financial Analyst Career Prospects Salary Growth

The finance occupation is anticipated to grow by nearly 6% over the next decade according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The industry is becoming a critical element within society as America continues to transition to a much more service-oriented economy. There are currently 492,000 financial jobs in America. The typical jobs within the finance occupation are varied. Jobs include traditional financial analysts who work at banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and other financial institutions. Other jobs include business analysts who evaluate other businesses for merger and acquisition opportunities along with traditional accountants who oversee firm financials. The median salary of a financial analyst is roughly $83,660.

Advancement opportunities within this segment are also varied and are heavily dependent on the overall job. Advancement opportunities typically involve larger oversight of departments and other analysts. It also provides oversight of large pools of capital and investment funds. Advancement typically occurs when an employee shows proficiency and talent at their given role. Certain financial analysts who review investments for example are promoted when generating high risk adjusted returns relative to a particular stock market index. Other financial analysts are promoted when then are able to perform their analytical work with few errors (Gitman, 1994).

Career advantages within the field are numerous. For one, financial analysts typically make higher salaries as compared to other professions. The job also provides individuals with a strong sense of the financial markets which allows them to take advantage of mispriced financial assets. This will ultimately allow them to make better investments and earn outsized stock price returns. Another advantage of the professions is that it doesn’t require a large amount of physical labor. The job can also be performed at home. This is particularly beneficial due to the COVID-19 pandemic that society is currently enduring. Due to this benefit, employees can perform their jobs at home without risk of being exposed to the COVID-19 virus. Likewise, due to this benefit, employees are much less likely to get fired due to business disruption related to COVID-19.

The disadvantage of this career profession is that it can be very stressful and competitive. In many instances, deadlines can become extremely tight and assignments must be completed with no errors. Analytics work can also be very complex, requiring a large amount of study and education. The profession also requires a large amount of overtime and long hours. These long hours can result from the stress of completing assignments in a timely fashion. The profession can also be very competitive. This is particularly true for financial analysts working for hedge funds or stock picking organizations. This competitive dynamic can even cause co-workers to undermine each other in an effort to obtain a lucrative promotion.

Typical responsibilities for the profession are based on analytics work. Here financial analyst typically reviews the financial results of the firm internally or the financials of other firms. Certain financial analysts review the annual reports of publicly traded firms in order to properly value their stock or bond offerings. Other financial analysts help to sell financial products to investors and use their analytic skills to help solve corporate problems. Financial analysts for investment banks for example help to sell financial securities and derivatives to firms who need to hedge a particular financial exposure or are looking to make a bet on a particular occurrence (McConnell, 1987).