If you’re interested in the stock market (especially predicting trends) and want to make a lot of money then a career as an Investment Analyst could be for you.
Career Overview
The role of an Investment Analyst is to transfer his/her interpretation of the stock market and its trends to stockbrokers, fund managers and everyday stock market traders. They will then use this information to make their choices on their investments.
The type of work that you do will vary according to your employer. You could find yourself doing any of the aforementioned: reporting to stockbrokers, fund managers or stock market traders or researching companies’ financial performance and writing financial research summaries, amongst other things.
Required School Subjects
If you would like to pursue a career as an Investment Analyst, then you will need the following subjects to begin your studies towards becoming one:
- Pure Mathematics
Recommended subjects:
- Accounting
- Economics
- Applied Mathematics
Institution and APS
There are a number of tertiary institutions in South Africa that offer the high quality education that would allow you to become an Investment Analyst, but we recommend the following:
- Stellenbosch University – APS of 390 for minimum consideration
- University of Cape Town (UCT) – Faculty Point Score (FPS) of 480 for guarunteed entrance
Required Qualification/s
In order to become a qualified and employable Investment Analyst you will need to do the following:
- Complete your undergraduate degree, preferably in a field of Mathematics, Finance or Accounting.
- Networking and Internships. These are both pivotal to you becoming an Investment Analyst
- Networking will get you noticed by prospective employers and it’s a great skill to have!
- Internships will give you real-life work experience in the Investment Analysis space and help you to acclimatise to the working world.
Register with FINRA and possibly pass the necessary exams. Find out more about registering with FINRA.
Land that first job!
Required Skills
The following skills are needed in order to be a successful Investment Analyst:
- Confidence
- Determination
- Ability to work effectively under pressure
- IT Skills
- Analytical and problem-solving skills
- Research skills
- Numerical Skills
Where you can work
There are many employers of Investment Analysts, we have picked out a few of the main ones that we believe may interest you:
- Investment Banks
- Investment Management Companies
- Stockbrokers
- Private Equity Firms
- Large Charities
Working Hours
Your working hours will depend on your employer and how active the stock market is. A quiet week for an Investment Analyst can see him/her working 70hrs, which is 14hrs/day. Busier week will see you working 100hrs or 20hrs/day. Investment Analysts start their day relatively late (9 or 10 AM) because they end so late at night. Weekend work is also a regular occurrence.
Expected Salary
The field of Investment Analysis is associated with long hours but handsome salaries. On average, in South Africa, you can expect to earn R650 000 – R700 000 per year, or R58 000/month.
What to expect
As a qualified and employed Investment Analyst, you can expect a grueling introduction to the field of work – one ruled by late nights and crunching numbers. However, you can also expect to be generously rewarded for your hard work when the paycheck arrives at month end.
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