Since the economic crisis of 2008, banks around the world have been loaded by rules and regulations, while controversies attracting negative exposure have tagged investment banking as a not-so-smart career decision. But in 2014, multiple finance students have started working at an investment banking divisions at the Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs offices.
According to Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs has announced that it will increase the entry-level employees’ salaries in 2015 for the US offices by around 20%. The increase will be applicable to employees with the title of analyst, in all the departments, which is the most common entry-level title given to the business school undergraduates and graduates. These junior level bankers presently earn around $70,000 – $90,000 as pay, as researched by Johnson Associates.
The Indian job market for the finance graduates are no different. The (BFSI) Banking and Financial Services Industry is forecasted to hire nearly 8.4 million people according to the growth rate per year. Its workforce requirement from 2008 to 2022 is likely to be around 4.2 million and the sector will create around 20 lakh jobs in the coming 5 to 10 years.
What is there for you in the field of finance?
Finance industry offers one of the best working conditions with good training and development chances. A job in finance has always been considered as one of the highest paying jobs with maximum career enrichment in the job market.
Industries you can work in as a finance graduate
- The Banking Industry
A career in Banking can be divided in two parts, one in personal banking and other in corporate banking. Being a finance graduate, you can look at both of these options.
The types of jobs in Banking are:
- Insurance
- Loans
- Foreign currency management
- Investment management
- Internal auditing
- Transaction supervisory roles
- The Insurance Industry
Insurance can be classified in two groups i.e. Personal and Corporate. Personal loan deals with life insurance, travel insurance etc. Corporate insurance includes employees insurance, building insurance etc. Jobs that you can look for in this industry are:
- Insurance Manager
- Brokering, underwriting, loss adjusting
- Compliance and risk management
- Financial reporting and client advisory
- Investments and Financial Adviser
This is one of hottest finance jobs. With a growth in inflation, people need advice on ways to invest and increase their money. This is where an adviser appears. It will be your job as an adviser to help design a plan for people. The areas to work in this sector are:
- Portfolio manager
- Investments manager
- Risk assessment
- Trust and Fiduciaries
A trust is a commitment which connects a person or persons (trustees) to manage a property which they make to benefit other persons (called the beneficiaries) or for a charitable reason in agreement with the trust’s terms. The kind of work you can do there is:
- Accounting and audit professionals
- Tax advisers
- Credit Leasing and Finance
Credit financing is one where one person/ organization provide loan to a secondary party who is also known as borrower or debtor, to be repaid in future with interest. Leasing is used in relation to a particular asset, where the lessor makes some payments and gains control and monetary use of the asset but cannot demand a legal ownership. Jobs in this sector for a finance person are:
- Financial analysis
- Risk management
- Accounting and auditing
- Risk management and assessment
- Non-Bank Financial Institutions
These establishments do not take funds from the public. They deal in a specific type of lending only and /or transactions in the foreign exchange. The jobs in this sector are:
- Financial analysis accountancy
- Sales and purchase of investments in foreign currency
- Statutory / Regulatory Sector
Institutions like the CBM, the MFSA, and the FIAU handles the central part of the finance sector along with other market players. Therefore, these institutions and the Civil Service of a country provides career opportunities at various entry points to people with a legal or accountancy background related to a particular region in the finance industry. Jobs in this sector are:
- Transactions and fraud analysis
- Risk specialization
- Special Legal and Accounting Sector
Jobs in specialized Legal and Accounting sector can include giving legal advises to people in relation to the financial aspects of the situation. In accounting, a finance graduate or a professional can be given the work to manage books and accounts.
The Pay
The entry-level pay of a finance graduate in India starts from 25K and can go on to 4-5 Lac, when you reach the top levels in the organization.
The pay also depends a lot on the company and industry you choose to work in. If you join the top finance or micro-finance companies of the country, the pay automatically changes.
Finance is the sector, which is always going to be demand. With flow of money in the economy never going to end or stop, it is only appropriate to say that finance is the one sector that is going to affect all the other sectors in the market. Seeing this, the demand of professionals in the finance sector is going to grow in the near future.
Written and prepared by:
Subham Aryal
