Career Specialities
The following are some sample career specialties which are applicable to a MAF graduate.
Securities/investment analyst, financial analyst, credit analyst or operations manager is generally categorised under the middle office role. These career specialties require a bachelor’s or master’s degree, good communication, problem solving and analytical skills. Some positions may also require professional licences and certifications such as the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation accredited by the CFA Institute.
SECURITIES/INVESTMENT ANALYST
The securities/investment analyst is a professional who makes decisions concerning the buying and selling of securities for a financial services organisation. He or she researches on individual companies to make recommendations for the purchase or sale of their stocks.
FINANCIAL ANALYST
The financial analyst is a professional who provides guidance to businesses and individuals making investment decisions. The financial analyst can be divided into two categories: buy side analysts and sell side analysts. Analysts on the buy side work for companies that have a great deal of money to invest. These institutional investors include hedge funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, independent money managers and non-profit organisations with large endowments. Sell side analysts help securities dealers such as banks and other firms to sell stocks, bonds and other investments.
CREDIT ANALYST
The credit analyst is a professional who assesses the credit-worthiness of clients and performs risk analysis of various types of lending proposals from the straightforward such as housing loan applications to the complex one like corporate borrowers seeking to finance new business ventures. Credit analysts are employed within a variety of financial institutions ranging from consumer banking, corporate banking and investment banking to credit rating agencies and investment companies.
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Operation is a fast-paced, diverse division that is responsible for the settling trade, minimising risk, satisfying the clients and many other duties.
At the highest level, professionals play a major role in deciding how to best structure the bank so that it can perform optimally. They provide advice to management on issues like where the bank should be based, who its vendors should be, what technology systems, accounting policies and employment policies it should adopt etc.
At lower levels, professionals will complete the trade transactions executed by the front office, analyse exceptions in processing and design innovative front-to-back trade processes.
