Research analyst or Financial analyst (career path)

Water Cooler Careers
#1

any insights about pursuing a career as Research Analyst or to be a Financial Analyst.

  1. in terms of job mobility (popularity in North America, Dubai, Philippines, singapore)

  2. in terms of which is more rewarding.

  3. in terms of career growth, whom could you be after 5 and 10 years in the position

  4. is there any other option that would suit a CFA aside from the two heavy weights above?

Just to give brief background of me, I graduated cum laude in Finance, with 1 yr experience in UK securities Settlements (Back office HSBC) in the Philippines.

my career goal is to have a high mobility experience in which I could use to sell my skills globally as I would like to work in Dubai (for a short period of time due to girlfriend) and afterwards hoping to move in the USA (end goal). wallstreet is the dream. Singapore could also be an option (if the price is right)

Targeting multiple countries gave me the reason to pursue on a career that needs to have high mobility.

Currently, settlements has not too much job openings globally, hence I need to move to the two option which I can say that it is quite popular in job posting sites.

Do you think that either of the above would be a good choice? Please provide me some advise. thank you

#2

If global and upward mobility is your target, there is a better career path worth considering…

#InternationalManOfMystery

#3

would there be a specific job title for that? in order for me to target it in job sites and gain enough experience so I can move globally

#4

you can’t just say research analyst vs financial analyst both terms are broad categories of a specific job which differs by company

#5

oh really?

i thought being a financial analyst is specific.

can you further break it down?

#6

troll

#7

please give advise

#8

+1

#9

would there be any specific job title that I should target if the goal is to move through different countries in your life?

#10

CTO = chief troll officer?

#11

Financial Analyst is the most broad, generalist role, in the analytical industry.

This is not even a CFA-type investment industry role necessarily – it can be calculating project NPV/IRR, reporting actuals vs plan, or other generic stuff. It could be for Boeing, or freakin’ McD, or government, or venture capital, or anywhere. You wouldn’t necessarily need to know shit like CMO tranches or backwardation and other CFA stuff. Every company in the world has financial analysts because they all need to produce financial statements and reports, and you need more than just accountants to do that.

Investment analyst type roles (equity, fixed income, etc) are a more specific thing, and pay more especially at the top end.

#12

Therefore I should better target as an Investment Analyst title?

Financial Analyst is for accountants?

#13

Yes… Financial Analyst is more FP&A and mid office although you do have interactions with management.

#14

but being a Financial Analyst is also open for Finance Graduates. I have a bachelor’s degree in Finance, do you thinkg being a finance graduate could also have a good opportunity for the career Financial ANalyst?

#15

Kindly contribute as this will help in making career decision and identifying possible challenges and opportunities to foster growth in a fractional timeframe.

#16

THANK YOU! Some time ago I was mocked here for expressing the same bit of common reasoning.

I thought it was maybe the Continental European way of defining a financial analyst. Turned out, I am not the only one who sees it this way.

It is funny but in Continental Europe the wording “financial analyst” seems to act as a magnet for controllers, financial planners and likes who often mistakenly take “Chartered Financial Analyst” for something of relevance to them and act very surprised to discover the difference.