Equity Research Jobs

 

 

Equity research jobs basically involve analyzing companies to find profitable investment opportunities. Although proficiency in finance is the most important prerequisite for equity research jobs, knowledge of accounting and industry laws are also vital to succeeding in this field.[br]

 

Equity research jobs can either involve buy-side equity research or sell-side equity research. The former involves conducting personal research to invest the firm’s (the analyst’s employer) money, such as mutual funds and hedge funds. The latter, however, involves conducting research for external clients.

 

Equity Research Jobs: Description

Equity research jobs encompass the following basic functions:

 

• Conducting research: Equity research professionals use numerous primary and secondary sources to conduct research on companies. These include talking to the management of the company as well as reviewing their annual reports and other financial statements. It is imperative for equity research associates to be thorough with the industry and the factors that affect it, in order to conduct meaningful research.

 

• Documenting findings and writing research reports: Equity research analysts must be able to present the findings of their research in a meaningful and understandable manner. The reports should be relevant and conclusive. Usually, the first drafts of equity research reports are prepared by entry-level associates.

 

• Developing an investment opinion: An equity research analyst not only comments on a particular stock, but makes predictions on an entire industry. This requires anticipating and quantifying possible challenges to the investment thesis.[br]

 

Equity Research Jobs: Career Path

Most equity research associates are hired directly from business schools, and sometimes even from regular graduate colleges. Firms usually look for the following skills and attributes in candidates:

• Strong communication skills, oral and written
• Excellent analytical skills
• Results-orientation
• Motivation and confidence
• Creative problem solving aptitude

 

Most equity research professionals start out at the position of an associate or an analyst trainee. Subsequently, they will be promoted to the position of an equity analyst, wherein they will be given complete responsibility for a particular sector. Thereafter, an equity research associate typically follows this path:

• Senior Analyst
• Assistance Manager
• Managing Director
• CFO
• CEO

 

Equity research jobs are very lucrative, yielding as much as $52,000 per annum at the entry-level itself (payscale.com, 2009, US). Moreover, equity research professionals can successfully venture into related fields, such as actuaries, investment banking, fund management and stock trading.