A financial analyst, securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst, or rating analyst is a person who performs financial analysis for external or internal financial clients as a core part of the job.

Financial analysts are also often responsible for keeping track of a company’s financial plan. Analysing the company’s performance, alongside changes and market trends, not only helps the analyst create forecasts, but also allows the analyst to calculate variances between those forecasts and actuals.

It is the analysts’ job to track down and explain the causes of these variances. Analysts may also often report to management and stakeholders regarding their findings and may contribute to shaping the strategic planning of the company.

Key Responsibilities Grow financial performance through analysis of financial results, forecasts, variances and trends.

Create recommendations to be presented to management and executives Develop financial models to support valuation, planning, and forecasting Aid in the capital budgeting and expenditure planning processes Reconcile existing transactions through cross-referencing of incoming and outgoing data Conduct comparables analysis and market research to support internal financial analysis Responsible for maintaining up-to-date technical knowledge of financial instruments, market conditions and trends.

CFA – Chartered Financial Analyst is an expert in investments and securities.

The certification is administered by the CFA Institute, which calls the CFA credential “the most respected and recognized investment management designation in the world.”

The programme requires candidates to master 10 investment topics and also pass three levels of rigorous exams.