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Become A Senior Finance Analyst

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Working As A Senior Finance Analyst

  • Analyzing Data or Information
  • Getting Information
  • Interacting With Computers
  • Processing Information
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

  • Deal with People

  • Mostly Sitting

  • Repetitive

  • $76,146

    Average Salary

What Does A Senior Finance Analyst Do

Financial analysts provide guidance to businesses and individuals making investment decisions. They assess the performance of stocks, bonds, and other types of investments.

Duties

Financial analysts typically do the following:

  • Recommend individual investments and collections of investments, which are known as portfolios
  • Evaluate current and historical financial data
  • Study economic and business trends
  • Examine a company’s financial statements to determine its value
  • Meet with company officials to gain better insight into the company’s prospects
  • Assess the strength of the management team
  • Prepare written reports

Financial analysts evaluate investment opportunities. They work in banks, pension funds, mutual funds, securities firms, insurance companies, and other businesses. Financial analysts are also called securities analysts and investment analysts.

Financial analysts can be divided into two categories: buy-side analysts and sell-side analysts.

  • Buy-side analysts develop investment strategies for companies that have a lot of money to invest. These companies, called institutional investors, include mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, independent money managers, and nonprofit organizations with large endowments, such as some universities.
  • Sell-side analysts advise financial services sales agents who sell stocks, bonds, and other investments.

Some analysts work for the business media or other research houses, which are independent from the buy and sell side.

Financial analysts generally focus on trends affecting a specific industry, geographical region, or type of product. For example, an analyst may focus on a subject area such as the energy industry, a world region such as Eastern Europe, or the foreign exchange market. They must understand how new regulations, policies, and political and economic trends may affect investments.

Investing is becoming more global, and some financial analysts specialize in a particular country or region. Companies want those financial analysts to understand the language, culture, business environment, and political conditions in the country or region that they cover.

The following are examples of types of financial analysts:

Portfolio managers select the mix of products, industries, and regions for their company’s investment portfolio. These managers are responsible for the overall performance of the portfolio. They are also expected to explain investment decisions and strategies in meetings with stakeholders.

Fund managers work exclusively with hedge funds or mutual funds. Both fund and portfolio managers frequently make buy or sell decisions in reaction to quickly changing market conditions.

Ratings analysts evaluate the ability of companies or governments to pay their debts, including bonds. On the basis of their evaluation, a management team rates the risk of a company or government not being able to repay its bonds.

Risk analysts evaluate the risk in investment decisions and determine how to manage unpredictability and limit potential losses. This job is carried out by making investment decisions such as selecting dissimilar stocks or having a combination of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds in a portfolio.

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How To Become A Senior Finance Analyst

Financial analysts typically must have a bachelor’s degree, but a master’s degree is often required for advanced positions.

Education

Most positions require a bachelor’s degree. A number of fields of study provide appropriate preparation, including accounting, economics, finance, statistics, and mathematics. For advanced positions, employers often require a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) or a master’s degree in finance. Knowledge of options pricing, bond valuation, and risk management are important.

Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the main licensing organization for the securities industry. It requires licenses for many financial analyst positions. Most of the licenses require sponsorship by an employer, so companies do not expect individuals to have these licenses before starting a job.

Certification is often recommended by employers and can improve the chances for advancement. An example is the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification from the CFA Institute. Financial analysts can become CFA certified if they have a bachelor’s degree, 4 years of qualified work experience, and pass three exams. Financial analysts can also become certified in their field of specialty.

Advancement

Financial analysts typically start by specializing in a specific investment field. As they gain experience, they can become portfolio managers, who select the mix of investments for a company’s portfolio. They can also become fund managers, who manage large investment portfolios for individual investors. A master’s degree in finance or business administration can improve an analyst’s chances of advancing to one of these positions.

Important Qualities

Analytical skills. Financial analysts must process a range of information in finding profitable investments.

Communication skills. Financial analysts must explain their recommendations to clients in clear language that clients can easily understand.

Computer skills. Financial analysts must be adept at using software packages to analyze financial data, see trends, create portfolios, and make forecasts.

Decisionmaking skills. Financial analysts must provide a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell a security.

Detail oriented. Financial analysts must pay attention to details when reviewing possible investments, as small issues may have large implications for the health of an investment.

Math skills. Financial analysts use mathematical skills when estimating the value of financial securities. 

To be successful, financial analysts must be motivated to seek out obscure information that may be important to the investment. Many work independently and must have self-confidence in their judgment.

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Senior Finance Analyst jobs

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Senior Finance Analyst Career Paths

Senior Finance Analyst

Senior Finance Analyst Demographics

Gender

  • Male

    59.4%

  • Female

    37.6%

  • Unknown

    3.0%

Ethnicity

  • White

    73.0%

  • Asian

    13.6%

  • Hispanic or Latino

    9.6%

  • Unknown

    2.4%

  • Black or African American

    1.4%
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Languages Spoken

  • Spanish

    35.3%

  • French

    11.4%

  • Chinese

    9.4%

  • Mandarin

    8.7%

  • German

    6.7%

  • Portuguese

    5.2%

  • Russian

    4.1%

  • Cantonese

    3.5%

  • Italian

    2.9%

  • Hindi

    1.9%

  • Korean

    1.8%

  • Arabic

    1.8%

  • Japanese

    1.7%

  • Polish

    1.2%

  • Gujarati

    1.0%

  • Urdu

    0.9%

  • Vietnamese

    0.7%

  • Turkish

    0.7%

  • Greek

    0.6%

  • Norwegian

    0.4%
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Real Senior Finance Analyst Salaries

Job Title Company Location Start Date Salary
Vice President-Senior Quantitative Financial Analyst Bank of America N.A. New York, NY Oct 28, 2016 $190,000 -
$210,000
Vice President; SR Quantitative Finance Analyst Bank of America New York, NY Oct 14, 2016 $185,000
Director, Senior Quantitative Finance Analyst Bank of America N.A. New York, NY Aug 09, 2016 $180,000 -
$200,000
Senior Financial Analyst Devere USA, Inc. New York, NY Jul 19, 2016 $178,240
Senior Financial Analyst Lendingclub Corporation San Francisco, CA Sep 08, 2016 $178,069
Vice President; SR Quantitative Finance Analyst Bank of America N.A. New York, NY Aug 15, 2016 $175,000 -
$195,000
Vice President; Senior Quantitative Financial Analyst Bank of America N.A. New York, NY Jun 27, 2016 $175,000 -
$195,000
VP; SR. Quantitative Finance Analyst Bank of America N.A. New York, NY Apr 27, 2015 $175,000 -
$195,000
Vice President; SR Quantitative Finance Analyst Bank of America N.A. New York, NY May 11, 2015 $175,000 -
$195,000
Senior Financial Analyst Project Finance Advisory Limited San Francisco, CA Oct 30, 2015 $175,000
VP; SR. Quantitative Finance Analyst Bank of America N.A. Charlotte, NC Jul 27, 2015 $175,000 -
$195,000
Senior Financial Analyst Devere USA, Inc. New York, NY Dec 24, 2015 $173,850
Vice President; SR Quantitative Finance Analyst Bank of America N.A. New York, NY Aug 23, 2016 $165,000 -
$185,000
Vice President; Senior Quantitative Finance Analyst Bank of America N.A. New York, NY Aug 22, 2016 $165,000 -
$185,000
Senior Financial Analyst Merrill Lynch Miami, FL Aug 26, 2016 $104,888
Senior Financial Analyst Hewlett-Packard Company San Diego, CA Aug 02, 2015 $104,354 -
$122,631
Senior Financial Analyst Hewlett-Packard Company San Diego, CA May 02, 2016 $104,354 -
$122,632
Lead Senior Financial Analyst Biosense Webster, Inc. Irvine, CA Jul 09, 2016 $104,200
Senior Financial Analyst Visa U.S.A. Inc. Foster City, CA Jun 24, 2016 $104,021 -
$133,494
SR. Oracle Financial ERP Analyst World Wide Technology Holding Company, Inc. Maryland Heights, MO Mar 25, 2016 $104,000 -
$115,000
Senior Financial Analyst Paypal, Inc. San Jose, CA Jun 14, 2015 $104,000
Senior Financial Analyst AIG PC Global Services, Inc. New York, NY May 26, 2016 $104,000
SR. Finance Analyst BMC Software, Inc. Houston, TX Jul 21, 2016 $89,900 -
$112,500
Senior Financial Analyst-Treasury Mead Johnson and Company, LLC Glenview, IL Jan 09, 2016 $89,669 -
$100,000
Senior Operations Financial Analyst Chemtreat, Inc. Glen Allen, VA Jul 10, 2015 $89,274 -
$120,000
SR. OPS Financial Analyst BP&A Yahoo! Inc. Sunnyvale, CA Aug 06, 2015 $89,086 -
$121,800
Senior Financial Analyst Philips Electronics North America Corporation Andover, MA Feb 19, 2016 $89,000
Senior Financial Analyst Charter Communications Stamford, CT Apr 06, 2015 $88,900
Senior Financial Analyst Hewlett-Packard Company Houston, TX Aug 18, 2015 $88,897 -
$112,000
Senior Financial Analyst Pinterest, Inc. San Francisco, CA Aug 02, 2016 $88,500 -
$128,300

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Top Skills for A Senior Finance Analyst

FinancialAnalysisA/PBusinessUnitAssetExternalAuditorsMonthlyFinancialStatementsBalanceSheetAccountsJournalEntriesGeneralLedgerFinancialModelsFinancialPerformanceIncomeStatementProcessImprovementFinancialDataFinancialResultsGaapAccountReconciliationsLossSOXSpecialProjects

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Top Senior Finance Analyst Skills

  1. Financial Analysis
  2. A/P
  3. Business Unit
You can check out examples of real life uses of top skills on resumes here:
  • Developed and evaluated performance metrics, analyzed variances, and directed all financial analysis and forecasting activities for Corporate.
  • Supervised A/P employees and General Accountant; prepared annual budgets, monthly & quarterly forecasts.
  • Created sales account management team performance objectives in collaboration with supported business units and sales leadership.
  • Collaborated with accounting department to enforce capitalization and fixed asset policies.
  • Provided support to external auditors including audit in Latin America.

Top Senior Finance Analyst Employers

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