What do financial services leaders go through to get to where they are now? Read this article to learn more
Among one of the most fundamental finance skills that virtually each financial services aspirant requires to establish should focus on their finance and financial knowledge. Many people tend to think that accounting and finance skills are only needed if you are actually considering an occupation in accountancy. Nonetheless, as William Jackson of Bridgepoint Capital would likely understand, the economic industry environment is interconnected, and every single role within finance needs you to recognize the 3 main financial statements to at least an intermediate degree. Businesses depend on these economic reports to handle budgeting, performance evaluation, and plan for the cost of operations with the choice of the most suitable economic investments that might comprise bonds, equities and real estate. This is why you see numerous bankers, coverage analysts, or even wealth advisors with a chartered accounting foundation, which is primarily because of the foundational understanding accountancy and financial services can provide you prior to you specialise in your financial occupation.
Nowadays, one of the most apparent hard skills in finance would definitely include your numerical abilities. Numbers and data-driven data in general are the core of every finance occupation. As Ferdi van Heerden of Momentum Global Investment Managers would certainly know, numerous banks tend to hire their interns, interns, or pupils from quantitative degrees, such as maths, financial services, chemical engineering, and computer science. This is because, as an economic analyst, you are required to go through detailed spreadsheets that are filled with quantitative information that you will likely need to evaluate, and having comfort with numbers is definitely a crucial skill to have in this case. One can argue that also back-office roles that do not always involve spreadsheets still call for applicants to have some level of numerical or data-focused experience, and this once again reinforces the point around quantitative data being the foundation of every process within a financial services sector organisation nowadays
One can quickly argue that soft skills in finance are as crucial as technical expertise. As Toby Raincock of Shard Capital would understand, being client focused in a financial context is probably one of the most demanding roles you can ever before find yourself in. This is because customers are entrusting you with their personal funds and assets, and as a result, you need to have the capacity to form long-term professional relationships with these customers, acting as their advisors, and making their concerns your own. The better your relationship is with the client, the simpler your job will be. Such relationship-building abilities means that interaction abilities are also essential in the field of finance, particularly when it comes to delivering strategic insights and recommendations to clients. Furthermore, you must also have the ability to adapt your style when interacting with various audiences, switching among internal-facing and external stakeholders, depending upon their degree of financial literacy and familiarity.