Become a Financial Analyst with NMIMS PGP IN NEW AGE BANKING – Batch Launch!

In today’s date, knowing every aspect of finance is a necessity, not a luxury. From running a financially stable household to running a huge company of your own, everyone needs to be able to understand at least a bit of finance. And on top of it, if someone is an expert at the subject, a successful banking career is waiting for them just around the corner.

Who is a Financial Analyst?

If we say it in an easy way, financial analysts are the forecasters and advisors of the financial services industry. Financial analysts have a strong base in financial accounting, and on a regular basis, they go through tons of financial data of the companies they work for, predict financial findings of the market and the company, and help them make the proper financial decisions.

 

It includes decisions about investing their money in the right place, selling or buying stocks of the company, certain marketing decisions within the company, and more.

Why Choose a Career Being Financial Analyst?

We all know that getting a satisfying job after your graduation is not an easy task. But the financial industry is ever-growing and one of the most lucrative jobs here is being a financial analyst. With more and more companies and products launching in the market every day, they all require analysts to recommend them the right way to go financially and that’s why the job opportunities are vast in this area, and opportunities to grow in the job are there too.

It also helps to think that being a financial analyst means they are almost at the center of all the financial decision-making in the industry, or in the market. Also, as a bonus, financial analysts earn quite a satisfying amount of money whether they’re in a senior or junior position. You can get promising job opportunities at investment banks, insurance companies, sell and buy-side firms, and even banks.

About the NMIMS PGP in New Age Banking Course

NMIMS, along with Imarticus, have come up with an excellent course model which looks absolutely perfect for whosoever is opting for a banking career or wants to become a financial analyst. They are providing a dual certification just within 24 months with the course.

First, there is a course of 11 months PGP in New Age Banking and second, there is a 2-year course of Global Access PGDBM in Banking & Finance Management.

New Age Banking Course
New Age Banking Course

In the New Age Banking course, students will not only learn the technical side, such as Financial Accounting, Marketing, Business Law, Commercial Banking System, Foreign Management, or Strategic Management but also they’ll be able to put their theory learnings to practicality with real-life problem-solving maneuvers. The course also assures great placements.

Conclusion

People studying for a career in the BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) industry should definitely opt for a job as a financial analyst. The job might not be easy but it certainly can be satisfactory for the finance-loving people out there and nothing can prepare them better for the world out there in the market than the course provided by NMIMS PGP in New Age Banking.

What are the Careers in Banking and Finance?

A career in the banking & finance industry is life goals for many aspirants who want to make it big in life. Given the crucial nature of the job, it is held in high regards by many and invites a lot of competition. There are plenty of job roles in the banking and finance domain that require carried skills sets and a degree of specialization.

A common trait in the jobs offered by banks and financial institutions is that it’s highly rewarding but requires more dedication and time to succeed in the domain. The job roles also require you to have a certain level of technical understanding that you can achieve by opting for banking and finance courses. Let’s delve deeper into some of the key job roles that you can go for in the banking and finance segment.

Financial Analyst

One of the most promising career options in the finance sector is the role of a financial analyst. The main role of a financial analyst is to collect vital data, perform analysis and derive conclusions based on their findings. You will have to do an analysis of the company’s financial performance and also evaluate the competitor’s financial standing. Financial analysts are required to identify market trends and challenges that might arise in the future. They need to provide a solution to the problems identified in the analysis. It requires robust analytical skills and good financial acumen to succeed.

Accountant

The role of an accountant is probably one of the most common ones in the finance industry as almost all businesses require an accountant to manage their day-to-day finances. It is one of the mainstream career choices preferred by finance and commerce graduates.

They are required to evaluate the company’s taxes, analyses the balance sheet and other financial statements like cash flow, profit and loss, etc. Accountants are also required to prepare the budget and detect fraudulent transactions. You can also progress to the field of forensic accounting, chartered accountancy and tax consultancy after gaining experience as an accountant.

Trader/Stockbroker

The role of a stockbroker is to buy and sell stocks on various stock exchanges. A stockbroker can either work for himself or for a reputed finance firm that provides trading and related services. Other than stocks professional brokers can also trade in other financial instruments such as bonds, commodities, etc. It is important to know that it requires dedication and long hours to be successful as a trader or a stockbroker.

It can be very challenging and initially, you won’t have a desired work-life balance given the fast nature of the trades that take place daily depending upon the market fluctuations. It requires you to be a workaholic and self-disciplined.

Management Consultants

The role of a management consultant is very dynamic and requires you to have a proper understanding of the industries that you are targeting. It has a very broad spectrum and covers a range of things including performance evaluation and maximizing profits for businesses. The role of a management consultant is highly rewarding as you can earn a lot more than just your annual salaries. You need to have problem-solving and good communication skills to succeed in this field. Also, a master’s degree is a requirement by most companies who hire management consultants.

Business Analyst

The roles and responsibilities of a business analyst are very similar to that of a financial analyst. They are required to do comprehensive industry analysis and identify the challenges related to the business’s operations and technology. They act as a connecting link between the business and technology department of the organization.

Section 7: Why The Government Took This Step Against the RBI

 
Recently national media of India reported a somewhat unusual occurrence – the central government, for the very first time in history used Section 7 of the RBI act. This unprecedented move has scholars and analysts are expressing their concerns over its repercussions. Before delving into the reasons for this occurrence, let’s consider what the section 7 of RBI Act is about.
Section 7 of RBI Act
The Reserve Bank of India was established in 1935. RBI operates in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India Act,1934. In general, RBI is an independent institution which takes decisions on its own. The government has a very little role in the decision-making process of the Indian central bank. However, there are some provisions in the RBI Act which enable the government to interfere with the decisions of RBI. These provisions are contained in section 7 of the act.
According to section 7 of the RBI Act, the central government can give directions to the Bank in the consideration of public interest. Subject to any such directions, the general superintendence and direction of the operations and business of the Bank shall be consigned to a Central Board of Directors which may exercise all authorities and do all acts and things which may be executed or done by the Banking courses and tools. 
Clearly, this section authorises the central government to issue directions in public interest to RBI. But It should be noted that since the time of its creation, such an incident has never happened.
Why Section 7 Was Invoked
RBI and government have been at loggerheads for a while now. The government wanted to ease the lending rules for banks under the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework. This move was aimed to reduce the pressure on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). But, the bank believed that such a move would result in the undoing of all the clean-up efforts. The dispute over the liquidity of NBFCs was another chapter in this series. The government wanted to increase the liquidity for NBFCs. But, the RBI insisted on keeping the same level since the banking system was maintaining steady borrowing costs. The media reported that government and RBI were having disagreements over huge number other important issues too. Classification of non-performing assets and setting up a payments regulator independent of RBI were some of the other issues that were bones of contention.
While this tension was building up, a court order was issued allowing the government to consider giving directions to RBI under section 7 of RBI Act in a case related to independent power producers. This instantly opened a path for the central government to go around the RBIs opinion and initiate their wishes.
This part of the RBI Act survived the dark days of 1991 and the global crisis of 2008 without being invoked. There are many scholars with an opinion that such an intervention from the government will not only set a lax precedent for further governmental influence, but also worry that the RBI’s decisions have come to be disvalued. They also believe that the autonomy of the Reserve Bank should be kept consistent.
While the government might have made these bold decisions in the belief that the changes requested to the RBI’s modus operandi might have positive impact on businesses and therefore the citizens, the far-reaching consequences of this action are yet to be determined.

Initial Public Offer – Role of Prospectus

When we talk about capital markets, one of the most important feature that I can think of is of ‘Capital Raising’ – after all most of the companies do need capital to invest for their long term prospects. Companies can raise it by issuing two types of instruments – Equities and Bonds, as learned in the financial analyst course.

The issuance is done via a process called Initial Public Offer. As part of the process, companies need to prepare a document called a Prospectus.

A prospectus is a legal document (filed with the regulator of the respective country) that is an invitation to the general public to buy securities from the company. As a document, it contains a lot of information about the company – from the history to its present – including the reason for raising capital. In other words, the main aim for such a document is to help all potential investors in making an informed investment decision on whether they should or shouldn’t invest in the company. Prospectus’ are generally very lengthy as they need to contain all the requisite information (can run into 700+ pages).

Some of the main sections of a prospectus include:

  • Product/Services of the company
  • Its financials (assets, liabilities etc.)
  • Goals & business plans
  • Risks that the business faces
  • Competitors of the firm and their impact
  • Other factors in the economy that will impact the firm

Golden rules for prospectus preparation

  • Only the true nature of the company businesses should be disclosed
  • Strict and specific accuracy shall be maintained throughout the document
  • In addition to other mandatory disclosures, the company should voluntarily disclose any info that it deems to be
    a fair representation of itself

In case there have identified any misstatements during the invitation to the public, the directors of the company, promoters and people authorized in issuing the prospectus will be liable to punishments/penalties and fines (all three if you ‘really’ lucky). There have been many lawsuits that have been brought by the Registrar of companies incase companies have not utilized or mis-utilized any of the proceeds from the IPO .

There are two main types of prospectuses, as learned in certification courses in finance.

  • The preliminary prospectus is the first offering document provided by a securities issuer. Some lettering on the front cover is printed in red, which results in the use of the nickname “red herring” for this document
  • The final prospectus is printed after the deal has been made effective and can be offered for sale, and supersedes the preliminary prospectus. It contains finalized background information including such details as the exact number of shares/certificates issued and the precise offering price

Let’s now look at a recent IPO (Interglobe Aviation Limited) and review a bit of the information provided

  • At the start, they have provided the date on which the company was formed (Jan 13, 2004) and the date on which they renamed themselves
  • The IPO will help them raise capital with a value of Rs 1,272.20crs and additional sale of 26,112,000 equity shares by the promoters
  • Refer to the risks of the issue, general risks and the responsibility of the company in the issue
  • The Global book runners and lead managers of the issue (Citi Global Markets, JPM India, Barclays bank, Kotak Bank and UBS)
  • The registrar of the issue is Karvy Computershare Pvt Ltd.
  • Since the capital is being raised for future investments, the company also includes statements such “Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are not a guarantee of future performance”
  • Some of the risks that could derail the company include:
  • How effectively we apply the low-cost air carrier model to the markets in which we operate or plan to
  • Operate and how successful we are in implementing our growth strategy
  • Inability to profitably expand to new routes
  • Inability to continue to negotiate reduced prices in future aircraft purchases
  • Significant amount of debt that we have taken and which we may take in the future to finance the acquisition of aircraft and our expansion plans
  • Availability of fuel and internationally prevailing fuel price including taxes
  • Depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar
  • Event of an emergency, accident or incident involving our aircraft or personnel
  • Inability to obtain regulatory approvals in the future or maintain or renew our existing regulatory approvals

They go into detail and list of 68 risks that can affect a company. If you observe, any of the above statements can easily come true and have a major impact on the company. But such information has to be provided to the investors. This comes back to a point which I had mentioned earlier – ‘help all potential investors in making informed investment decisions’

The prospectus also refers to all litigation cases (for and against the company).

Overall, the role of a prospectus is crucial as it lists both the positives and as well as the negatives that a company can offer to the public. This will therefore provide a clear cut idea to help investors decide if they are willing to invest in the company.