How Can You Learn and Make Equity Research Reports?

Ever wondered how do you get those buy-sell recommendations regarding securities on the business news channel or your daily newspaper? Well, let’s take you behind the scenes to know better how and who does the magic there.

What are equity research reports?

If you want to learn to make equity research reports you are in for a treat as you’ll be explained in detail what equity research reports are. Equity research reports are detailed documents constructed by equity research analysts, the emphasis of the research could be a specific stock of a company, any given currency, commodity or fixed-income instrument, or any given industry.

Research reports mostly have actionable investment strategies, like whether to buy or sell or hold a given stock. The main objective of conducting this kind of complex analysis is to help channel investment into profitable ventures.  The equity research report provides a subject of communication from a securities firm to its prospective clients with a very precise purpose of resource allocation.

The equity research reports broadly talk about an array of things that includes the investment thesis, financial information and valuation, associated risk & disclaimer and the final recommendation. In addition to this, the equity research report digs a little deeper into the functioning of the business by providing a detailed overview of the business including subject matters like the industry it operates in, its management team, the financial performance, risks, and the target price point.

How to make equity research reports?

Creating an equity report varies to a great deal on what kind of equity report you are preparing. The general equity research reports begin with a thought-provoking headline around the subject and go on to talk about factors like target price & recommendation, stock vs. index graph, investment report summary, stock data, business description, industry overview, and competitive positioning, Valuation, financial analysis, and the associated business risk. The variation can range from initiation report and sector report to strategic and result reports etc.

Initiation reports are the reports that are generated in the very initial stages when the company takes the case for the firm being researched. Being the first detailed research report from the brokerage/ equity firm it is a lengthy one and is generally in the range of 20-50 pages. In addition to the stock details, it also takes into account factors like overall competition, industry dynamics, etc.

The industry or sector report gives major emphasis on Industry dynamics, firm’s competitors, government policies and regulations and key forecasts. It provides the client with a holistic knowledge of the industry ecosystem and peers in the sphere. The strategic or economic reports include information on general macroeconomics, the currency movements, commodities, etc. reports are especially useful for portfolio managers to take the decision on country-specific fund flows.

Broadly it can be concluded that the equity reports start with an overview of what the company does, followed by the recent performance and projections for the future. The report also includes the growth prospects and the risk associated with the business supported by some relevant data.

Dos and Don’ts of equity research reports

It’s important to follow the standard writing techniques while preparing such reports as it’s for a specific purpose and should do nothing more than the intended outcome. The reports should not summaries the finding in the very beginning. It should be clear consie and to the point, as the decision-makers are bounded by time constraints.

Time is of the essence here, the equity research reports induce the investor to invest in a particular stock or security, given the highly volatile nature of the stock market and the financial industry in general, timely updates are paramount, any delay is a strict no-no here!

Why Do Investment Banker Make So Much?

Why do people in Investment Banking make so much money? The question has been oft-heard and is as often as Excel gets heard in financial analysis. When it is just another banking job, why should one get paid so high that every career aspirant wants a job in IB?

Yes, IB has those punishing hours of 80-120 hours at times per week and do have such high-stress values that it is an accepted fact that 44 per cent look for alternative careers even before they get promoted upwards and hardly have a social life.

It is also true that you are at the client’s mercy and that it is a competitive field where every other person is highly educated if not more. All valid points that could be also be applied to entrepreneurs and other careers too? So why?

What People in Investment Banking Actually Get Paid?

Commissions: In Investment Banking at the level of MD/Group Head/ VP, you really start earning well. That’s because every sale gets you commissions just like the car selling agent or real estate broker does. Banks sell the companies for acquisitions, mergers and restructuring. Higher the deal amount betters the commissions.

And when the deals run into many millions, billions or thousands of them calculate the commissions! They are just selling very high-priced commodities.

Expenses and margins:
Well if that’s true then the wealth management and commercial finance people should also make as much. No, they do not. Because the commission rates are lower and they have more incidental expenses like effective profit margins. The ATMs, branch offices, cheque books all cost money.

Even when you deposit money into your savings accounts and the money is larger than the ceiling limit you have to pay the bank for depositing your money with them. However, paying 1per cent on USD 1 million in the checking account is not fair right?

Banks, in contrast to real businesses, have very few staff, small offices, tiny payrolls by contrast, and almost zero real expenses like infrastructural costs, manufacturing processes, or maintenance and operational expenses. Perhaps they do have a tiny bit of travelling and hotel expenses which the client gladly pays for the banker’s role as intermediaries and custodians besides the regular multi-million dollar fees for their services.

About a generous 50 to 60per cent of such revenue goes to the IB employees as bonuses, salaries and commissions. Now that’s why they get paid so much.

Why Investment Banking is a Popular Career Choice?

Are you aware of why most foreign banks have an office in and operate from India? The factors that contribute to their presence are:

• Availability of skilled local talent in data analytics.
• Large English speaking population.
• Presence of services like LPOs, KPOs, back-offices and transcription services.
• Lower costs in financial operations.
• Availability of reliable firms like Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Syntel to do business with.
• Training institutes for technological skills and the latest trending skills are world class.

These banks need to run profitably and promote the use of local talent who find well-paying prestigious jobs and make investment banking their careers.

Investment Banking Services:
Certification in IB helps.
The Investment Banking certification measures your skills in the services of an investment bank. Namely,
• Advice on buy-outs and acquisition of firms.
• Acquisition and mergers
• Trading in securities
• AMC
• Corporate finance
• Services involving Custodianship
• Restructuring of debts
• Other allied services.
• Capital market investments

Education:
The career progression in Investment Banking requires sound financial knowledge. A graduation degree is not mandatory and IB encourages disciplines like finance, economics, business administration, and mathematics which do give you an upper hand.

Doing an IB certification endorses and enhances your skill sets for the job and your resume. Certification also serves the purpose of being a measurable index of practical implementation skills in the basics of IB. The career progression ladder may also have an odd-ball who starts as an Intern, moves to an Associate role, and then upwards to Vice President, CFO, MD job roles etc.

Skills required:
The banking field’s crucial skills are:

• A graduate degree for Associate roles.
• Adept at Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and Excel manipulation techniques, and MS Office and Word suites.
• Extremely long working hours of 80 hours with hardly any holidays.
• Being a team player and effective learner from feedback.
• An eye for details and data organization.
• Conceptual knowledge of accounting and financial issues and solutions.
• Investment banking certification course.
• Financial and business modelling knowledge.

In parting, the Investment Banking career aspirant does make a wise choice for some fantastic pay-packages. The demand for them is high. If you want to be in IB then do the course at Imarticus Learning who even offer assured placements to the deserving in this hallowed field.

How Investment Banking is Different From Asset Management

One of the biggest and obvious differences between asset management and investment banking is that assets are managed in asset management which is fundamentally managing investments that clients have and wish to invest for better returns, while investment banking deals with the raising of capital funds needed by companies, organizations, and even governments. While Asset management is about investors IB is about raising capital for activities that are basically about expansion and infrastructure building.
Investment Banking resorts to many ways to raise funds like acquisitions and mergers, stock purchases, initial public offerings etc to raise capital. It could be on the sell or buy side of the investment. For example on the sell-side of investment banking activities include capital-raising stocks and bonds issues among others while the buy-side involves activities like advising clients for private equity, insurance, mutual funds among others.
Investment Banking also has trading equities, marketing assistance to clients, securities research, derivatives, dealing in commodities and fixed-income securities as part of its activities. Asset management is a dedicated division for investments of its client’s funds in derivatives, equities, commodities, currencies, securities, etc., to earn higher returns and grow their size through issues and investments based on the risk-preferences and client needs.

Asset Management Vs Investment Banking as a Career Choice:

Education:
Both IB and AM do require sound financial knowledge and though not mandatory a degree/ graduation in economics, finance, business administration, math, etc does give you an edge. So do the certifications in the field when they come from a reputed institute like Imarticus and serve as measurable indices of skill and experience in the required concepts of IB or AM. There may be the odd-man-out in both fields who starts as an Intern, through to Associateship, VP, MD job roles etc.
Skills required:
Both the Asset Management and Investment Banking fields require these essential skills.
• A minimum of graduation in finance, law, economics etc.
• Proficiency in PowerPoint presentations, Excel techniques, Office and Word suites.
• 80 plus long hours every week.
• Being an effective learner and team player.
• Effective organizer with an eye for details.
• A quick learner who takes instructions well.
• Excellent conceptual knowledge of finance and accounting tasks.
• A practical IB or AM course.
• Certification of your practical skills.
• Great skills in financial modelling.
The ladder to climb:
Here is the figurative AM/ IB ladder of career progression. Starting as an intern and working your way up to the licensing in the US is very popular.
• 2 to 3 years as an Intern Financial Analyst in both fields.
• AM/IB Associate.
• VP- Investment Banking/ Asset Management.
• IB/AM Director.
• MD, CFO etc.
Scope for jobs:
Both areas have great scope for the unending demand of aspirants seeking bank- job prospects. The US Labor Department predicts a decade of growth of 12% starting from 2014. This is so as the financial instruments too, are evolving fast based on market requirements and both the technology and concept applications get complex and new-age. AM does score marginally over the IB aspirants in terms of jobs and scope as the investor base has grown tremendously with digital transactions, availability of online products, and ease of investment has increased too.
Salaries:
There is hardly any difference in the pay packages of the AM and IB. In early 2004, the median AM salary was 168,000 USD while that of the professional IB was315,000 USD. A decade later the figures for the AM was 263,000 USD versus the IB salary of 288,000 USD. Investopedia reports suggest the median 2015 banker’s salary was in the range of 75,000 to 85,000 USD. The performance bonuses added to take it to 140,000 USD for bankers in the early first year. AM pay packages varied between 55,000 to 100,000 USD with a flat cut in the funds managed by them. The financial crisis, global shifts in capital markets and new financial products will see the gaps close according to an FT article source.
Parting notes:
In terms of career prospects, salaries, job roles and working conditions there is a lot of overlap between the asset management and investment banking sectors. However, AM has a slight lead in job prospects. Join the financial courses at Imarticus Learning if you are interested in being an AM or IB and have the inclination for it. Their reputation is superb and they offer a host of benefits including certification for aspirants. All the best in your banking career!

What are the Benefits of Investment Banking Certification

With the rapid pace at which technology and data have evolved in the last decade, organizations have had to find newer practices in financial management and banking too. Whether you wish to make a career, switching jobs or are aspiring for a promotion, organizations want to know before recruiting that the aspirant has sufficient experience and certification in banking practice. This is where the employers need a measurable validation of your banking experience from a reputed institution to provide them with exactly this information.

How the Investment Banking Course Helps

The aim of the Investment Banking course is to ensure

  • Prepares you for final investment banking certification exams.
  • Aspirants are job-ready from day one.
  • Frequent updates and mock interviews for job placement.
  • Career guidance and interview-skills workshops.
  • Resume writing, assistance and application techniques.
  • Assured job placements.

The best learning courses for IB certification ensure they bridge the gaps in technological and soft skills while producing job-ready aspirants who can hit the ground running. The three components covered are

  • Experiential learning: The courses have experiential practical training led by certified and industry-drawn instructors and mentors, Excel-based technology training, powerful discussion forums, Post-course engagement, and a host of assignments and case studies.
  • Soft-skills Learning: Inclusive of interpersonal communications, email and virtual communication, decision making, time management, problem-solving, assertiveness and emotional intelligence building.
  • Course Learning: This module is comprehensively handled through extensive classroom sessions using tools like video lectures, real-life simulations, assured placement sessions, resume writing and building sessions, mock interviews and more.

Why Investment Banking Certifications are So Essential:

Certifications like the investment banking certification besides being a goal achieved can also provide you with a number of other benefits like

  • Builds your confidence and adds to your resume.
  • Measures your Excel, technological and presentation skills.
  • Visibility in a pool of aspirants in the job market.
  • Salaries that are probably better and account for a better experience in banking practice.
  • Credibility that you know, implement and practice the techniques learnt in the course.
  • Match market and technological trends that are current and in demand.

Job Perks:

A quick look at the salaries range shows that IB salaries can range from 6 to 22 lacs. Those with certification do tend to draw and negotiate contracts paying them 20 to 40% more than the median salaries.
Recruiting Companies:
Recruiting companies includeJP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan and Stanley, Accenture, Datamatics, Deloitte, BSE, Adobe, Acer, Aaj Tak, Amazon, Yes Bank, Bajaj, Springboard, 99 acres, Mahindra group, Heng Seng Bank, BNP Paribas, HSBC, and more.

Minimum education:

Banking does require sound financial knowledge and though not mandatory graduation in economics, finance, business administration, math, etc does give you an edge. So do the certifications in the field, especially when they come from a reputed institute like Imarticus, and serve as measurable indices of skill and experience in the required concepts of banking like in IB or AM.

Climbing the job ladder:

Starting as an intern and working your way up to the licensing and certifications in the US is very popular.
• 2 to 3 years as an Intern Financial Analyst in both fields.
• AM/IB Associate.
• VP- Investment Banking/ Asset Management.
• IB/AM Director.
• MD, CFO etc.

Investment Banking Salaries

There is hardly any difference in the pay packages across the various sectors of IB. In early 2004, the median professional IB salary was 315,000 USD. A decade later the figures for the IB salary stood at 288,000 USD. Investopedia reports suggest the median 2015 the investment banker’s salary was in the range of 75,000 to 85,000 USD. The performance bonuses added to take it to 140,000 USD for bankers in the early first year. Asset managers pay packages varied between 55,000 to 100,000 USD with a flat cut in the funds managed by them. Thus the financial crisis, global shifts in capital markets and new financial products will see the IB salaries rise and the gaps in salaries across IB services close, according to an FT article source.
Conclusion:
Banking jobs are high-prestige, well-paying secure fixed-hours jobs. There is an unending demand of aspirants seeking bank- job prospects and the scope for the demand in personnel is always rising. The US Labor Department predicts a decade of growth of 12% starting from 2014. This is so as the financial instruments are also evolving fast based on market requirements and both the technology and concept applications get complex and new-age. Do your investment banking certification at Imarticus Learning and kick-start your career today.

Investment Management – Career and Scope

In the present progressively aggressive world, where different variables – political, financial, focused, social or administrative – always entangle an association’s domain, the interest for appropriately talented supervisors, who comprehend the business and have the vitality and boldness to handle troublesome circumstances, is continually on the ascent.

In a nation like India, where the Investment division is overwhelming the market, being inventive, scientific, a great sales representative and an extraordinary communicator may not be quite recently enough. Another factor that adds to a fruitful administrator’s basic attributes is legitimate learning of cash and the market. This is on the grounds that when one has avant-garde learning of fund, this upgrades his expository systems, institutional practices, monetary hypothesis and down to earth applications, and enables him to settle on viable choices on financial strategies and procedure.
While different organizations over the globe have entered the race to make Investment managers, not very many individuals comprehend which competitor is well-suited for which specialization. For a man who appreciates following the money related markets, comprehends the patterns of the market and always refreshes himself with the offers and stocks costs through different media, a PG in Investment Management is quite recently the correct choice.
Investment Management is tied in with overseeing cash by putting it in an assortment of advantage classes including values (or offers) and bonds. Working around there, which is otherwise called resource administration or store administration, will mean utilizing your mind each day to attempt to outsmart a huge number of different members in the money related markets.
Try not to go into Investment Management on the off chance that you prize sureness and trust that a PC can give unmistakable responses to three decimal spots. You’ll be more suited to venture administration in case you’re interested in the world, ready to challenge an accord and not reluctant to face off regarding issues with senior partners.

The primary day by day assignment is to break down individual organizations and attempt to evaluate their prospects with a specific end goal to attempt to discover which organizations are probably going to beat the market. You could be taking a gander at a wide range of sorts of industry and breaking down anything from iPhones to oil apparatuses or natural nourishment patterns. The principal business destinations of venture administration are to give a decent speculation to customers – and great client benefit as well.

Investment Management employments

The principle parts of Investment Management are investigator and investment manager. As you may expect, the part of an investigator is to break down stocks, taking a view on their future viewpoint and flowing examination inside. This could involve meeting with organization administration and taking a gander at financial information and market patterns.
Investment Banking Banner
An Investment Manager (some of the time otherwise called a portfolio or store chief) will then be in charge of putting customers’ cash in an arrangement of stocks. Speculation chiefs will depend intensely on the inside and out research done by examiners when choosing how to contribute. In the meantime, they should assume general liability for how the store is built, taking a gander at the master plan and considering issues, for example, resource designation. Numerous venture directors’ bear on doing hands-on research to abstain from ending up plainly excessively removed from organization examination.
We at Imarticus Learning specialised in training aspirants looking to make a career in the field of Investment Management.

Best Things About Investment Banking Jobs

Every now and then in time, you will hear debates on which career should you choose to enjoy a secured future, and most often investment banking as an option will rise up in conversations, as the destination which will take you to the competitive world of finance, with some clear advantages. Money is the most attractive of them all.
There is a lot that goes into becoming a successful investment banker, the initial investment is high, and clearly not for the faint hearted. Most individuals who have been on the other side of the fence, have one piece of advice for people looking forward to pursuing their career in investment banking, they say, you need to love the job, the process more than the outcome to survive in the industry, you need to have the love for investing, financing, doing business, travelling and meeting new exciting people, if you join the industry for the name tag, the parties the fame and the bling of being an investment banker, chances are you will not survive to reap the benefits of the industry.
The high pressure, long hours are not for the soft hearted. And so if you survive the initial years there are tremendous rewards waiting for you, making all the hard work worth it at the end, what are they?

Compensation

Your first salary will probably be higher when compared to any other industry, and you will be learning a lot more than new graduates. The bonuses also offered are pretty steep and with time will only increase.

Work Life Balance

Yes, it is true, only few will consider 100 hours’ week, sleepless nights and no social life amongst the positives. However, a change of perspective – once you reach the height of exhaustion, your mind and body will come up with the demands and appreciate anything short of physical breakdown as a holiday and perform in extreme environments with accuracy. Also, such a schedule will help you understand demands, in the long run, creating a sense of urgency in the way you work.

Learning

You will be working with the brightest minds in the industry, and it has its benefits. Attention to detail, multitasking, speed and accuracy in tasks, people skills, negotiating skills are but a few that you will pick up while working on the line. Investment banking has the most lateral skill sets imaginable. Working in investment banking can be explained as one of the hardest parts of your career and if you have done that in the initial phase, everything that comes later is doable and comparatively easier. Many former investment bankers have successful avenues in lateral industries due to the acquired skills from their initial years.
So if you like the fast paced, results driven world of banking, and are fine with letting go of your social life for a while, then investment banking will definitely be a great career choice. If not a lifelong career option, it will surely be a great training platform for entry into other professions. So to get your dream job in the top investment bank, join our certification course in Investment banking (CIBOP).

Impact of Technology on Investment Banking

The Financial Services industry is without a doubt seeing the effect of innovation driven change either straightforwardly to their plans of action (for both customer and business customers) or even as an optional or tertiary effect, given it’s at the center of all different ventures. While these organizations have made a tolerable showing with regards to by and large of receiving more current and propelled advancements, they clearly need to get a move on of appropriation or hazard losing piece of the overall industry to the freshest participants – or more terrible, getting to be noticeably out of date.
The most recent influx of development and technology is about versatility. The web based keeping money and financier encounter has now moved onto your telephone which upgrades accommodation on many levels.
Banking and Investment applications would now be able to connect into your telephone’s GPS to give you area based data, for example, closest ABMs and branches.
Versatile and remote advances are a greater amount of a development in my psyche as they haven’t radically changed the market as much as past developments.
Remote installment innovation over RFID (Visa Pay Wave, MasterCard Pay Pass) is up to twice as quick as utilizing money or check cards. Charges won’t be dropping but rather buyers are getting back another extremely significant ware, time.
The normal retail Investment Banker or Financial Analyst won’t think excessively about how quick their exchanges are executed however dealers, institutional speculators and mutual funds do.
Executing exchanges a couple of milliseconds quicker on a trade can have a major effect when you are doing thousands or even a huge number of exchanges a day.
Getting the most ideal cost for your customers encourages them spare cash while it will also facilitate those who are putting the exchanges, they will get more business. There are different contentions that fast exchanging can prompt higher expenses for speculators nonetheless.
Fiber optic interchanges, quick figuring force and reason manufactured applications all add to executing exchanges rapidly.
While the pace of innovation change in the budgetary division may be ease back in respect to different regions, despite everything it has an extremely critical effect.
Regardless of whether we understand it or not, advancements in innovation for the managing an account segment influence us consistently.
To stay in the lead, money related and finance administrations associations must acknowledge and adjust to the way that the client base they serve is experiencing a noteworthy move as far as purchasing practices and inclinations, a lot of which is being driven by the computerized innovation transformation, especially online networking and portable. Era Y, for instance, needs more decision and control by the way they interface with a bank or insurance agency, regardless of whether it act naturally coordinated, web drove, individual to-individual, on the telephone or in an office. Accordingly, organizations must change their customary models and items to benefit this developing and evolving client

Career After Investment Banking Certification

Investment Banking prospects in India are very promising. Planning a shift in careers or a fresher, this is one stream worth considering. Specially, if you are an individual who finds the idea of making money from money exciting.
In simple words, investment banking is a profession where you match the expectations of people who have the capital with those who need it. Although it is not as simple as it sounds. As you will be advising people or institutions on money matters across various phases of a life cycle of a project, ranging from the start up stage to the listing of stock markets, you need to maintain the optimum valuation. It requires great understanding of the market so that you can offer the most optimum advice to your client, on options like mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures etc…,
Certain skill sets required to excel in this choice of work are, high research and an analytical mind-set, par excellence communication skills, an innovators mind set, troubleshooting capability, genuine ease of working and analysing numbers, forecast sales and budget, technical knowledge. A person from any steam can think of starting their career in investment banking, but it important to have a good understanding in math, economics, business studies. Although you can pursue an MBA, to have a specialised course will serve as a spring board to your efforts and help you secure a job in a reputed company, or help you get that promotion you are waiting for since long.
There are very limited options you have in terms of getting a holistic training on investment banking, however one that has proven to be closest to giving you the best exposure and highly recognised in the industry is, the Certified Investment Banking Operations Professionals (CIBOP), it is a flexible program for both fresher’s and experienced professionals. And CIBOP can be considered as a pre prep for the CISI IOC certification program, it is highly regarded by investment houses globally and passing this certification echoes the thought that an individual does have a sound understanding of the financial services industry.

The CIBOP program offered by Imarticus, is a 180 hours’ program dedicated in understanding complex securities and derivatives, their trade life cycle, along with operational risk and regulation. CIBOP offers operations and domain training augmented with a personal development program. CIBOP has an industry relevant program, supplemented with industry stalwarts as faculty, and real case studies.
On completing the CIBOP course from Imarticus learning you will get an industry endorsed CIBOP certificate along with the optional CISI certified IOC certificate, besides this, Imarticus has career services and their placement team will guide and assist you throughout the program, providing the best career opportunities.
CIBOP is a hybrid program with online self-paced videos and live classes, along with classroom training. The CIBOP program also has a host of guest lectures, by experienced industry veterans, which presents abundant opportunities for students to raise questions and clarify doubts and get clear actual industry insights.
On completing CIBOP course you will have a sound understanding of every aspect of Investment banking along with practical aspects of the sector. So if you have an inclination towards this field and have some of the prerequisites in place, don’t wait and enrol with Imarticus Learning and take the CIBOP certification.

What is Investment Portfolio? and How would Portfolio Management Help?

A Portfolio Investment is basically a passive investment of securities in a portfolio, done with the objective of returns on investment. As in most cases, there is a direct correlation with the return expected and the risk expected.
There is a difference between Direct Investment and Portfolio Investment, while the former means having a substantial stake in a company of choice and a possible involvement on a daily basis, the later can span over a broad range of asset types, for example, Bonds, Real Estate, Mutual Funds, Exchange Traded Funds, etc…,

Arrangement of investments in a portfolio depends on many elements. One of the most important criteria being the ability of the investor in managing or tolerating risk factors, second being, the amount available for investment. For a modest investor, mutual funds or exchange traded funds might be the best option, however, for a high net worth investor, stock and commodities might be more appealing. It is interesting to note that portfolio investments for organisations generally need to span across time so that there is a match between their liabilities and assets.
Most of these investments are preferred basis, risk versus return combinations, from low-risk low returns to high-risk high returns, or on their income streams, like steady or fixed, or variable with the promise of growth.
Portfolio Management is a method which aids us in the decision making process of investments made in an organisation, aligning the investments to the objectives, appropriate asset allocation for the organisation or projects within an organisation, and managing risks, all comes under this umbrella.
It is basically a SWOT Analysis (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) for the debts against equity, and many other similar endeavours that the organisation takes, to get higher returns, which in turn opens the doors for potential risk factors.
Now, service line head of departments will not be able to track how budgets are spent, or cannot validate the task on preference against priority, and all this could put them under pressure and perhaps lead to decision paralysis for fear of scrutiny.
Portfolio management is able to direct or redirect the business lines to the greater goal by asking and seeking simple, most basic, yet often ignored questions, on lines of value addition on the jobs performed.

Advantages of applying Portfolio Management method on Investments

Healthier Asset Allocation

Managing a long-term assortment of assets. Ensuring harmony, and understanding of various kinds of assets. The basic objective is to ensure augmenting a profile of an investor which has a better return versus risk, by investing in a mix of assets.

Building Diversity

The only certainty in investing is unpredictability, winning or losing combinations cannot always be forecasted accurately. And to manage this, it becomes essential to diversify the investments, further down to the asset class. By spreading the risk and reward within the subset of an asset class, mitigates risk on losses. True diversification is observed, across various securities, geographies and sectors of economy.
Rebalancing: in this method the, a portfolio is returned to its original target allocation on an annual basis. Doing this gives an opportunity to align the portfolio to the investors risk return profile, by capturing the returns or gains annually, and further expanding the possibilities of growth in potential sectors.


Loved this blog? Read more here:

Use of Risk Management in Investment Banking
Core Investment Banking Activities That Can Help an Organization to Grow

Become a Professional in Foreign Exchange

Becoming a Doctor, Lawyer or an Engineer requires hours of dedicated approach and clarity of thought for application. The effort is very similar to what it takes to become a professional in foreign exchange. Just like to work in any professional capacity, you need to dedicate time in honing the skills, it is the same prerequisite for becoming a Foreign Exchange broker. It requires the same amount of dedication and skills to ensure you not only understand trading but also are tremendously successful in it. If thoughts are applied correctly it is guaranteed that you will rise and perhaps be equally profitable.
Since you will become an individual contributor in this setup, you need to have a strong sense of determination and discipline, along with another array of personal and professional attributes, and technical skill sets. Not taking a stalk of your current strengths, and areas of improvement, and hastily jumping into the profession, with a grandeur sense of success, will guarantee failure and loss of capital.
Here are some broadly classified steps to consider before you plan to become a Foreign Exchange Professional:

Be true to oneself and practice and Learn the Trade

Becoming a successful trader will take a lot of effort, courage and time from your end and there is also a considerable amount of risk that you will need to take from time to time. Drive, passion and ambition is the true essence of trading. Trading will not make you a millionaire overnight, initial profits as a mark of success is not the right vision to have. You need to exercise risk control and have a keen observation to spot trends. As a trader, you need to accept that there will be losses, and you cannot make back all the losses on one single trade.
Using a demo account, that is trading in live markets with monopoly money, will help you develop your own style and trading ideas. It is a good idea to become an apprentice to a professional trader or research on the subject. It is a daunting task until you get a hang of it, so take all the support that you can.

Learn the Basics of Trading – Then Develop a Trading Strategy

It is important that you have a clear vision. And that is only possible when you have a strong foundation, the basic introductory concepts of trading. Once you have understood how the forex market functions, it is time to develop your style of trading, a strategy. Now there are many ways you can trade in the market, however, if you need to be an expert in reading raw and natural price dynamics of a market, forex price action strategy is recommended. It will help you develop chart reading skills that will go a long way. It is basically you, who will choose how to proceed with the strategy of your comfort.
Become a Successful Trader
Once you start trading life, points to remember…
• To avoid failure set stop losses on every trade
• Always stick to your trading strategy
• Have a risk margin of not more that 2% on every trade
• Do not get emotionally influenced on a trade
• Trading with the mindset to recover losses is a vicious circle stay away from it
• Trust your instincts
• Don’t be vary of losses, the most successful traders also face it
• Have a target to achieve more profitable trades, than the one with losses
The above are but a few tips that might help you trade successfully. Be aware that this is a very daunting path, and one cannot confirm success or failure until you invest years of hard work, face loads of stress, but stay determined. With effort and passion, drive and patience you will cross over to greener pastures.