Scope and the widened role of an equity research analyst

An equity researcher presents detailed analysis of a company, enabling investors to make an informed decision. He is responsible for reviewing stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments and producing an unbiased, factual report. There is a huge demand for this type of analysis, as investors rarely have the expertise to review all the information on a company and determine the current and potential future value. Equity research is the study of equities or stocks for the purpose of investments. It is exactly what an equity research analyst does. He gathers information that helps investors to decide where to put their money; or information with which traders understand whether to enter or exit a market position; or information that bankers and firms need to evaluate companies. They analyze industry data and financial models of a specific company or an industry. Their function also involves understanding current market trends, and report findings.

Equity research analysts closely analyze small groups of stocks to provide insightful investment recommendations to the firm’s sales force, traders, and directly to institutional investors. If one enjoys writing, being on the phone with clients and getting to know management teams, while at the same time doing a lot of financial modeling and analysis, they can think of making a career in equity research. Research associates go through similar training to that of sales and trading analysts.  After 2-3 months of corporate finance, accounting, capital markets, research associates are assigned to a group, and they begin to cover a group of stocks within a specific industry or region. Equity research doesn’t directly generate revenue. Equity research departments are a cost center that support sales and trading activities. These associates find themselves interacting with portfolio managers and hedge fund managers, the firm’s internal sales force and traders, and communicating the senior analyst’s investment thesis after a company report earnings.  

Online courses are quickly moving from novelty to mainstream. Leading colleges, graduate schools, and companies are investing significant resources into education. There are now hundreds of courses available online. Graduate-level, undergraduate level, Diploma level, certification level online finance courses are plentifully available and can teach students about the laws, ethics, implications and theories of the finance field. Most of these courses are designed for students to work independently by accessing course lectures, handouts and examinations online. Those who graduate from a finance program often find themselves working in careers like banking, financial planning, investment planning, money managing, insurance and real estate. But more important in some ways are the skills and competence a finance graduate develops during the course. Not only should each student be learning the basics of budgets, the money market, credit analysis, the global economy, loans, and investments, each student should be learning how to put that degree to work for them.