How to prepare for different career paths within finance

Finance Careers

- Investment Banking
- Investment (Asset)Management
- Commercial Banking
- Corporate Finance
- Insurance & Risk Management
- Financial Planning
- Real Estate
- Investment Consulting/Endowment Management
- Finance Technology/Reporting
- Regulatory

Investment Banking

- Provides a way for corporations to raise capital by issuing securities

- Grades a must - 3.5+
- Intense and competitive interview process
- Long Hours
- Many ways to off ramp
- Nicely compensated

Investment Banking Skills

- Financial Modeling/Analysis
- Attention to Detail
- Communication/Interpersonal Skills
- Analytical Reasoning
- Corporate Valuation
- Organization
- Applied Equity Valuation a huge plus

Courses – Things to Do

- Hawkinson Institute
- Hawktrade
- Wall Street Prep
- No shortcut with interview prep
- Courses
- Applied Equity Valuation - Required
- Investment Banking
 - Fixed Income Securities

Investment Management

- Managing Investments of Others

- What types of Assets
o Equities
o Fixed Income
o Commodities
- Types of Investment Vehicles
o Mutual Funds
o ETFs
o Institutional Accounts

Skills for Investment Management

- Demonstrate Intellectual Curiosity

- Demonstrate a Passion for Investments (not trading)
- Financial Modeling Skills
- Be able to communicate your ideas in writing and in a presentation
- CFA
- Do much work on your own(not a team sport)
- Many support roles to get in the door pay your dues

Activities

- CFA is a Plus
- Student Membership in the CFA Society
- Wall Street Prep Course
- Bloomberg Market Concepts Certification
- Courses
o Applied Equity Valuation a Big Plus
o Fixed Income Securities
o Futures and Options

Commercial Banking

- Commercial Banker
- Finance Company
- Consumer Lending
- Community Banking
o These roles all have in them the activity of determining and meeting the banking and
financing needs of clients

Skills Needed

- Full Range from very analytical to relationship

- Problem solving for your client
- Must create a relationship with the client and manage their needs.
 - Strong financial analysis and interpersonal skills
- Again, employers love students in Applied Equity Valuation

Activities

- Student Membership – Risk Management Association

- Financial Management Association
- Courses
o Commercial Banking
o Fixed Income Securities
o Investment Banking
o Corporate and Financial Risk Management

Corporate Finance Skills

- Strong Problem Solving Skills

- Analytical Skills
- Communication – Verbal/written a huge plus and will help your career
- Teamwork – Working in a team environment is key
- Leadership Potential – Have what it takes to move up in the organization

Treasury/Cash Management

- Skills required
o Analytical skills
o Detail focus
o Teamwork
- Functions
o Manage Cash and short term financing of the firm
o Optimizing of cash resources
o Internal expert on interest rates and foreign exchange issues
o Hedging exposures

Financial Analyst

- Skills Required
o Problem Solving
o Analytics
o Teamwork
o Communication
- Functions
o Financial Planning
o Capital Budgeting
o Project Analysis
o Market Analysis
o Variance Analysis
o Plant Finance
Internal Audit and Accounting

- Not just reviewing financial statements

- Corporate governance
- Compliance
- Efficiencies
- Adhere to Organizational goals

Investor Relations

- Skills required
o Ability to understand details in financials
o Excellent writing skills
o Excellent communication skills
o Ability to interact with many types of people
- Functions
o Liaison between Wall Street and firm
o Understand financial and operational issues of the firm
o Much travel and presenting

Business Development and Strategy

- Internal M&A Strategy

- Internal Valuations
- New Product Development

How to get to Corporate Finance

- Show your leadership in student organizations

- Get on a Finance Committee
- FMA
- Courses
o Advanced Corporate Finance
o Corporate and Financial Risk Management
o Fixed Income Securities
o International Finance

Insurance and Risk Management

- Management of Risks
o Brokerage
o Underwriting
o Claims
- Vaughan Institute and RMI Certificate
- Gamma Iota Sigma is an excellent resource

How to get a role in Insurance and Risk Management

- RMI Certificate
 - Vaughan Institute
- Gamma Iota Sigma
- Courses
o Principles of Risk Management
o Corp Financial Risk Management
o Risk Modeling

Financial Planning

- Financial Planning is working with individuals on their financial life

- Can be at brokerage firm, independent firm, insurance
- It can also encompass a variety of issues – investing, risk management, estate planning, business
planning, Social Security
- Pay structure – fee for service, transaction based, assets under management

Financial Planning Skills

- Much of the Financial work is at a macro level

- Hard to succeed if not OK with sales
- Individual investment analysis is typically not a primary function
- Psychology and people skills are critical
- Must communicate investment concepts in easy to understand terms
- CFP or CIMA - Series 6, 7 63 etc

Activities for Financial Planning Careers

- Psychology Courses
- Hawktrade or Financial Management Association
- SIE – Securities Industry Essentials – FIN:4030EXW
- Courses
o Wealth Management
o Investments
o Fixed Income Securities
o Principles of Risk Management & Insurance
o Life and Health Insurance

Real Estate

- The process of Developing, Managing and investing in property

o Brokerage
o Appraisal
o Property Management
o Development
o Equity Investment – Private or Public (REIT)
o Financing – Private and CMBS
- One of the most interesting things, it is more inefficient than other asset classes

Real Estate Skills

 - Financial Modeling for making sure the numbers work – The advantage - this tends to be an
inefficient asset class
- People skills – you want to partner with good people – you have to be someone they want to
work with
- Knowledge of markets – Know everything about your space. Inefficiencies can be harnessed.

Real Estate To Do List

- Real Estate Club

- Courses
o Real Estate Process
o Fixed Income Securities
o Applied Equity Valuation
o Commercial Banking
o Investment Banking

Consultant/Endowment/Family Office

- Consultants – Make recommendations for Asset Allocation for large pools of money, including
manager selection. Also outsourced CIO
- Endowments – Manage the investments of non-profits
- Pensions - Manage investments for retirements of organizations
- Family Office – Manage investments of the ultra-high net worth families.

Skills for C/E/FO

- Large Picture investment thinking

- Knowledge of Markets
- Ability to do due diligence – Being able to analyze investments
- Communication skills – front-facing piece very client-driven
- CFA
- CAIA

Finance/Technology Reporting

- Financial Technology companies need people who understand the financial work and needs, and
can communicate how to use their products.
- Business Analytics a plus
- Financial Reporting also needs strong knowledge of finance, and an ability to communicate
- Good writing skills a must

Resources:

https://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/c.php?g=688023&p=4862881

Catherine A Zaharis, CFA – Director of Employer/Professional Development, Department of Finance

(Catherine-zaharis@uiowa.edu)
Thomas A Reitz – Department Executive Officer, Department of Finance (Thomas-Rietz@uiowa.edu)
Willow Fuchs - Business Reference & Instruction Librarian, Pomerantz Business Library (willow-
fuchs@uiowa.edu)