Options in Finance & Banking

MONEY MATTERS

THE VARIOUS OPTIONS IN THE FIELD OF FINANCE AND BANKING IN INDIA TODAY

WITH a plethora of banks and financial institutions entering the Indian market to become a part of the 'Indian growth-story', it's time to laugh all the way to the bank for those employed in this sector. Jobs-aplenty, banks and financial institutions are outdoing the packages they offer, in a bid to woo the best candidates to their firm.

The need for a large amount of technical and administrative support has further increased the number of jobs available.Then there's the fact that India has become a global outsourcing hub. While outsourcing was earlier restricted to the IT industry,the financial industry is now catching on, with international financial institutions and banks setting up elaborate back-end support set-ups that offer services to branches across the world.

Banking is a field that provides a profile for every type of skill, whether it's selling, operational skills, managerial skills, IT skills, you name it and you will find a job profile within banking that fits the bill (or rather the skill!).

RETAIL BANKING

The faces you greet when you enter your local bank are of the customer service executives who are there to service and sell banking products such as deposits, accounts, mutual funds, loans etc. Interpersonal skills, a presentable personality, good communications skills and patience are the basic requirement of this profile. At senior levels within retail banking, an MBA might come in handy, but at entry-level and middle level positions, a graduation degree in any discipline would hold you in good stead.

PRIVATE BANKING

Also known as 'wealth management', this field was, until recently, part and parcel of retail banking. But in the last few years, with people's wealth multiplying due to the boom in the Indian stock market, this field is now a separate career. Private banking caters to individuals, funds or corporates which have investible surpluses in excess of a crore.With a large focus on getting investors to invest with a tilt towards the stock markets, this field ideally requires smart people with good sales skills equipped with an MBA. "It's a bit of everything - service and sales.You have to get the pulse of your client, assess out how risk-taking they are and sell investments to them accordingly.The biggest challenge is getting the first meeting with the client - that's where your interpersonal skills come into play," explains Siddharth S, an equity trader with a leading brokerage firm.

CORPORATE BANKING

Corporate banking usually has allrounder profiles where you are required to handle relationships and cater to all the banking needs of the client, in this case, mostly corporates. This would mean taking charge of the trade (import and export)- related requirements, funding needs etc. Good sales skills along with people management skills are a must as you often have to fire-fight situations and get work done through the various departments of the bank to satisfy your client.An MBA or a background in chartered accountancy would be a requirement to enter this field.

TREASURY (CAPITAL MARKETS)

This is one field not many people know much about. The treasury, as the term describes, manages the funds of the bank. It is involved in large transactions of corporates, it manages the balance sheet of the bank itself, it even has traders taking proprietary positions in everything ranging from commodities to currencies to stocks.Needless to say, this part of the bank is usually the one which yields very high revenue for the bank and hence is among the most sought after in terms of employment.In a nutshell, proficiency in mathematics, a risk-taking attitude or good sales skills would make you employable with the treasury of a bank. An MBA, specialising in finance from a reputable B-school would be a basic requirement.

MICROFINANCE

This is a fast developing field of banking, which until a few years ago was regarded as an 'initiative' in the corporate bank. Here the idea is to make micro-credit, micro-savings and microinsurance available to farmers and those employed in the rural areas. The Grameen Bank took it to another level, inspiring many banks in India to launch their own microfinance divisions. A social bent of mind, and an MBA,preferably specialising in finance, would be pre-requisites for this field.

INVESTMENT BANKING

This is among the more coveted jobs in banking. With roaring salaries and even better bonuses, this profile is usually open to those from toptier management institutions or those with a chartered accountancy background and of course, those who are not averse to long working hours. "Working hours are 'cruel' to say the least", quips Adwait Bartakke, an associate at a leading private bank in Mumbai.The primary role of an investment bank is to raise funds for corporations and organisations, which might be through the route of IPOs or mergers. This would mean valuations, advisory services and raising moneywhether through debt or equity.While the corporate finance role, within investment banking requires the bringing together of buyers and sellers of companies, the trading role requires taking proprietary positions in tradable asset classes.

RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

There are several jobs in the research and analysis field when it comes toboth, financial and non-financial corporations.Says New Yorkbased research analyst, Nikhil Jain, "All firms need a team that does the financial planning and analysis of their annual incomes, expenses, forecasting, projection planning, quarter planning, annual reporting, asset planning etc. Specialisation in finance or accounting, coupled with good excel skills are basic requirements for this profile."

"A research analyst on the buy side, essentially means someone working for a hedge fund or a private equity team or, which would be much in demand not just to conduct macro analysis in terms of industry, economics and competition analysis, but also company analysis in terms of the company's prospects being scrutinised for buying it as an ultimate aim," elaborates Nikhil. A chartered accountant or a chartered financial accountant would find plenty of jobs in India for this profile.

AUDIT

This is a diverse field,offering multiple options to those with a background in economics, accounts, or better still with a degree in chartered accountancy. Audit is split into two fields: internal audit and external audit.Internal audit is a team which corporation must have to check if the people and processes are adhering to the procedures and processes that have been laid out. The idea behind an internal audit team is to ensure that all risks are within control.

External audit would be teams employed by big accounting and audit firms who send teams of their auditors to firms, who employ their services to audit their processes. "If you are an organisation that needs to publish financial statements publicly, it is a regulatory requirement to publish audited financial statements," says Sharad Chaudhary , who works with a top- four audit firm in India.

Sunil Sharma

Moderator

Dil Se Desi Group