Financial certifications signify the expertise of the candidate in a select aspect of the financial industry. Finance graduates have knowledge regarding finance in common. But a financial certification divides their career altogether.
For instance, an IBCA certification holder may become an investment banker, An FRM certification holder can become a risk management specialist.
Candidates seeking certification need to complete the destined hours of coursework, take an exam, and pass with the said grade. In addition, they abide by the ethics and standards of the certifying bodies like earning work experience hours, recertification, licensing, and other mandatory essentials and instructions.
There are several finance certifications available in the market. Choosing between them solely depends on your destination career as mentioned in the above example. Let us explore a few of the popular finance certifications and their career opportunities available in the market.
Popular Finance certifications 2020
A few of the popular finance certifications are selected from a long list of them. It would help you to define your finance career.
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Certification
A finance graduate with a CFA certification has excellence in economics, analysis, portfolio management, investment banking. They are number crunchers. With CFA, you can work for commercial banks, insurance firms, mutual funds, consultancy firms, and investment groups. You can become an investment banker, mutual fund banker, broker-dealer, hedge fund advisor, financial consultant, pension and foundation planner, financial regulator, or wealth manager.
Chartered Investment Banking Professional (CIBPTM) Certification
The CIBPTM certification is the best choice if you aspire to become an investment banker. The certification enables you to specialize in investment banking professional work like making deals, equity markets, mergers and acquisitions, and other major dealings.
This certification distinguishes you from your non-certified peer group in exhibiting professionalism while participating in raising capital, trade products, create pitchbooks, research market and preparing live reports on it.
In the investment banking industry, startups also prefer certified investment bankers over non-certified individuals with the same captivating salaries the big companies provide. They attract certified professionals with perks and benefits packages.
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Certification
CFA professionals can continue their studies further by pursuing CPA certification. It qualifies you to audit financial services like tax compliance, risk management, forensic accounting, and public accounting.
As a CPA, you need to commit to lifelong learning by adhering to a strict code of professional conduct with required competence, integrity, objectivity, and independence. With CPA, you may hold positions like public and corporate accounting or as the chief financial officer (CFO).
Certified Information System Auditor (CISA) Certification
It is advanced technological learning for finance graduates. It is concerned with information systems control, security, and auditing,
Being a CISA certified professional, you get enrolled to ensure your organization’s IT and business systems monitoring, management, and protection. A CISA certification helps to specialize in domains like information systems and auditing, governance and IT management, information systems acquisition, development, and implementation, information systems operations, protection of IT assets and business resilience.
Financial Risk Management (FRM) Certification
With this certification, you get specialized in assessing risks for the majority of the banks, insurance companies, regulatory agencies, asset management firms, and accounting firms.
In any business for that matter, financial risk creates an immediate impact on cash flows and business bottom line. It could be credit risk, liquidity risk, or operational risks. The certification enables you to predict or anticipate these risks and overcome them with a concrete financial risk management plan.
Wrapping Up
Finance certifications have a growing importance in the current job scenario. If mathematics, statistics, analytics, and problem-solving skills are your expertise, then you should pursue any one of the aforementioned certifications to take a leap in your career.