Imarticus Learning
India’s leading professional education institute, offering certified industry-endorsed training in Financial Services, Investment Banking, Business Analysis, IT, Business Analytics & Wealth Management
In the world of Finance, Hedge Funds are popularly known as, ‘Investment Vehicles With A Twist’. The latter holds quite a lot of truth when it comes to the concept of hedge funds, mainly because they are mighty complicated. There is a very interesting analogy about them, which has become quite popularly in the finance circles, lately. It goes something like, hedge funds are those entities, to invest in which one would require as much money, as Bill Gates, while to manage these, a professional would be required to have the brains similar to that of Einstein. Now you must have gotten the general idea about these entities and their nature. Hedge funds in particular shot to fame, as a result of certain clever financial strategies that were put to use, in order to generate great returns and they have remained in the limelight ever since. Very different from the traditional ways of the industry of funds, its basically the media coverage and the surmounting interest of the others, that has led to the Hedge Funds coming to fore and becoming so popular among finance enthusiasts.
Let’s move on to more substantial attributes of these concepts. Hedge Fund, in simple words refers to a certain type of pooled investment. But then again, this definition falls short, mainly because it is similar to that of a mutual fund. The major difference that sets Hedge Funds apart from the rest is, that these are open to only a certain number of investors, like a very exclusive clique and their performance is measured in absolute return units. Let’s take a look at the two terms, Hedge and fund. According to their nomenclature, hedging is basically referred to lowering the overall risk. Hedge Funds basically take up an asset position in any firm, which then results in offsetting the existing risk. These funds or the professionals working in this area, basically go on to reduce risk by using a number instruments and strategies. Apart from this, they are also known to be extremely flexible in the options of their investments. The various other functions of a hedge fund include taking of both Long and Short positions, using Arbitrage, buying and selling of undervalued securities, trading of options or bonds. With their basic aim, to reduce the risk and at the same time, try and preserve the capital; the professionals here are supposed to in any opportunity that exists in the market. Hedge Funds have their very own, independent characteristics, which basically include the ability to deliver, non market correlated returns. Apart from that, the major investors, in these funds are pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, private banks and high net worth individuals and families. Hedge Funds are basically liquid investments, with little to no regulations and the professionals working herein, are known to make use of Aggressive Investment Strategies. These funds are usually managed by a professional, who has a considerable experience in the field of Investment Banking. This is another reason as to why, a number of Investment Banking aspirants, choose to go into Hedge funds, due to their great returns aspect. Apart from the experience, one is also required to have a professional certification in Hedge Funds, from an esteemed institute, like Imarticus Learning, if one wishes to work with top high net worth individuals.
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MBA has been touted as the best degree when it comes to getting an entry into the field of Investment Banking. While there are many finance aspirants, belonging to the field of finance, who go ahead and pursue MBA as their post graduation course, there are also a number of others belonging to different fields, but having a great interest in finance who choose to pursue this course. Previously, top banks like Goldman Sachs, Morgan and Stanley, JP Morgan, Deutsch Bank and likes, only preferred to hire MBAs, who were at that time considered to be sufficiently qualified to take the world of Investment Banking head on. There seems to have been a certain kind of debate recently, on the alleged tumultuous relationship of MBA graduates and the field of Investment Banking. There seems to have been a substantial dip, in the number of MBA’s that the top banks were hiring before. One of the reasons sought for this development is the fact that just having an MBA course is not enough and a number of industry experts have been urging students to develop industry relevant skills, so at to get their dream job. There are a majority of MBA students, who think of pursuing a professional course, so as to learn skills and techniques to get trained according to the industry standards. Institutes like Imarticus Learning, which offer comprehensive professional courses in subjects like Investment Banking, Asset Management, Portfolio Management, Corporate Finance and so on, are the most sought after institutes for a number of MBA graduates. So if you are one of those looking to pursue this extensive course, you must ensure that you pursue it from one of the top Business Schools, so that you increase your chances of getting hired by top Investment Banks. Rankings place the Columbia Business School at the top, in the list of Investment Banking Schools, which is closely followed by the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton and London Business School. While there a number of other institutes, like the Stern, from USA, which is enjoying its new found popularity, among MBA aspirants. According to a certain employment report, it is believed that Investment Banking remains one of the most sought after vocation, by the students of Stern University. Let’s make a tabular representation of the top investment banking schools, there are, based on the number of graduates, who have gone ahead to work in the fields of corporate finance, sales and trading, equity research or other related field to investment banking. It is a well known fact that Investment Banks, usually tend to hire from among elite schools and those B-schools that are located right at the heart of financial centers, like for instance Stern, have a greater chance at being selected. Here’s the guide to the best Investment Banking Schools: 1. Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore 2. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad 3. IIM, Calcutta 4. Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi 5. Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras 6. Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow 7. XLRI- Xaviers School of Management, Jamshedpur 8. IIM, Kozhikode 9. IIT, Roorkee 10. IIM, Indore While applying to any of the above schools, depend on three important parameters; namely your abilities, both academic and aptitude, your academic background and the career objectives that you are looking at. Only then can you figure out which one of these is your best fit and apply to them. Big Data, surely everyone knows all that it is about, but do you know that the future revolves all around making this big data, smaller? While there may be a lot many people stating that big data is the next big thing, but those people tend to oversee the fact that everything related to big data, is entirely machine based and you would most likely require the human eye, to look at the big picture as it gradually forms. While it is no news, that the importance, evolution, analyzing and collection of everything related to big data, depends on its tools, which are commonly known as data analytics tools. These tools are basically used by Data Scientists or Data Analysts, to make smarter strategic decisions, to reduce costs, to target the right kind of audience, to optimize offerings and on the whole, in order to ensure that your business runs as efficiently as possible. Studies show that by the year 2019, the value of the data analytics industry is bound to reach about $187 billion. Its reason enough to become a part of this industry as early as you can. Let’s start with the basics here, big data is basically a term, used to refer to the enormous amount of structured as well as raw data, which is generated by a number of businesses today. This data refers to every kind of online record of information, now that could be anything related to social media, or a machine to machine relation. The basic concept is, to be able to deal with all of this data, floating all around you in the virtual world, for which, one would need to develop certain technologies, which would help in analyzing the data, thereby resulting into various decisions that would prove beneficial to the growth and development of various companies. In the recent times, the concept of big data has come to be the center of attention of the world of technology. There are many who believe that just storage of massive amounts of data would be able to get their work done. This is not really the case, as big amounts of data does not necessarily mean that the data would be useful. The most important point here is, how a business or a firm is able to analyze this data, while at the same time be able to draw practical conclusions from the same, in order to bettering their chances of success. Big Data being a very new concept, many companies have chosen to prioritize over the quantity of data, as opposed to the quality of it. The general idea of this field is so generic, that it becomes quite difficult for various companies to figure out which data should be analyzed, or how to conduct the analysis, or for that matter what attributes it must have. On the other hand, small data is rapidly gaining more importance, mainly because of its very specific attributes, which make it possible to analyze large sets of data. In other words, small data is able to bring about timely and more meaningful insights in shorter amounts of time, which is why more and more data scientists are rooting for it. This is also the reason institutes like Imarticus Learning have become popular, as they offer industry relevant training courses, in various data analytics tools like Hadoop, SAS, R and so on. So many movies, books, T.V shows and the entirety of pop-culture, have time and again glorified the field of Investment Banking, as the most exciting, enthralling of all, full of adrenaline rushes and exciting closures of multimillion dollar deals. Most of us are well acquainted with this field, especially all of the finance aspirants, but have we stopped and wondered, what kind of a lifestyle would an Investment Banker be leading in today’s day and age? Investment Banker is usually considered to be a highly qualified professional, who has to responsibility of taking care of all the financial tasks of all their clients and attend to their financial needs. There are quite a number of reasons, why anyone would want to pursue Investment Banking as their career. It surely is no secret, that many Investment Bankers, the more experienced they get, the bigger deals they become a part of. This basically caters to those amazing convertible cars, straight cut suits, smart watches and the latest technological gadgets, for these professionals. This upscale, polished lifestyle, tends to an undeniable psychological attraction, for all those finance aspirants, who would want to one day close a multimillion-dollar investment deal, for one of the big gun companies in the finance industry. Very rarely do we tend to see beyond the glittering surface, where these very Investment Bankers, sweat it out on their professional turd by putting in long hours and working almost round the clock, in order to accomplish such great deals. An ideal day of any Investment Banker would begin with a detailed discussion about the upcoming IPOs, or Initial Public Offerings, meeting up with the Director of the company, going on to review the Mergers and Acquisitions Pitch, revising all valuation materials, while collaborating on it with the clients, dealing with the reviewing of the M&A valuation material and finally completing a draft on the same. This process takes up close to or more than 12 hours daily, which is why that amazing upscale lifestyle, is almost like a compensation for this hard work. For many aspirants, the biggest motivating factor here is the kind of money, you earn as an Investment Banker, as well as the lifestyle you get to experience and live as a result of that. But just being motivated by the addons and the benefits of this career, would not help you get there. It is only those professionals, who have had a passion for finance since forever and who can keep up with the ever changing financial trends, are able to make it big in this rewarding field. The popular opinion here is that you just need to have a graduation degree, in any field related to finance to be an Investment Banker, but it is not enough. Recently with a number of employers looking for candidates, with industry relevant skills, have resulted into the popularity of professional training courses. These courses are comprehensive training programs in various branches of the field of Finance, like for instance Imarticus Learning, which offers numerous industry endorsed courses in the field of Investment Banking, Portfolio Management, Asset Management and so on. These courses, give the candidates an edge over their contemporaries, when it comes to working for top investment banks. You must have definitely noticed, a number of people readily getting on to the bandwagon of, “New year, new me”, at the beginning of 2017, there’s one more phrase which is popularly being used by all those professionals, across the corporate industry. This slogan is the ‘New year, new job’, which is being entertained by a number of corporate professionals. While there is nothing new about this, as this feeling is a familiar notion, which every professional experiences annually. But, this time what’s interesting is the statistic, according to a certain study, out of the 3,411 employees who were a part of the survey, about one fifth which equals to about 22% stated, that their resolution for this year would be to leave their current job, in order to look for more lucrative opportunities elsewhere.
While it was 35% of the younger generation of workers, aged between 18 and 34, who would consider not only leaving, but also be certain about landing a new and better job by the end of 2017. At the same time, the past couple of years, have seen a steady rise in the search for employees, who possess skillsets that are in keeping with the industry standards. In order to tackle this demand of top employers and HR managers, many employees and professionals have begun to opt for professional online training courses, which ensure that a candidate is groomed according to industry standards. here are many popular institutes in India, like one Imarticus Learning, which offer a number of courses in fields like Finance and Analytics. Imarticus Learning is one of the best institute that specializes in courses covering fields like Investment Banking, Portfolio Management, and Asset Management, Certification courses in Big Data Hadoop, R Programming, SAS Programming, Python, and Corporate Finance and so on. But what sets this institute apart, is not only their online and classroom course format, but also their mentor run courses and the extensive industry relevant training. Apart from the resolution to look for a new job, there are some other very popular resolutions, that the corporate world is known to take. Like for instance, every year, almost half of the entire workforce decides to unanimously take a pledge to put more of their pay checks, into savings. There are a number of professionals, who would be ready to look for more recreational ways, in order to reduce the amount of stress in and around their work sphere, while many would be aiming for a salary increment, or a promotion in order to jet set their career, thus climbing a rung higher on the corporate ladder. Many companies have begun to already roll out new health promoting activities, in order to ensure that all of their employees remain in the pink of their health. This is also a common resolution among a number of professionals, who are looking to eat healthier and cut out on the junk. While many others would be willing to learn a new skill or take up a productive hobby. With Data Science coming into the lime light lately, many of the tools used for data analytics have been the talk of the town. Data analytics is basically a field, where huge volumes of data is accumulated, structured, organized and studied. This analysis leads to drawing of insights, where certain patterns are seen and are recognized and decisions are taken to further the business. With so much data being generated, the field of data analytics is fast becoming the most sought after. There are various tools to aid in the process of Data Analytics like Python, SAS programming, R programming, Pig, Hadoop and many more. R programming is one of the tools in used in the data analytics industry. It is a statistical software and programming language, which had its beta version released in 2000. Since then, this tool’s popularity has been on the increase up to the fact that, it has become the highest paid skill today. Statistics state that there are around more than 70% people in the data analytics industry, who prefer using R programming. One of the major reasons why R programming is the go to tool is the fact that it is an open source. This means that R programming can be downloaded by anyone from anywhere and is not as expensive as the other tools. There are a lot of students and small firms using this data tool due to the fact that it is readily available and quite reliable. A lot of I.T professionals and programmers have been very taken with this tool as well. The fact that, this tool is coding based and can be tweaked, as to how the data is visualized after analyzing works in its favor. Another advantage is all the R-user communities which keep the world updated with the new techniques to use R. If while using R programming, a person faces a problem then he can just go onto any forums and have his query answered, no tedious service centre calls at all. The graphics that this tool provides are very liked by the users, as well as the fact that the language used herein is interpreted language where one can use as less code as possible. Professionals with knowledge of R programming, who are better known as Data Scientists today, are raking in great money with the help of this tool. It is very easy to learn how to use this tool through various courses offered today. There have been many institutes, which offer courses in data analytics, specifically in R programming. There are also a number of courses offered in the online format, for instance Imarticus Learning is one such institute which offers online R programming courses. Source: https://medium.com/@imarticus/why-is-r-programming-the-it-data-analytics-tool-dcfe0fa1a8d9#.sby0wv2i4 When it comes to the most rewarding careers in the field of finance, a lot of aspirants have a hard time making a choice between Investment Banking and Asset Management. Both of these fields, primarily deal with handling money, similarly both of these fields, also offer really awarding salary packages. Recent statistics state that it is the Investment Banking and Investment Management firms, that offer the highest starting salaries to fresher’s. One big similarity between these two fields, is that they are both, fiercely competitive industries and are famous for hiring the best in class, talent from world’s renowned institutes.
Investment Banking denotes that area of the banking sector, which primarily assists in the generation of financial capital for all of its clients. The clients here can range from institutions, companies, governments as well as private individuals. In other words, this field functions as an exchange market, in order to raise money and make it available to those, who are looking for financing their various ventures. Any investment bank, raises money or capital, through debt or equity, as well as other IPO activities like consultation, book building process, framing a company’s memorandum of understanding, while at the same time covering the legal aspects as well. The various activities and functions here, can be classified into the buy side and the sell side . The buy side, basically is supposed to deal all the buying advice concerning mutual funds, hedge funds, unit trusts, life insurance companies, private equity funds and so on. The sell side, is involved in trading of securities as well as, facilitating market making along with raising capital through underwriting and research activities. Asset Management, in simple terms is primarily, the business of handling other people’s money. These firms basically provide financial services, wherein the clients’ money is invested in securities, equities, debt, commodities, derivatives, currencies etc. These firms appoint those professionals, who are experts at handling somebody else’s money, in terms of investments. A good asset manager would be someone, who has an insight of all the needs of their client and would advice them, on the basis of their asset allocation. This field involves extensive amounts of planning, recommending and reviewing of all the investments of the client companies as well as individual clients. Asset Management firms are also referred to as Investment Management firms and are usually known to employ those individuals, who have various analytical skills, as well as the ability to ascertain, which investment products would be beneficial for their clients, in order to help them achieve their financial objective, set with the specified guidelines. The various products, that the Asset Managers invest their client’s money in, are mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds, retirement funds etc; as well as other financial entities like futures and equity derivatives. These firms usually look for the cream de la crème, when it comes hiring professionals. HR managers usually look for candidates, with a special credential like the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or MBA while recruiting. As both these fields, offer similar rewards and lucrative opportunities, candidates look to get an edge over their contemporaries, by taking up specialization courses. In this context, institutes like Imarticus Learning are sought after, as they offer a number of programs in Asset Management, Investment Banking, Financial Modeling as well as cracking the CFA exam. As the two fields of Investment Banking and Private Equity both, deal with raising capital for all sorts of investment purposes, they are often mistaken to be very similar. That is not really the case, when the intricacies of both of these fields are closely examined. On one hand, Investment Banking deals with looking for various ways to expand the businesses, in order to raise capital from the capital market, on the other hand, Private Equity is focused on looking for high net worth funds, after which is focuses on looking out for investment opportunities in other businesses. While both of these fields have a similar goal, the path chosen to reach the same is extremely different. To further differentiate the two fields, lets take the help of an example. For instance a private equity firm, is more like a collected pool of investors, all of whom come together in order to invest in worthy businesses. Now exactly what kind of funds, would these investors be using? They would use resources like their pension funds, personal funds or money collected from insurance companies and wealthy individuals. A private equity firm is responsible for investing all these funds, in such a way that these individuals get greater return on their respective investments. This is all that a private equity firm is all about. Now, lets move ahead to an Investment Banking firm, which is a service of raising capital for all sorts of businesses. These firms usually act as advisories to all their clients and are responsible for giving them, the proper advise about various financial transactions like mergers and acquisitions, asset allocation, restructuring or any other capital raising service. The basic difference among the two, is that a private equity firm is simply put, an investment business, whereas an investment banking firm, basically provides capital raising services. When it comes to professionals in both of these fields, the job of an Investment Banker is very advisory in nature, which means that they don’t actually invest the money, rather guide their clients towards which kind of investment would be the right one for them. Whereas in terms of Private Equity, a professional will be expected to invest a client’s money, on their behalf and not to just advice. In terms of their roles, an Investment Banker, is supposedly involved in various tasks like, pitch book creation, financial modeling, administrative work and so on. An Investment Banker is expected to thoroughly know the market and the various things that affect it. They are also supposed to draw up models for every kind of deal and try and fix the bugs within them, if any. On the other hand, a Private Equity analyst would be responsible for performing functions like, fund-raising, screening for and making investments, managing investments and portfolio companies and exit strategy. Both of these fields are known to award professionals, handsomely, which is why a number of aspirants want to make a career, herein. While a graduate degree would be just enough, these days due to the enormous amounts of competition, there are a majority of people, who opt for specialization courses, offered by institutes like Imarticus Learning, which allow them get an edge over their contemporaries. In the early 19th Century, to like a happy life, it was very necessary for a person to meet certain demands. The factors that were looked at, as those that measured the happiness quotient in life, were the ownership of three mundane things. These were food, shelter and clothes; any person who had these three, would definitely fit right into the happier end of the yardstick of life. A few decades ago, things changes drastically with the advent of technology and the formidable internet of things, albeit in its earlier, adolescent stages. Soon another aspect was added on to the list of must haves in life, this was the Internet. Today, although this ever increasing list, seems to have another addition; clearly inspired by the direction in which, things are heading in the current times. Apart from a house, food, clothes and a stable internet connection, almost everyone is in dire need of a Financial Planner in today’s world. Let’s loose the light side of things for a while, as we divulge into the technicalities of what and who a Financial Planner is. This is a professional who is highly qualified, in terms of everything money related. Financial analyst are hired by a number of companies, governments as well as high net worth individuals, who are in need of a professional who can manage their finances with absolute finesse. Anyone who has a great amount of interest in Finance and all things related, can think of taking this up as a serious career option. While today there are a number of arbitrary courses that offer general training, which helps in furthering a career in the field of finance, there are also other options. These options include professional institutes like that of one Imarticus Learning, which excels at offering tailor made, mentor run programs, which train candidates in order to make them relevant enough to work with all the top banks from the industry. Now, that we have established what exactly a Finance certified analyst is, lets reacquaint ourselves with the impending conditions in our surroundings. We all live and breath in the 21st Century, where there exists an acute level of competition, which goes hand in hand with an acute level of scarcity; both of which thrive across a number of different fields. The famous opening lines of Charles Dickens, from his novel A Tale Of Two Cities, which start off as, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”; are very familiar with our current day predicaments. With the life expectancy rates, monetary value of currency and infrastructure; being at an all time high, the standard of living has been changing at the speed of light. With such affluence, there is a great rise in investment opportunities, with the markets being replete with the most lucrative of deals. The pressing need of a financial planner, seems to be the order of the day mainly because of the fact that it is these professionals, who will be able to ensure, the constancy of your purchasing power, against the stormy currents of inflation and other such risks. The two very dynamic areas of Finance and Commerce are usually looked upon, as fields which generally are extremely rewarding. But today, both of these careers have become extremely challenging as a result of their rapid evolution and interaction with the modern world. Today, most of the HR managers look for professionals, who are not only highly skilled but also, capable enough of balancing the fields of Finance and Commerce in terms of their career. This is why, there has been a major rise in the number of people opting for the MBA course, in order to understand and master the basics of Financial Planning. This sub-field of financial planning basically refers to managing and maintaining all the, financial aspects of an organization, in order to facilitate the smooth running of the same. The intermittent advancement in various technical aspects of the field of finance, as well as the increasing competition among aspirants, has led to the rise of a Certified professional, who would be well aware of all the nitty-gritties of financial planning. A certified financial analyst, is a professional who is deemed to be in possession, of the best skill and knowledge in terms of various aspects like, revenue generation and fund management. These days, not just private enterprises, but also the various governmental branches, have been on the lookout for a professional, who can be the expert in the aforementioned job. CFP or Certified Financial Planner is more of a distinguished credential, which requires a professional to qualify for certain education criteria. Once the said criteria is sufficiently met, the professional has to score an exemplary score on the examination, as a result of which they would be placed in one of the top firms, which would be available in the form of extensive options for them. A CFP certification is also very beneficial, especially when it comes to accessing the financial conditions as well as the status of any particular firm. As opposed to any average professional, A CFP professional would be well equipped, to make an extremely comprehensive and extensive plan for the company or the business to invest, in order to get the exact kind of profit. This certification is offered by the International College of Financial Planning. This certification with the appropriate amount of training, would result into a candidate getting placed, among the top financial firms, globally. Apart from this, there is another such certification, which can help you achieve similar results, which is the CFA or the Certified Financial Analyst credential, with the help of which, you can become the Financial Analyst, for any of the top banking firms. To become an excellent financial planner, just having a background in a field related to finance is not enough, rather one is required to take up more and more professional courses. There are institutes like Imarticus Learning, that offer excellent mentor-run courses in various fields of Finance like, financial modeling, M&A as well as courses to crack and achieve various certifications like CFA and CFP |
About ImarticusImarticus Learning is a education institute based in Mumbai. We offer certified industry-endorsed training in Financial Services, Investment Banking, Business Analysis, IT, Business Analytics & Wealth Management. Archives
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