STEM CAREERS: Financial Analyst

Financial Analysts provide guidance to individuals and businesses on investments such as stocks and bonds. To help their clients’ growth, they keep up with current economic trends, business news, and company strategies. 

Financial analysts often work for banks, insurance companies, securities firms, and pension and mutual funds. Sometimes they are referred to as securities analysts or investment analysts. 

Financial analysts have a variety of duties including the following: 

• Recommend individual investments and collections of investments (portfolios) 
• Evaluate current and historical financial data 
• Study economic and business trends 
• Examine a company’s financial statements to determine its value 
• Meet with company officials to gain better insight into the company’s prospects 
• Assess the strength of the management team 
• Prepare written reports 

The focus of a financial analyst is to evaluate investment opportunities. They generally focus on trends affecting a specific industry, geographical region, or type of product. They must understand how new regulations, policies, and political and economic trends may affect investments. Because investment is becoming more global, some financial analysts specialize in a particular country or region. Thise individuals must understand the language, culture, business environment, and political conditions in the country or region that they cover. 

Below are a few examples of different types of financial advisors: 

• Portfolio managers – select the mix of products, industries, and regions for their company’s investment portfolio 
• Fund managers – work exclusively with hedge funds or mutual funds 
• Ratings analysts – evaluate the ability of companies or governments to pay their debts 
• Risk analysts – evaluate the risk in investment decisions and figure out how to manage unpredictability and limit potential losses 

21st Century Skills required for this profession: 

Critical Thinking 

• Use data to analyze and predict future trends 
• Analyze multi-faceted scenarios 
• Develop various scenarios with different risk levels 

Collaboration 

• Work with company management to decide goals and priorities 
• Establish and communicate project timelines 

Communication 

• Clearly communicate analyses 
• Provide oral and written reports 
• Justify decision-making 
• Delineate risk factors for each strategy 

Creativity 

• Determine the best strategies to maximize funds 

MyStemKits, an online STEM curriculum repository, has kits that enrich skills related to finances. These include: 

Balancing Currency Kit 

Subjects: Mathematics, Science 

Grade levels: K-5 

Strand: Algebraic Thinking, Physical Sciences 

Reinforce the understanding of the value of coins and currency with this innovative kit. Use specially weighted coins on our balance to allow students to explore the value of combinations of coins and/or dollars. 

Probability Kit 

Subjects: Mathematics 

Grade levels: K-5, 6-8, 9-12 

Strand: Statistics, Probability, Measurement, and Data 

This collection of kits is designed to create an open environment in which students can run a variety of probability exercises. Simply set up a problem and let the students find the best way to run a simulation of the scenario using any of the provided kits. 

For information on Boxlight teaching and learning solutions, including MyStemKits STEM curriculum, visit www.boxlight.com.