The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Junior Analyst in Investment Banking / Equity Research
2-3 yearsSkills to master
- Financial modelling, industry analysis, understanding equity markets, working with large datasets.
You're ready to move on when
- Can build a basic financial model from scratch.
- Comfortable reading and interpreting financial statements.
- Can articulate key drivers of stock performance in a specific sector.
- 2
Data Analyst in a Financial Services Firm
2-4 yearsSkills to master
- Advanced Excel, data cleaning and manipulation, data visualisation, SQL (often).
You're ready to move on when
- Can autonomously clean and prepare complex datasets for analysis.
- Proficient in creating clear, impactful data visualisations.
- Has experience working with financial datasets.
- 3
Associate in a Buy-Side / Asset Management Firm
2-3 yearsSkills to master
- Portfolio analysis, understanding investment strategies, market research, working with Bloomberg/FactSet.
You're ready to move on when
- Understands different investment styles (e.g., growth, value, quant).
- Can analyse a fund's portfolio composition and trading activity.
- Comfortable with financial terminology and market dynamics.