Financial analyst: What is a Financial Analyst

What is a Financial Analyst? Financial Analysts are responsible for a variety of research tasks to inform investment strategy and make investment decisions for their company or clients. These roles are data-intensive and require strong mathematical and analytical skills. Learn about a career as a financial analyst, their responsibilities, the typical qualifications and discover how to become a financial analyst in five steps. Financial analysts look closely at either a company's or client's financial data, alongside other research, to develop investment recommendations that support their clients' various financial goals. For analysts working in investment banking, equity research, corporate development, financial planning & analysis (FP&A), and other areas of corporate finance, financial modeling will be a big part of the job.