Best Careers for People Who Love Investing
Updated: Oct 2, 2022
Are you passionate about investing? Then why not choose a career where you can invest daily and get paid for it! These jobs are not only perfect for investors but also pay very well with great career advancement opportunities available. Careers have become more flexible with what degrees they accept due to advancements in technology and business degrees all being very flexible, you can get a job in almost every business sector with your degree. Without further to do, here are the best careers for people who love investing.
1) Investment Analyst
Investments analysts’ primary role is to research potential investments and get them approved to be purchased by the company to add to their portfolio. Other responsibilities may include recommending investment options to portfolio managers, asset allocation (deciding where your money should work), and helping advisors with the full range of investment products they might use in their daily work. Working in a team is a must as an investment analyst. To further improve your career you can get certifications like:
Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA)
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA)
Basic qualifications to enter this job include:
Bachelor's degree in finance, economics, accounting, statistics, or a related field
Salary according to Payscale (Based on 931 salary profiles, last updated May 17, 2022)
Average salary: $67,682
Base Salary: $49k - $98k
Bonus: $2k - $20k
Profit Sharing: $962 - $12k
Commission: $0 - $10k
Total Pay: $49k - $110k
Most Popular Skills that affect salary according to Payscale
Statistical Analysis - 33% increase
R - 28% increase
Python - 20% increase
Risk Management / Risk Control - 14% increase
Valuation - 11% increase
Project Management - 11% increase
Portfolio Management - 10% increase
Bloomberg Terminal - 9% increase
Market Research - 8% increase
Investment Management - 5% increase
2) Financial Advisors
Financial advisors provide services to individuals or institutional clients to help achieve their financial goals by choosing investments. Some examples of services offered by financial advisors could be: retirement, a long-term expense like children going to college, and investment suggestions to clients to reach their goals (could be long-term or short-term). Financial advisors are also very knowledgeable in tax laws which they’ll help you take full advantage of.
Basic qualifications to enter this career include
Bachelor's degree in accounting, business, finance, law, or economics
Salary according to payscale (Based on 2406 salary profiles, last updated June 06, 2022)
Average salary: $61,206
Base Salary: $39k - $107k
Bonus: $2k - $30k
Profit Sharing: $1k - $18k
Commission: $5k - $180k
Total Pay: $40k - $136k
Most Popular Skills that affect salary according to Payscale
Oral / Verbal Communication - 94% increase
Counseling - 69% increase
People Management - 63% increase
Tax Consulting - 49% increase
Data Analysis - 47% increase
Office Management - 26% increase
Financial Modeling - 25% increase
Strategic Planning - 16% increase
Microsoft Office - 14% increase
Accounting - 10% increase
3) Investment Bankers
Investment bankers are the most effective solution when companies, organizations, or government entities need to raise capital and those looking to make financial investments. Investment bankers provide their expertise by examining an entity’s financial health, capital needs, and goals. Then they recommend a strategy to improve or manifest them.
Basic qualifications to enter this career include
Bachelor's degree in accounting, business, finance, or economics,
Salary according to payscale (Based on 13 x1 salary profiles, last updated May 14, 2022)
Average salary: $100,876
Base Salary: $53K - $204K
Bonus: $3k - $101k
Profit Sharing: $1k - $117k
Commission: $0k - $55k
Total Pay: $49k - $284K
Most Popular Skills that affect salary according to Payscale
Team Leadership - 39% increase
Mergers and Acquisitions - 15% increase
Financial Modeling - 2% increase
4) Portfolio Manager
Portfolio Manager’s main responsibility is to invest money (perfect career for this blog). They may be a client-based advisor who manages investments and assets of individuals and businesses or handle other financial products such as mutual funds. The portfolio manager title is usually only available in larger financial institutions. Basic operations include processing analyses from different departments for important criteria like risk and investment research then acting accordingly. The main goal of the portfolio manager is to maximize gains from investments, which would be a perfect job for individuals who love investing.
Basic qualifications to enter this career include
Bachelor's degree relevant to finance
Salary according to payscale (Based on 1404 salary profiles, last updated May 18, 2022)
Average salary: $90,101
Base Salary: $56k - $147k
Bonus: $3k - $41k
Profit Sharing: $1k - $15k
Commission: $2k - $49k
Total Pay: $57k - $172k
Most Popular Skills that affect salary according to Payscale
Software Architecture - 78% increase
Business Development - 60% increase
Leadership - 37% increase
Program Management - 34% increase
Information Technology (IT) Support - 30% increase
Strategic Planning - 23% increase
Financial Modeling - 21% increase
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) - 19% increase
Strategic Project Management - 16% increase
Bloomberg Terminal - 15% increase
5) Venture Capitalist
A difficult but exciting job, venture capitalist presents new challenges and investment opportunities daily! Entrepreneurs pitch their ideas and introduce their vision for expansion into production, distribution, and marketing to you, hoping for a check by the venture capital firm. Feelings are off the table as rejection will become common in this field. Only the best prospects are chosen, and they will receive startup capital from the venture capital firm. If the business performs well then the venture capital will earn a hefty ton of money from the tremendous growth, but if the company rolls down its investment becomes zilch.
Basic qualifications to enter this career include
Bachelor's degrees in mathematics, statistics, finance, economics, or accounting
Salary according to payscale (Based on 114 salary profiles, last updated May 09, 2022)
Average salary: $92,228
Base Salary: $59k - $140k
Bonus: $3k - $35k
Profit Sharing: $5k - $40k
Total Pay: $59k - $154k
Most Popular Skills that affect salary according to Payscale
Strategy Development: 41% increase
Investment Management: 14% increase
Financial Modeling: 12% increase
Due Diligence: 6% increase
Strategic Project Management: 5% increase
Portfolio Management: 4% increase
Sourcing: 1% increase
6) Hedge Fund Traders
A Hedge Fund trader’s job is straightforward. They perform research and analysis on investments and perform buying and selling actions to generate the fund profit. Depending on the hedge fund, the asset classes the trader pursues will be different determined by varying factors like strategies, macro, equity, relative value, distressed securities, and activism. Some of the most common investments include stocks, bonds, and currencies. Hedge fund traders get paid a base salary and based on their performance, the more profit they generate the more money they make. This can be a stressful job as earnings and market swings can change the prices of assets immediately and can hurt the mental state of the trader.
Basic qualifications to enter this career include
Bachelor's degree in finance, mathematics, accounting, physics, and computer science
Salary according to payscale (Based on 8 salary profiles, last updated May 09, 2022)
Average salary: $98,264
Base Salary: $83K - $115K
Bonus: $0k - $42K
Total Pay: $92k - $204k
Enjoy the journey, not the destination. So, if you love investing, then you will enjoy these careers and be able to make great progress and earn much more money. These are the best careers for people who love investing. Take this poll to choose your favorite of the 6 careers.
Which career would you choose?
- Investment Analyst
- Financial Advisor
- Investment Banking
- Portfolio Manager