Investment Banking Credit Analyst
Credit analysis is a job that comes with lots of responsibility. Generally, a credit analyst is responsible for assessing a loan applicant's credit worthiness. Depending on the area in which a credit analyst chooses to work, these applicants could be individuals or companies. (To learn more, read.)
Credit analysts are typically employed by commercial and investment banks, credit card issuing institutions, credit rating agencies and investment companies. Read on to find out if shouldering this kind of responsibility is for you.
What Does a Credit Analyst Do?
A credit analyst is responsible for gathering and analyzing financial data about clients, including paying habits or history, earnings and savings information, and purchase activities.
After the data has been gathered, a credit analyst evaluates the data and recommends a course of action for the customer. For example, a credit analyst who works with a bank or organization that issues credit cards collects data about clients who have defaulted in their payments. After analyzing the data, the analyst might recommend closing the card or reducing the credit line. Credit analysts are not limited to clients who have defaulted in their payments. A credit analyst can also be responsible for potential customers seeking new credit or customers who are being considered for credit line extensions.
Educational Requirements
The minimum educational requirement for the position of credit analyst is a bachelor's degree in finance, accounting or another related field. A bachelor's degree in finance or accounting exposes you to subjects like basic accounting and finance, statistics, ratio analysis, calculus, economics, industry assessment and financial statement analysis. These subjects are necessary to function as a credit analyst because they aid in risk assessment. Educational subjects like industry and ratio analysis are necessary because part of assessing the risk for a company includes assessing its environment.
