Fundamentals of Equity Research

What is Equity Research?

In very simple terms, equity research is a study / analysis of equities or stocks for the purpose of investments. Equity research involves analyzing the fundamentals (financial statements, products, management, etc) of a company (stock) to derive the fair value for the company. Several big and small financial institutions, brokerage firms, etc produce research reports for the companies that are publicly traded or are listed on a stock exchange. A researcher aka Analyst covers companies (usually 8-12 stocks) which fall under the same industry (sector).

Working as an EquityAnalyst..

Typically equity analysts follow top down approach and begin their research by analyzing the key macro-economic factors, followed by understanding the overall industry drivers in which the company operates along with the company fundamentals to arrive at a fair value for the stock. In the midst of this, analyst may talk to management of the company to understand their perspective before taking a view on the stock of the company. Post this, analyst may take either a bullish or bearish view and sometimes may take a neutral view on the stock (if it is fairly valued at the current market price). However, such views are ever changing with economic developments (ex RBI rate cuts, Currency movement etc), company specific factors (ex quarterly results, news flow etc) and the share price evolution. Once an Analyst has built a view on the stock, he usually publishes a report which more often than not have 1) recommendation on the stock / industry, either buy, sell or hold and 2) investment thesis - reasons specifying his view on the stock / industry and 3) estimates / forecasts.

In nutshell, a typical equity research work can be break down into following segments

a) Marco Economic analysis

b) Industry analysis

c) Company analysis

d) Financial statement analysis

e) Modeling and Valuation

f) Report writing and Recommendations

Some of the most common valuation methods used in equity research include comparable multiples (PE, EVEBITDA, EV Sales), Discount Cash Flow (DCF) model, Dividend Discount Model (DDM) and Sum of the part analysis (SoTP).

Further, Equity Research business can be analyzed in three categories depending on the channels in which it is marketed:

• The  report / recommendationis sold to investors for a fee (Independent research houses)
• The report / recommendation is used for self consumption, that is to make an investment decision (buy-side research). Note - Buy-side researcher may not publish a full fledged report like sell side analyst
• The report / recommendation is sent out to customers, who would later generate  brokerage/ deal commissions for the firm (sell-side research). Such research houses are usually part of bigger firms who are into  investment banking, project finance, trading, etc

Carrying out the research analysis on stocks is just one part of the equity research analyst job, the other and perhaps the moreimportant one is marketing of these research analysis to different clients –both internal and external (fund managers, investors, traders, investment bankers, insurance houses, mutual funds, pension funds etc) and providing them new investment ideas and latest development in sector.

Some of the key skills which are required to be a successful analyst are:

• Very good understanding of accounting and financials
• Flair for writing the reports and investment thesis
• Ability to analyze the business and its pitfalls
• Sound understanding of financial modeling and excel

Careers in Corporate Finance / Management Accounting

The intent of this article is to discuss about career opportunities in Corporate Finance / Management Accounting roles with a focus on the education and key skill requirements, the job description and the career progression. In terms of education, a typical Corp Fin role would require an Accounting background (like CA, ICWA, B.Com etc)and sometimes even an MBA (finance) is preferred. However, in general industry does not prefer MBAs with engineering background. The simple logic behind this is perhaps most of the day to day work in such profiles relies heavily on a sound understanding of accounting concepts. Some of the other specific skills apart from knowledge of accounting subjects also include working familiarity with computers especially excel, word and tally.  Also, the lateral hiring in this industry requires relevant sector knowledge and experience.

Some of the most common jobs which fall under this domain are related to Costing / Cost Accounting(of a product / service), MIS reporting, Budgeting, Book keeping (Account maintenance), Billing / Invoicing, Taxation, Internal Audit etc. The typical job responsibilities in these roles include Generating Invoices, Account Preparation, Account Reconciliation / Maintenance, Preparation of Trial Balance, Closing of Accounts (during period end) MIS Reporting, Budgeting, Arranging funds for Working Capital management, Maintaining Audit trails, Taxation, Finance Control, etc.

The work in all of the above profile is also customized depending on the kind of industry or sector you choose to work in.  For instance, a FMCG based role would be very different from that of the IT Industry, as FMCG sector has many low value products and a vast customer base versus IT industry which has more concentrated customers using fewer products / services of higher value. So, in broad terms it can be understood that the end products worth, volume of the business and end users of the product / service play a major role in defining the actual work profile. Shift from one industry (sector) to the other is possible  /easier at entry level but as one progresses in his or her career, this becomes relatively tougher and is also not recommended.

Most of the entry level of work initially starts with basic accounts / book keeping /invoicing which later on develop into more mature role focusing on control / management of finances, costs, budgeting, etc. The designation usually starts from Finance Analyst / Executive and progresses to the CFO level.

CA/ICWA are the most preferred candidates for these profiles and generally given more complex responsibilities. Professionals with such backgrounds go on to become the key finance decision makers for the company eventually land up with designations such as CFO / Finance Director etc.  Management graduates initially start their career as MIS reporting and compliance analyst while undergraduates work primarily revolves around data entry and analysis, report making, etc. Like every other industry, performance is the key factor for career growth here, however the career progression for CAs tends to be faster than MBAs. The career growth for undergraduates is relatively slow and may have to start their job on a temporary / contract basis.

Here, it is critical to understand that although the initial compensation in these profiles are lower when compared to the jobs in the capital markets, Corp fin roles are equally competent and can provide professionals with successful career growth opportunities. Professionals with 4-5 years of experience in Management Accounting / Corp Fin in a particular industry (sector) have moved into Front End Investment Banking / Equity Research roles.  For more details on the career growth and job profile in investment banking and equity research please refer to our pervious blogs and published newsletters.

The reality of investment banking jobs in India

Investment banking is the latest buzzword across all the management students in India. Every MBA graduate today aspires to work as an investment banker. However, it is equally important to note that before students and professionals decide to jump into this field, they should make themselves fully aware about the benefits and drawbacks of investment banking jobs in India, the kind of work profile that are being offered to the majority of candidates, and more importantly having a realistic career expectations from this industry.

What is Investment Banking?

Investment banks help clients – large and SME corporate and government institutions – to raise funds through the issuance of equities (IPOs or Private Equity placements) and debts (bonds, loan). The investment bank acts as a mediator between potential investors and issuer while raising a capital for the firm.  Investment banking typically focuses on merger & acquisitions, capital raising / underwriting, and restructuring transactions. However, investment banking firms main focus is to advise clients on deal structuring and other regulatory / legal process involved in raising the money.

Investment Bank Types:

Investment banking firms can be broadly classified into three categories: Bulge Bracket firms, Boutique firms and Middle Market firms.

Bulge bracket firms are at the top of the ladder and operate in the upper end of the market. These firms work on some of the biggest deals typically worth over Rs 250 cr. Bulge Brackets in India are not clearly defined but some of the firms like JP Morgan, BofA-Merrill Lynch, SBI Capital, ICICIBank, Deutsche Bank fit into this category

Boutique firms typically work with small and midsized corporate firms. They usually engage in transactions less than Rs 125 cr. Most boutique firms' core focus is on M&A advisory and they don’t provide restructuring services. This is one of the growing areas and today with the rising M&A activities, there are several boutique firms opening in India. Some of the prominent Indian firms falling into this category includes Avendus, Ambit Capital, Enam Securities, Centrum capital, etc

Middle Market investment banking firms engage in transitions that fall between Bulge bracket and Boutique firms. However, unlike Boutique firms they offer full range of financial advisory services.

Investment Banking Job Profile Classification:  

Investment banking industry from the job / work perspective is organized into three divisions: Front office, Middle office and Back office. Professionals working in front offices have maximum client interactions (company higher management, investors, etc). This is one of the most grueling, high responsibility job and involves extensive traveling. Middle office job roles mainly involve risk management, financial control, due diligence and compliance with regulatory requirements. Back office jobs involve financial modeling, transactions, research, reconciliation and number-crunching support for the front office.

The realty:

Although today there are many boutique investment banks coming up in India, the fact is that the total industry size, number of M&A deals, etc are still much smaller  when compared to investment banking activities in any of the developed financial markets such as USA and UK. Consequently,  there are limited front end investment banking roles available in Indian market.

Majority of the front end associate and analyst roles are hired from top business schools in India such as IIM Calcutta, IIM Ahmadabad, XLRI, ISB Hyderabad, SP Jain, etc. This is one of the highest paying and most sought after jobs in the industry and it is highly competitive to break into this role. However, there are plenty of middle office and back office jobs available in India. MNC bank captives, KPOs, transaction advisory firms such as KPMG, PWC, Deloitte offer such kind of roles. These roles are not as high paying as front end roles but offer decent packages.

Piece of Advice:

Today, most MBA graduates from tier 2 and tier 3 schools work in middle office and back office profile. The exit opportunities and vertical migration (towards front end roles) are very limited in these profiles. As majority of these jobs are outsourced to manage the firm costs, these roles typically do not have much value add to the firms in terms of expanding and bringing new business opportunities. However,  there are also a few advantages of working in these roles in terms of balanced work life style, minimal travel, less strenuous and low complxity work.  

Every MBA graduate aspires to become a front end associate today, however, the reality is that a) there are only handful of such profiles available in India and b) firms are very selective when they hire candidates (high CGPA, strong undergraduate background) for such roles. It is also equally important to realize that life style of front end investment bankers is quite stressful and they are under constant work pressure. This kind of life style and work profile might not be suited for everyone who aspire to get into such roles. Having said this, it is not an absolutely impossible thing to get into front end roles. Candidates with not so competitive academic background and still look to break into front end investment banking roles, boutique investment bank can provide them ideal opportunity to start off their career as an analyst or associate.   

Thus our sincere advice to each one of you would be that before you jump and decide to make career in investment banking, you should all be aware of the above facts and realities of investment banking jobs in India while making important career decisions in your life.  

Things you should know about Jobs in Capital Market / Investment Banking

Broadly the capital market work and job profiles fall into four principal areas: corporate finance, sales, trading and research. All of these areas are quite different from each other and require different kind of expertise.

Corporate finance: Corporate finance is a generic term for the work involved in capital raising, underwriting, and financial advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions. Firms typically hire both undergraduate and MBAs for their corporate finance division. In general, undergraduates are hired for two to three years and are assigned the title of analyst where as post graduates and MBAs are considered for the position of Associates. Largely the work involved in these roles includes gathering data, building and updating different valuation models, creating proposals and pitch books and understanding lengthy transaction documents.

Depending on the company, the M&A may be a separate unit or fall within the corporate finance arena. The typical work involves advising companies that wish to merge with, or acquire, others. M&A revolves around the deal of the moment and can be entirely unpredictable. Professionals working in this industry are typically known as Investment Bankers / Bankers.

Research: Research is another integral part of the investment banking. The sell side of investment banks are typically involved in the selling (research) of securities. This is different from buy side research which is used to refer to institutions that buy securities and manage large portfolios. The research departments spend majority of their time analyzing financial data, interviewing people in the industries they cover, writing about specific companies and the economy, and making recommendations about purchasing and selling various financial instruments.

Research division typically has flat hierarchy, with a team consisting of around 2-4 people. Also, the designation structure followed in research is opposite to that used in M&A. People coming in from college programs are called associates where as professionals with several years of experience in tracking particular industry are referred to as an analyst or lead analyst. The lead analyst work mostly involves marketing, interacting with clients such as portfolio management firms, investment houses, hedge funds, etc, and engaging with company management. Associates typically assist lead analyst in gathering data, creating and updating company valuation models and report writing. Professionals working in this profile are known as equity analyst.

Sales and Trading: Sales and trading jobs are split between institutional sales and trading and then broken down further between equity (stocks) and fixed income (bonds). Professionals who want to work as a trader have a choice between trading for the firm, also known as proprietary trading or for the clients. At most Banks, undergraduates and graduates are hired into a training program and then begin a series of rotations in different business or trading asset classes, they are assigned a fixed position.

The hiring and interview process in sales and trading may not be as structured as in corporate finance and research jobs. Most of the hiring managers typically look two key skills in fresh graduates while interviewing; ability to do fast paced calculation or number crunching, and taking quick decisions in pressure situations.

Finance industry - Layers and roles

Time is money and the finance industry works to manage money, thereby helping/managing clients and investors worldwide achieve their financial objectives. The business structure, strategy and profile vary from department to department. This article aims discuss and differentiate the various layers and levels of the finance industry.

We are all aware of the recession which started in 2008 and impacted almost every industry globally, but more importantly it led to some permanent structural changes in most of the larger financial institutions in India. However, it is very encouraging to see that all of these changes still could not hold back fresh people entering into this field and carving out long term career prospects from it.

The main intent for writing this article is-

• To brief on what kind of finance related jobs one can expect post their graduation.

• How the finance industry is structured and what are its key pros and cons?

• And what are the different myths associated with it?

Most of you would accept that it is quite competitive to break into finance industry especially as a fresher with non-financial background, but the toughness or competitiveness would also depend on the kind of profile you are looking for. To break it in laymen terms, we have categorized the job roles in financial firm in three broad categories –

1. Middle office: Most of the profiles in this category are related to banking operations, trade and settlement, portfolio risk attribution and analysis, derivatives (e.g. trade book migration, price verification, etc), product control including structured trade reviews, fair price valuation, pitch book reporting, credit card analytics, actuaries, fxed income etc. The exposure to financial market and direct interactions to client / investors in all of such kind of jobs are largely very minimal. However, on the positive note, you will definitely get a chance to work with a portfolio manager or a trader who generally has more than 8-10 years of experience in the domain.

2. Back office: There is a very thin line between backend and mid office jobs, but most of the profiles in this category belong to financial IT, accounting and MIS reporting. In most of the cases, there is no exposure to financial markets or direct investors. However, there are some very interesting and unique job profiles you can find in this category. Professions related to algorithmic trading (a new concept emerging fast in India and around the world) and financial engineering including product structuring are in great demand in the industry but there are only hand full of suitable people available to do the job.

3. Front office: This would perhaps be one of the most lucrative job categories in the industry. This includes a wide range of job profiles such as Portfolio Managers, Sell Side Equity Analysts, Investment Bankers, Private Bankers and Wealth Managers, Private Equity Analyst, Hedge Fund Managers, Sales and Trading teams, etc. Most of the jobs which fall in these categories are very demanding; require long working hours including weekends and correspondingly it does compensate you with an equivalent remuneration. You expect to get maximum market exposure and a 100% direct interaction with client or investors. Also, this is one of the toughest categories to break into with not many opportunities in India.

Having differentiated the various levels of the financial industry, you will find that there are many different and challenging roles that financial industry has to offer and it often takes years of expertise for the aspiring individuals to find a suitable position which would fit them like a glove. On a brighter side, we believe that most of the graduates with strong analytical and mathematical background have higher probability of starting their career in fields like quantitative finance as compared to research or consulting roles (which mostly belong to front end category).

To conclude, as aspiring individuals it is very important to understand the industry and the kind of job prospects it has to offer in the long term rather than just jumping into it because every other friend of yours is diving into that field. It is very important for you to do some soul-searching and analyze that although a career in finance industry appears to be very flamboyant from outside, it may not be the actual reality. Remember the quote – Grass on the other side is always green. Although, it is true that the finance industry is the most rewarding, but then it is also essential to know that jobs in this industry are very demanding and often associated with uncertainties, market ups and downs. There could always be some small or big financial crises popping out somewhere in the world and there is every chance that you or your company would have some direct or indirect exposure to it. Thus, it is very essential for you to take measured decision and understand the bigger impact before you zero down as to which career path you would like to choose.

7 steps to break into finance industry for non finance graduates

In spite of all the downturn and a sever threat of double dip recession, finance jobs are still very high in demand. One of the reasons for this popularity is that the finance industry continues to be among the best paying and hence a lot of talent wants to be here. Every year many students graduating from non finance background dream of landing up in financial services industry. Unfortunately very few are able to make it and the simple reason for this is that for a single position there are hundreds of applicants. Apart from this such students face a stiff competition directly from graduates with CA, MBA and other relevant degrees in finance. This further reduces their chances to enter into the industry.

However, one of the best and perhaps the most unique thing about the finance industry is that it is virtually open to graduates from any background. Ten years back this trend was more prominent in USA but it is becoming increasingly popular in India. Today many financial firms in India are willing to give opportunity to graduates with non finance background to work in finance sector. And with the changing trend and increasing job opportunity, it is important for every student to keep pace with the market and start early if one is willing to make his or her career in finance.

We propose a structured approach that can increase your chances to break into finance industry.

1. Start Early

It is always beneficial to start early in the career. It gives you more time to understand the nuances of the industry and allows you to work towards acquiring the relevant skill set. Another advantage of taking an early lead is that it provides you sufficient time to explore career and job opportunities available in the industry and thus helps you to plan accordingly and focus on to the area of choice. Having said this it is never too late to enter into the industry if you are really passionate about finance.

2. Opt for relevant academic courses

Once you have decided that you want to work in finance industry and perhaps would like to make a long term career in it, the next step would be to consider opting for some of the suitable courses related to this field. The choice of courses could vary and can be directly or indirectly related to this profession. Students can opt for subjects ranging from economics to mathematics to statistics or perhaps any business related courses.

3. Do an Internship

Internships in finance are one of the best ways to get an early exposure to the industry. In general getting an internships (paid or unpaid) is much easier than finding a job. Students during their vacations should try to look out for such opportunities in local brokerage houses, insurance companies, and other financial research houses.

4. Undertake Ad hoc Projects

Sometimes it might be tougher to find a suitable finance related internship. In that case we would suggest students to take up a project related to this field under professors from relevant departments. Some of the relevant subjects may include economics, econometrics, company specific financial research etc. Student should keep in mind that the whole purpose of doing this activity is to showcase their general understanding about economics and money to the employer. This is sometimes highly saleable when looking out for a job. Similarly, we also encourage students to take part in business plans, stock market competitions, and other related events.

5. Pursue Certification Programs

Like in any other industry certifications bring a lot of credibility to ones profile. It is also one of the most effective ways to develop your knowledge in finance and showcase employer that you are committed towards professional excellence. There are ample number of certification exams available nowadays in India and one can choose depending on his or her capability, commitment and financial constraints. Certification course from NSE and BSE exchanges could be one of the most economical ways to get started. Apart from that there are a few specialized certifications which are recognized globally such as CFA, FRM, CQF, CPIM, etc to name a few. It takes multiple years to pass each of these certifications and these programs are comparatively more expensive than the Indian ones. Some of these are very specialized and one must do a thorough research before registering for these certifications.

6. Follow the market

Finance industry is market driven and one of the fastest evolving and dynamic industries. Every day there are some or the other latest development happening in this industry and therefore it is highly advisable to all the students to keep themselves updated with current economic issues, global as well as those related to the Indian market. It is always good to have some knowledge about the stock market and particular industry of choice. You can perhaps take up a company and try to understand its business model, financials and build some investment rationale around that company. There are plenty of articles available on web, informative and interesting books by notable authors, blogs which you should read to enrich your knowledge base.

7. Work on your technical and financial skills

Technical skills may give a great edge to someone who is from a non finance background. Programming knowledge, familiarity with tools like MATLAB, Advance Excel, and VBA are some of the important technical skills which may come in handy many times in your day to day job in finance especially in quant. based profiles.

Though there is no specific requirement to have any specific skill set for non finance undergraduates, one is expected to be good with numbers, attention to details, and ability to think analytically. Corporate expect graduates to be familiar with the certain tools but it varies from one job profile to other. However, it would add a real value if one demonstrates such skills through project works or academic courses.