Top Career Opportunities for Financial Certified Professionals

If you are good at working with numbers, calculations, statistics and solving the real-life issues with the help of analytical skills, the financial world is an amazing industry for you. The financial field comes with a number of certifications with advanced degrees that open up emerging opportunities for your professional career. The growing financial industry comes with specialized financial qualifications and certifications that offer job security, high rewards, and a great scope of glorification.

The financial field is also getting advanced with the growing years, giving out the new financial value of accreditation. These certifications come with great importance and also require high qualifications and authorization, that you don’t need to look about the security of your job. The person holding the certification plays a specific role in the organization and reveals the level of proficiency for a rapid growing career with high returns.

The advantages of holding the financial certifications include:

• These certifications help the individuals in performing better for striving excellence.
• They improve the market value of the professional holding the certification and increase their visibility among various candidates.
• Increase in credentials and qualifications lead to more security for job.
• Individuals with finance certifications can obtain nearly 15 percent higher reward than their current market valuation.

Here are some of the valuable finance certifications that hold a good role in various branches regarding finance that would drive your career to a new path.

1. Certified Public Accountant (CPA exam)

Also known as CPA, Certified Public Accountant is a license for the accountants, financial analysts and the tax preparers. It is counted among the top financial certifications in the financial field, which is executed by the American Institute of CPAs. The certification demands coursework of around 150 hours, and after that, you need to clear up the rigorous exams too. The CPA certificate holder can provide with financial advice for reduced taxes, organizing of the investments, and much more. The CPA holder can also enhance his career opportunities by opting for the master’s degree.

The CPA certificate holder should have the analytical skills, the ability to solve complex challenges of the business, decision-making skills, communication skills, teamwork spirit, etc. The average salary for the CPA certificate holder is around $62,410 on annual basis.

2. Certified Financial Planner (CFP exam)

The financial field would be incomplete without the certified financial planners. The come with the rights of assessing the complete financial portfolio of the clients and can also provide them with personalized financial policies. For getting the certification, the professional should complete the combination of courses and also clear the seven hours test too, which is administrated by the board of CFP. The certification includes all the modules of financial planning and also provides them with amazing career options for quick success.

The CFP certifications come with 5 constituents that include planning of education, modules relating to ethics and financial planning, tax, investment, planning of retirement and estate planning, and much more. The minimum package for the CFP certificate holder is around $79,000 on yearly basis.

3. Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC exam)

The Chartered Financial Consultant certification, also known as the ChFC cert is an alternative certification of the CFP. The program comes with advanced specialties that are more than the CFP essentials. A ChFC certification holder is one which needs to be hired when you have specific needs like monetary preparation for aspects like divorce, business planning for small industries, etc. The development is introduced by the prominent Financial Institute of America, namely, the American College of Financial Services that needs around four months of testing and studies.

The job of the ChFC includes skills like building an exclusive financial and investment path for the clients, looking after their assets, management of their risk, balancing the levels of insurance, management of taxes, advice for mutual fund and stocks, advice for a mortgage, and much more. The basic pay of the ChFC certificate holder earns about $110,000 on annual basis averagely.

4. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA exam)

When it comes to specialization in securities and investments, Chartered Financial Analyst, also known as CFA, is the one you are looking for. The certification is looked after by the CFA Institute, according to which, the CFA is a certification that comes with utmost respect, along with managed recognized investment designation globally. In order to get this certification, the candidate needs to master over 10 investment topics, and also requires to pass three levels of important examinations. If you are the one looking for career in the field of investment management or willing to work as an investment manager, CFA is the perfect career for you.

The certification gives you opportunities as financial analysts, working for banks, mutual funds, investment groups, insurance firms, consultancy firms, and other financial sectors that include both Government and private industries. The certificate is valued in nearly 65 countries around the world and helps you earn around $52,000 to $100,000 on annual basis.

5. Chartered Investment Counselor (CIC exam)

Popular by the name CIC, this certification is an advanced version of CFA designation. It is much helpful for the CFA individuals who are working as investment counselors, or portfolio managers. To get the designation of a CIC, the candidates must be involved in any of the Investment Adviser Association Member Firm, with minimum 5 years of experience. Along with this, the candidates also need to have professional and character references for working as a fiduciary. Hence, if you are holding a big set, and are looking for an experienced and high-level professional, for managing the investments, the CIC is the best person to get in touch with.

The minimum pay of the Chartered Investment Counselor is around $75,800 to $82500 on yearly basis.

6. Financial Risk Manager (FRM exam)

The Financial Risk Manager, or say the FRM, is a professional that comes with specialization in the field of risk management. The FRM certification holders are mostly found working in the banks designated as the risk analysts. The certificate holders are also authorized to transact with the private clients of the bank or apart from the bank who are looking for advice on investment. While looking for the certification of FRM, the candidates are required to clear out 8 hours multiple-choice examination in two parts, that is administrated by the GARP. The passing rates of the candidates opting for the examination are lower than 50%.

The FRM certificate holders can look for positions like Risk Qualification Manager, Market risk specialist, Credit risk specialist, Operational risk analyst, Market risk analyst, Regulatory risk analysts, and many more. The certification holder can earn around $100,000 to $250,000 on annual basis.

7. Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU exam)

This is a certification that is popular with the insurance agents, which is also known as CLU. The certification comes with zero examinations, however, the candidate is required to have the completed the 8 courses that are administrated by the American College of Financial Planning. The CLUs are the specialized professionals in the field of life insurance, risk management, and estate planning.

The CLUs should serve as Financial planners, internal wholesalers, financial advisors, etc., who can earn a minimum pay that can range from $85,000 to $132,000 on yearly basis.

8. Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA exam)

Also known as the CAIA, the professionals with this certification come with the skills of managing investments like hedge funds, real assets, etc. When it comes to obtaining the certification, the individual approaching for the exam needs to complete a charter program of a year which is handled by the CAIA Association. The program also includes various coursework and exams too. If you are looking to use your portfolio of finances in other investments, the CAIAs would be the best professionals to get in touch with.

The CAIA are approached to have specialized suggestions and ideas for investing your finances for profitable and long-term returns. The average salary of a CAIA would range from $76,000 to $111,600 per year.

9. Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor (CMFC exam)

When you think of investing that is specialized only in mutual funds, you need to work out with the Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor certificate holder. For opting for the CMFC certification, the candidate is required to complete a course of 10 weeks and after that needs to clear up the examination too, which is designed and looked after the College for Financial Planning. The course is designed to help the candidates in understanding the complex situations the arena of mutual funds comes with and other investment products package it comes with.

The CMFC certificate holders come with expert skills relating to the mutual funds, and hence, are mostly appointed by the companies investing in the same as well as private investors too. The basic income of the CMFC certificate holder comes to around $85,000 to $101,500 on yearly basis.

10. Certified Management Accountant (CMA exam)

Certified Management Accountant, also called CMA, is an expert in the field of management accounting. These certification holders mostly work for the corporations, however, there are some certification holders that practice for private accounting also. The CMAs work with their skills in the field of management and accounting that help in coming to strategic decisions based on financial fields. The CMA examinations are monitored by the IMA administrators, that comes with total 11 tests for financial competencies, which is taken in two different parts.

The certificate holders of CMA are specially hired for financial analysis, strategic assessments, and budgeting. The CMAs are capable to earn a minimum amount of $31,000 on yearly basis.

11. Financial Modeling Certification

The Financial Modeling Certification is a career which is mostly opted by the financial professionals that are working with the banks with the designations like fund managers, investment bankers, property and fund managers, finance managers, financial analysts, accounting professionals, insurance professionals, etc. The certification allows the financial experts to build up proper models that would be capable of representing financial accounts, along with investment analysis. They carry the authority to evaluate various factors related to the analysis that helps them in decision making for various business solutions. For this, they also make a complete study of the past financial records of the company.

The Financial Modeling Certification is widely used in fields like banking, finance world, corporate world, equity research, investment banking, financial analysis, mergers, credit ratings, etc. The certificate holder can surely aim at earning a minimum pay of $66,890 on yearly basis.

12. Certified Credit Professionals (CCP exam)

The CCP certification is given out by the Credit Institute of Canada, that helps to validate the trained professionals of credit management. They hold an important role in the field of the finance sector, as the program is designed to provide the financial field with experts in handling the credit management. The program comes in 8 modules, at the end of which, the candidate needs to pass out an examination. The candidate applying for this course can complete it in approximately 2-3 years, however, stretching it for more than 7 years is not also advisable. Also, the individuals approaching for CCP should have an experience of minimum 5 years in handling credit related tasks.

The CCP certification holders can acquire the credit department in various industries and sectors working as credit analysts, claim managers, credit risk managers, etc. The CCP certification provides with a minimum salary that ranges from around $85,800 to $106,000 on yearly basis.

Conclusion

When it comes to the field of finance, having an advanced certification through additional knowledge and qualification, adds special prospects to your career. It brings out new opportunities that would attract employers that are prospective to you. The professionals also are gifted with authority and focused knowledge on the particular field of finance, keeping them updated in their particular field. The specialists are also able to reveal their ethical conduct, that also proves their trustworthiness and dedication to the job.

Also, the best thing about opting for this finance based certifications is that you can work on a full-time basis, giving complete dedication to the work you have undertaken, which is rare in other certifications.