Careers & Credentials
30 Careers & Credentials terms, defined in plain English — part of the 1345-term Finicade finance glossary. Each one has its own page, and links to the free game that teaches it.
- Assets Under Management
- AUM is the total market value of assets a firm manages, and it's the industry's headline metric because fees are usually a percentage of it.
- Bloomberg Terminal
- The Bloomberg Terminal is the dominant market data and communication platform in institutional finance, costing roughly $25,000 per user per year.
- Boutique Investment Bank
- A boutique investment bank offers advisory services without a balance sheet or a trading arm.
- Broker-Dealer
- A broker-dealer executes trades for customers and deals for its own account, regulated by the SEC and FINRA.
- CAIA
- The CAIA is the credential for alternative investments — hedge funds, private equity, real assets, structured products — over two exams.
- CFA
- The CFA is the main global credential for investment analysis and portfolio management: three exams of 300+ study hours each, plus four years experience.
- CFP
- The CFP is the leading credential for personal financial planning, covering tax, retirement, insurance, estate and investment advice.
- Chief Financial Officer
- The CFO owns a company's financial function: reporting, controls, treasury, planning, capital structure and the investor relationship.
- CPA
- The CPA is the US accounting licence, requiring exams, education credits and experience, with ACA and ACCA the equivalents elsewhere.
- Equity Research Analyst
- An equity research analyst covers a set of companies, publishing forecasts, valuations and recommendations.
- Family Office
- A family office manages the wealth of one family or a small group, handling investments, tax, estate planning, philanthropy and often household administration.
- Fee-Only Advisor
- A fee-only advisor is paid solely by clients — hourly, flat fee, or a percentage of assets — and takes no commissions from product sales.
- Financial Advisor
- Financial advisor is an unprotected title in most jurisdictions — it carries no required qualification by itself.
- Financial Modeling
- Financial modelling builds a spreadsheet linking the three statements to project a business and test scenarios.
- Financial Planning and Analysis
- FP&A is the corporate function that budgets, forecasts and analyses performance to support management decisions.
- FRM
- The FRM is the specialist credential for risk management — two exams covering market, credit, operational and liquidity risk plus the Basel framework.
- Fund of Funds
- A fund of funds invests in other funds, offering diversification, manager selection and access to closed strategies.
- Investment Banking Analyst
- The investment banking analyst is the entry-level role: building models, preparing pitch books and running diligence, over two to three years.
- Investor Relations
- Investor relations manages communication between a listed company and the market — earnings calls, guidance, investor days, analyst relationships.
- MBA
- The MBA is the standard career-switching credential in finance, functioning for banking and consulting as a structured recruiting channel.
- Portfolio Manager
- A portfolio manager makes the buy and sell decisions for a fund and owns its performance against a benchmark.
- Private Equity Associate
- The private equity associate role is the standard step after banking: sourcing deals, building LBO models, running diligence, monitoring companies.
- Quantitative Analyst
- A quant builds the mathematical models behind pricing, risk and trading.
- Registered Investment Adviser
- An RIA is a firm registered with the SEC or a state to give investment advice for a fee, and it owes clients a fiduciary duty.
- Risk Manager
- A risk manager measures, limits and reports the risks a firm takes, independently of the people taking them.
- Sell-Side vs Buy-Side
- The sell side creates, sells and services financial products — banks, brokers, research.
- Series 65
- The Series 65 qualifies someone to act as an investment adviser representative, giving advice for a fee rather than earning commission on sales.
- Series 7
- The Series 7 is the FINRA licence permitting the sale of most securities, and it's the entry requirement for a brokerage role.
- Trader
- A trader executes and manages positions, and the title covers several different jobs.
- Wealth Management
- Wealth management serves high-net-worth clients with investment management plus tax, estate, philanthropy and lending coordination.