Financial services include a variety of products and services that provide consumers with ways to put their money to good use. These services can range from buying a house to investing in the next great technology.
Getting Started in the Finance Industry
A career in the financial services sector doesn’t necessarily require a degree. Instead, you’ll need a blend of hard and soft skills to succeed. Besides having a broad base of transferable skills, you’ll also need to have excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
The financial services industry includes banking, insurance, and investment management. It also encompasses the roles that support these activities, such as analysts and economists.
Banks, for example, can offer a wide range of services including checking and savings accounts, credit cards and mortgage loans. They can also help you pay your bills online and offer a wealth of other financial products.
Other companies that work with money are trust funds and stockbrokers. These types of organisations also buy and sell goods, but they don’t keep them in warehouses or stores. They may instead be akin to coffee shops in that they offer products at a certain price and then sell them at a higher one.
Regulatory Bodies
A key element of any industry is regulation, and the financial services industry is no exception. This is done through a series of independent agencies that oversee the activities of different financial institutions and ensure that they are operating in a transparent manner.
These regulators are vital to the financial services industry because they set rules and standards that help to ensure the industry is fair and operates in a sound manner. They also have the task of protecting customers from fraud and abuse.
Conglomerates
The financial services industry is a complex and highly regulated area that involves a number of different sectors and companies. Some of these sectors, such as asset management, have merged with each other to form larger companies known as conglomerates. This allows them to expand their offerings while still maintaining independence from each other.
In the US, for example, a conglomerate might consist of a large, traditional bank that also owns a small insurance company and a small investment bank. This is a common practice that helps to diversify the earnings of the conglomerate and allows it to compete with smaller, regional banks.
Another type of conglomerate is a regional or community bank, which tends to be a smaller, more local institution that’s able to grow organically and through the acquisition of other traditional financial institutions. These smaller, community banks often seek both public and private capital to help them meet the challenges of operating in a highly regulated environment.
A career in the financial services sector is an excellent way to combine your love of money and helping people with your desire to work in a fast-paced and challenging environment. It’s a highly competitive and collaborative field, so you’ll need to be willing to take on responsibility and have strong interpersonal and teamwork skills.