For seven years now, Cathy has been a financial analyst in the Credit and Evaluation Section of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). She evaluates the financial status of the bank’s loan applicants. The process, according to Cathy, usually lasts for ten days for one client alone. “Financial analysts check the credit worthiness of existing and prospective clients,” she explains.

Cathy explains that credit worthiness means the capacity of applicants to pay the loan on time. It is usually verified by checking the professional records of the applicant or client. The client’s profession usually is a good measure of credit worthiness.

What Makes a Financial Analyst? Contrary to common perception, financial analysts need not be Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). Anyone whose field of study demonstrates an ability to understand and work with numbers can apply for the job. Fresh graduates, in fact, can work as financial analysts if they possess superior skills in numbers and accounting.

Cathy herself attests to this: “After getting my Finance and Marketing Management degree from St. Scholastica’s College in 1993, I was hired as financial analyst by Premier Development Bank.” Part of her job then was to conduct ocular inspections of small-and-medium enterprises, which comprised a majority of the loan applicants. “I stayed with Premier Bank until 1997 when I joined RCBC as credit review assistant,” she narrates. From the credit review section, she was transferred to the credit evaluation section as financial analyst in 1999.

Anyone who has an accounting background can be a good financial analyst. But accounting graduates, according to Cathy, are much preferred because they can easily relate to the Philippine Financial Reporting Standard. The PFRS prescribes how entities should present their financial standing and is the country’s response to the emerging requirements of the International Accounting Standards. Those who have no PFRS background , however, need not worry because most banks and financial institutions provide training and orientation upon hiring.

Compared with other jobs, there is no specific age or gender requirement to be an analyst. Whether male or female, twenty-something or forty-something, anyone can qualify for the job and enjoy an above-average salary and fringe benefits. In RCBC, for example, the starting salary is P10,000.00 per month plus a 17th month bonus, a quarterly bonus and a rice subsidy.

Threading the Career Path This kind of job, however, may not fit extremely dynamic individuals and those who love much adventure. “This is a routine job,” says Cathy. Those who yearn for an exciting work environment certainly do not belong in this job.

But what makes the job stimulating is the opportunity to travel. Financial analysts must be prepared to travel anywhere at any length of time, especially during ocular inspections or client calls. These are opportunities for them to meet and interact with different kinds of people, go to different places, and learn different cultures.

And considering that they are exposed to the ins and outs of financial matters and management strategies, financial analysts can easily find different jobs in the banking and finance industry. “One can be a marketing assistant, account officer, credit review assistant, risk analyst, or compliance analyst,” Cathy says. One can also climb the career ladder as the job proves to be a good training ground and foundation for those who want to establish a career in the business and finance sector. “We have an Assistant Vice President who started out as a financial analyst and rose through the ranks,” shares Cathy.

Because financial analysts, overtime, develop skills in coping with market movements, money matters, currency crisis and other factors affecting business operations, their future in the world of finance is indeed brighter. The downside, however, is that demands for the job are limited because many banks in the Philippines do not require financial analysts. It is the account officers who usually do the evaluation of the bank’s prospective clients. Overseas demand for financial analysts is even lesser. Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration show that there were only nine job orders for financial analysts abroad as of Oct. 16, 2006.

Positive Outlook Cathy is optimistic, though. She believes that there will be a demand for financial analysts if the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will require all banks to take control of their loans portfolio and thus find the need for more financial analysts. She says financial analysts play a crucial role in improving a bank’s asset quality because they filter loan applications by focusing on credit worthiness. In contrast, account officers, who are usually trying to meet quotas, tend to put too much consideration on the fallback income or collateral when assessing a loan application.

It should not be the case, according to Cathy. Ideally, people handling loan assessment should make sure that the bank does not enter into transactions that result to non-performing loans or those which are not paid on time. This she always keeps in mind while poring over the high stack of documents everyday in her workplace inside the sky-rise RCBC Tower in Makati City.

Cathy, though, does not find this daily grind a problem because she loves working with numbers. Since childhood, she has been in love with numbers and was, in fact, known among her friends and classmates as a math whiz. Let it be known though that this math whiz is now a 501 girl.