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Who is a Credit Analyst?
Credit analysts, as professionals, generally have a background in finance and accounting. They have an important role to play as they minimise the risk undertaken by the company and ensure that loans issued can be paid back.
They can work for many different types of financial companies, such as banks, insurance companies, and investment companies.
Credit analysis is a specialised field within financial risk analysis. It takes highly skilled individuals who can predict risk as well as be holistically aware of the markets to do this kind of work. Hence, the role of a credit analyst is highly sought after and well-paid.
What is a Credit Analyst’s Job Description?
A credit analyst has many important roles to play. Some of them include the following tasks:
Evaluate
Credit analysts evaluate a client/potential clients credit and financial history, and financial statements to best understand if they can pay back a loan they’ve been issued.
After understanding the client completely, they prepare reports charting out the risk involved in lending to the client. This helps a financial company decide whether or not it is viable to lend to a client.
Analyse
They analyse a client’s records and financial past to recommend the best repayment plan possible for them. This plan should be viable for the client and also profitable for the company as well.
Inform and Educate
Share their learnings with managers to keep them abreast of client’s and their credit scores. Be aware of the market, financial recessions, and share insights with the team to keep them educated and up-to-date.
What are the Skills Needed to Be a Credit Analyst?
These are some of the skills required by a credit analyst to ensure they are good at their jobs and advance in their careers:
1. Industry Knowledge
A credit analyst must have in-depth knowledge of the industry to have all the tools needed to make informed decisions. The decisions they make affect the lives of clients as well as the financial future of the company and hence must be well-informed.
2. Investigative Skills
A skilled credit analyst is able to look at a client’s financial history, investigate and understand it, and make an informed assessment of them. Without investigative skills, they will be unable to decipher client records and make a recommendation to their team.
3. Strong Organisational Skills
As they research and investigate a client’s financial past, a credit analyst must be organised and compile research in a correctly categorised manner. If at any point, their decisions are questioned, they must be able to show proof and defend their assessment.
What are the Benefits of Becoming a Credit Analyst?
1. In-Demand Career
The position of a skilled credit analyst is available in many companies, including banks and firms offering financial advice. Retail store chains and even auto manufacturers require a credit analyst on their staff. As a result, the role is in high demand.
2. Lucrative Salary
The average salary of a credit analyst in India is ₹5,50,000 per annum. However, salaries can go up to ₹13,00,000 per annum with experience and a position in a large company.
3. Transferable Skills
If the decision is made to no longer be a credit analyst, the skills learnt on the job are transferable to other fields as well. A credit analyst has skills which would be great for those looking to be an investment banker, portfolio manager, or even a loan manager.
How to Become a Credit Analyst
Ideally, a candidate interested in becoming a credit analyst should have a degree in finance or accounting. Their degree should equip them in the following subjects - risk assessment, financial analysis, economics, and statistics.
There is also an option to do a postgraduate degree in banking and finance to better understand the industry.
Undergraduate Degree
At an undergraduate level, aspirants can apply to the following courses:
Postgraduate Diploma
Are there Entrance Exams for the Above Programmes?
There are competitive entrance exams for the above courses. However, each college has a different admission process and it is best to do research before applying.
Are There Any Specialisations to Be Done to Be a Credit Analyst?
The role of a credit analyst in itself, is a specialised field. Usually, when an individual joins an organisation, they enter as a junior credit analyst. With a few years of experience, they are promoted to the role of a credit analyst and eventually, a senior credit analyst.
A senior credit analyst will be made in charge of a team and be responsible for handling a particular market or group of clients. High-performing analysts can be promoted to a financial management role.
Climbing the corporate ladder can be difficult and one way to speed up the journey is to get an MBA in Banking and Finance, MBA in Financial Management, or an MBA in Finance. MBA courses have the syllabus to best prepare an individual for a managerial role. MBA subjects including financial accounting are useful to credit analysts. Overall, the subjects under an MBA can offer an individual a more holistic understanding of the field.
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