Specialist Markets

Specialist market teams are experts in a specific niche or client sector, and can develop highly sought after expertise.

OVERVIEW

Sometimes an investment option requires a more targeted approach. It could be an emerging market segment with very little precedent available for it yet. Or perhaps it requires much more high-touch work in order for investments in it to be profitable. This is where a specialist market team might be called in.

A market specialist is an expert in a specific client sector or marketplace niche. They can cover a broad range of responsibilities, including providing research reports to investors, assisting clients in their specialist sector with investment and financing strategies, to mergers and acquisitions within one specific sector.

For example, a specialist team focusing on “green” investments may deal exclusively in products like solar energy futures and green bonds or do due diligence on investment options in alleged environmentallyfriendly companies.

Setting up specialist teams is a more common business strategy among smaller investment firms/funds, who may want to focus on specific market niches to give themselves a competitive edge. However, a bigger investment bank or firm may do this too, catering to a whole range of sectors or dominating several niches at one time. In essence, understanding clients’ businesses and the industries they operate in in-depth, and then using that knowledge to connect them to potential investors or funding is what this job is all about.

CAREER PATHWAYS

As a fresh graduate, you probably won’t start off in a specialist market team right away. You will start by receiving training in the firm’s products and general investment banking services, while picking up specialist knowledge through onthe-job experience and learning from more experienced seniors.

Following that, graduates will typically move on to conducting research on their specialist sector, analysing clients’ businesses, and preparing presentations and models for client meetings. As you gain more experience, you will take a more active role participating in client discussions and pitches. Eventually, you will be assigned as the person in charge of account negotiations and trade executions themselves.

Depending on the size of your organisation and the number of sectors they cover, you may be rotated to service multiple sectors to give you a broad-based understanding of how things operate. If you’re working for a smaller firm that just services a handful of sectors/niches, then you may be expected to dig into them all and switch hats when needed. Upon becoming a senior member of a specialist market team, you may even be called upon for expert consultation by CEOs or board members at client companies or investment funds.

REQUIRED SKILLS

One of the key skills required in this line of work is to possess sectorspecific knowledge and have a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of your market segment’s inner workings.

Flexibility, enthusiasm, and the ability to sift through and interpret complex information are some of the other skills required of successful applicants, as are good communication skills to convey information clearly to clients.

Because employers want graduates who can absorb information quickly, be prepared to face a steep learning curve in the beginning of your career due to the sheer amount of highly specialised knowledge that must be picked up.

Teamwork and interpersonal skills are important as well, since you will be working in teams to service clients. Other key soft skills include strong numeracy skills, a broad sense of commercial awareness, and critical thinking ability to spot market trends.