BANKING AND INVESTMENT: AREAS OF WORK
RISK MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL Assess trade and investment risks while ensuring traders fully understand them before making an investment.
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lthough risk management and control have similar scopes, both are rather different. While a risk professional identifies risks and evaluates impacts before proposing ways to minimise risks, a risk and control manager instead assesses risks and consults with clients. Both, though, have to ensure that any potential risks associated with trade or investments are understood by clients, and matches their risk appetite. A typical day for both can involve a diverse mix of surveying sites, conducting risk analyses, helping to flesh out preventive recommendations, creating reports and interacting with clients.
General overview In this lucrative and challenging sector, recruiters generally prefer applicants with industry-relevant degrees – such as in business, law, economics, or management. Mathematics and sciencebased backgrounds are well-liked too. Many employers are also giving increasing importance to relevant work experience, so obtaining an internship can afford an advantage. New hires usually enter through risk management training programmes before striking out as part of a small team, picking up essential skills on-thejob as they assist their colleagues with their tasks. Mentors are also assigned to graduate hires to guide them along in their work and oversee their progress within the organisation. There’s a range of external training courses available for career advancement purposes, and professional qualifications are needed if there’s an intention to specialise in particular areas, including technology and fraud. Although postgraduate studies aren’t a requirement, some firms may take them into consideration when promoting candidates.
Required skills In terms of soft skills, excellent interpersonal and communication skills are vital as working with people from diverse backgrounds is part of the job. At the same time, good problemsolving and analytical skills are essential, as well as having a good eye for detail. On top of that, having good negotiation skills, great foresight, knowledge about markets, commercial awareness and an ability to be forward-thinking are immensely important.
Pros and cons Professionals must be prepared to work under great pressure and stress, especially in times of crisis or big acquisitions, trades and investments. Work can also be extremely fast-paced, and hopefuls need to be highly adaptable to succeed in this sector’s rapidly changing environment. A lot of work is also dependent on systems, so it can be timeconsuming if the required technology is inaccessible and evaluations have to be done manually instead. Additionally, staying up-to-date on new products, such as market-linked investments to ensure risk management and control remains pre-emptive and not reactive, is an important part of being in this line of work.
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