Finance Today:
The first concept most people think of when talking about business is money. However, for a business to develop it must properly manage its money. This is the role of those who work in finance. Finance is simply managing the funds of the business. Some of the tasks in this area of work are providing the funds for a corporation's activities. Corporate finance generally involves balancing risk and profitability, while attempting to maximize an entity’s wealth and the value of its stock. Another task is to decide how to fund certain projects that the company may be working on.
Finance Careers:
1. Commercial Banking
2. Financial Planning
3. Investment Banking
4. Money Management
5. Private Equity
Mentor: Rob Walton Occupation: Working with commercial banks to make loans for apartments.
What are your projections for this type of work or industry? Is it stable, growing,
declining?
-This type of work is ranging from stable to growing. For example this type of work is
working with loans and apartments. Because of the economy more people are moving
into apartments, thus causing this type of work to increase.
What are the key trends or issues? New developments? Key challenges?
- Right now it is not easy to build new apartments and to get an approval. Also another
challenge is that interest rates are low right now.
Entry into
Position
When and how did you get involved in this work?
-Coming out of business school I knew that I wanted to do something with real estate and finance. I was living in
Washington D.C. at the time and I knew that real estate was really strong in Washington D.C. I first got started by working with
different banks and learned about real estate through the banks.
What was your training and background? Is this typical for people in your position and in
similar positions?
-I truly believe that you can learn all of the proper techniques through working at a
bank and therefore several people in this type of work learn through the banks
and work their way up.
Job
Specifics
What’s a typical day like for you or someone in a similar position?
-About half of the time I am analyzing a specific transaction of a project. My fellow
employees and I must know who is building it and who owns it. The other 50% we
are in meetings with other deals within the business.
What do you like most about your work?
- The deals that I work with are very interesting to me and I really enjoy this part of
work.
What do you like least?
-There is a lot of busy work that I have to deal with. Some of the meetings are
meaningless to me and I don’t feel there is any type of benefit from these
meetings.
What talents or skills do you think are the most crucial to success in this work?
-Lots of communication skills are vital for this work. Both writing and verbal skills are needed, thus this is why so many return missionaries have success in this work.
Recommendations
What would you recommend I do if I want to go into this type of work?
-Study finances and really get to know economics. Accounting and marketing are also
good tools to get to know this type of work.
Are there other jobs similar to yours that you would suggest I also consider?
-Investment banks and financing are great jobs that are similar.
Knowing what you do now, would you approach this career (or job) in the same way? If not,
what would you do differently, and why?
- I would not approach this type of career in any type of way, however while working with
different banks there are different types of deals that I would have done.
Business Key Terms:
-ROI:(Return on investment) The earning power of assets measured as the ratio of the net income (profit less depreciation) to the averagecapital employed (or equity capital) in a company or project.
- Net Present Value- The difference between the present value of the future cash flows from an investment and the amount of investment.
- Stocks- Equity capital raised through sale of shares.
- bonds- A written and signed promise to pay a certain sum of money on a certain date, or on fulfillment of a specified condition. All documented contracts and loan agreements are bonds.
- Stockholders- An individual, group, or organization that holds one or more shares in a company, and in whose name the share certificate is issued
-Government Securities- Bonds, notes and other debt instruments sold by a government to finance its borrowings. These are generally long-term securities with the highest marketratings.
- Mutual Fund- An investment vehicle managed by finance professionals that raises capital by sellingshares (called units) in a chosen and balanced set of securities to the public.
- SEC- (Securities and Exchange Commission)- US federal agency established in 1934 to help protect investors by enforcing securities-related laws,
and by setting mandatory standards for disclosure of financial and other pertinent information about firms whose securities are traded over a stock exchange.
- Stock Markets- a place where shares are bought and sold
- Initial Public Offering (IPO)- First offering of a firms' stock (shares) on the stockmarket, at the time it 'goes public.' Because a stockmarket usually values the stock on the expectations of the firm's future growth and income, IPOs are typically an opportunity for the founders and other early investors to make highprofits by cashing their stockholdings.
- Venture Capital- Startup or growth equity capital or loan capital provided by private investors (the venture capitalists) or specialized financial institutions (development finance houses or venture capital firms).
- Interest Rate- The annualized cost of credit or debt-capital computed as the percentage ratio of interest to the principal.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average- Price weighted average of 30 actively traded shares of the blue chip US industrial corporationslisted on the New York Stock Exchange. The trend in the movement of the market value of these shares is considered to be an indicator of the movement of the entire US stockmarket.
The first concept most people think of when talking about business is money. However, for a business to develop it must properly manage its money. This is the role of those who work in finance. Finance is simply managing the funds of the business. Some of the tasks in this area of work are providing the funds for a corporation's activities. Corporate finance generally involves balancing risk and profitability, while attempting to maximize an entity’s wealth and the value of its stock. Another task is to decide how to fund certain projects that the company may be working on.
Finance Careers:
1. Commercial Banking
2. Financial Planning
3. Investment Banking
4. Money Management
5. Private Equity
Mentor: Rob Walton Occupation: Working with commercial banks to make loans for apartments.
What are your projections for this type of work or industry? Is it stable, growing,
declining?
-This type of work is ranging from stable to growing. For example this type of work is
working with loans and apartments. Because of the economy more people are moving
into apartments, thus causing this type of work to increase.
What are the key trends or issues? New developments? Key challenges?
- Right now it is not easy to build new apartments and to get an approval. Also another
challenge is that interest rates are low right now.
Entry into
Position
When and how did you get involved in this work?
-Coming out of business school I knew that I wanted to do something with real estate and finance. I was living in
Washington D.C. at the time and I knew that real estate was really strong in Washington D.C. I first got started by working with
different banks and learned about real estate through the banks.
What was your training and background? Is this typical for people in your position and in
similar positions?
-I truly believe that you can learn all of the proper techniques through working at a
bank and therefore several people in this type of work learn through the banks
and work their way up.
Job
Specifics
What’s a typical day like for you or someone in a similar position?
-About half of the time I am analyzing a specific transaction of a project. My fellow
employees and I must know who is building it and who owns it. The other 50% we
are in meetings with other deals within the business.
What do you like most about your work?
- The deals that I work with are very interesting to me and I really enjoy this part of
work.
What do you like least?
-There is a lot of busy work that I have to deal with. Some of the meetings are
meaningless to me and I don’t feel there is any type of benefit from these
meetings.
What talents or skills do you think are the most crucial to success in this work?
-Lots of communication skills are vital for this work. Both writing and verbal skills are needed, thus this is why so many return missionaries have success in this work.
Recommendations
What would you recommend I do if I want to go into this type of work?
-Study finances and really get to know economics. Accounting and marketing are also
good tools to get to know this type of work.
Are there other jobs similar to yours that you would suggest I also consider?
-Investment banks and financing are great jobs that are similar.
Knowing what you do now, would you approach this career (or job) in the same way? If not,
what would you do differently, and why?
- I would not approach this type of career in any type of way, however while working with
different banks there are different types of deals that I would have done.
Business Key Terms:
-ROI:(Return on investment) The earning power of assets measured as the ratio of the net income (profit less depreciation) to the averagecapital employed (or equity capital) in a company or project.
- Net Present Value- The difference between the present value of the future cash flows from an investment and the amount of investment.
- Stocks- Equity capital raised through sale of shares.
- bonds- A written and signed promise to pay a certain sum of money on a certain date, or on fulfillment of a specified condition. All documented contracts and loan agreements are bonds.
- Stockholders- An individual, group, or organization that holds one or more shares in a company, and in whose name the share certificate is issued
-Government Securities- Bonds, notes and other debt instruments sold by a government to finance its borrowings. These are generally long-term securities with the highest marketratings.
- Mutual Fund- An investment vehicle managed by finance professionals that raises capital by sellingshares (called units) in a chosen and balanced set of securities to the public.
- SEC- (Securities and Exchange Commission)- US federal agency established in 1934 to help protect investors by enforcing securities-related laws,
and by setting mandatory standards for disclosure of financial and other pertinent information about firms whose securities are traded over a stock exchange.
- Stock Markets- a place where shares are bought and sold
- Initial Public Offering (IPO)- First offering of a firms' stock (shares) on the stockmarket, at the time it 'goes public.' Because a stockmarket usually values the stock on the expectations of the firm's future growth and income, IPOs are typically an opportunity for the founders and other early investors to make highprofits by cashing their stockholdings.
- Venture Capital- Startup or growth equity capital or loan capital provided by private investors (the venture capitalists) or specialized financial institutions (development finance houses or venture capital firms).
- Interest Rate- The annualized cost of credit or debt-capital computed as the percentage ratio of interest to the principal.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average- Price weighted average of 30 actively traded shares of the blue chip US industrial corporationslisted on the New York Stock Exchange. The trend in the movement of the market value of these shares is considered to be an indicator of the movement of the entire US stockmarket.