Fixed Income: Valuation, Return & Risk Measures

#1 - Bond Analyst:

A bond or fixed income analyst is a type of financial analyst specialized in assessing the performance of the bonds. They learn fixed income securities in-depth and perform valuation as well. Usually, organizations or governments release bonds to firms to raise capital. Thus, bond analysts track them and advise firms as well. 

Some of the popular companies hiring such individuals include Morgan Stanley, Intercontinental Exchange, State Street, CRISIL, Futures First, and similar others. The average salary earned by them is $78,603 on an annual basis as of June 6, 2024.

#2 - Portfolio Manager:

As the name suggests, the portfolio manager is a financial expert handling portfolios of different clients. Since they hold expertise in financial markets, these managers understand clients’ investment objectives and try to give maximum returns with minimized risk. As a result, they even consider the debt instruments (fixed income asset classes) like bonds held by clients. 

Such professionals either work individually or as a part of investment banks, mutual fund companies, insurance companies, or equity firms. Some of the large investment banks like Wells Fargo, NatWest Group, Square Yards, Capgemini, Citi, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, and others provide a higher salary of $135,228  annually to them as of June 6, 2024. 

#3 - Financial Risk Manager:

As a financial risk manager, one is are responsible for forecasting trends occurring in the market and their impact on the organization. They analyze the company’s financial position and suggest strategies to mitigate risk. In this process, they also analyze the risk associated with debt investments as well. 

They are mostly hired by PWC, Amazon, Deloitte, Credit Suisse, PayPal, HSBC, and others. Generally, the salary prospects range between $123,020 on an annual basis as of June 6, 2024. 

#4 - Credit Analyst:

These analysts facilitate credit risk management by measuring the creditworthiness of the individual, firm, or investments. They are generally employed by banks, credit card companies, rating agencies, and investment companies to evaluate interest rates and associated risks. A few popular banks include CitiGroup, American Express, Barclays, HSBC, and others. Here, the salary prospects as of June 6, 2024 range between $89,221k annually.

#5 - Investment Banker:

Investment banking analysts have a similar job profile as equity analysts. However, they mostly run parallel with investment banking firms. Usually, they prepare financial models, perform financial analyses of companies, and likewise advise clients on buy or sell decisions. But, on the contrary, they even act as underwriters to organizations and governments in the bond issuance process. 

Some of the large investment banks like CitiGroup, JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, Credit Suisse, and others provide a higher salary of $392,122 annually to analysts as of June 6, 2024.