FAQs and Industry Information

faqs image for Junior-BrokerHere’s for you a detailed list of information about all you need to know about entering the UK Financial Markets as an Investment broker, including qualifications, FCA approval, key skills, roles and sectors.

1. How to become FCA Approved Persons.

 2. Which finance qualifications do I need?

3. Which are the finance professional skills expected of all employers?

4. What are my study options?

Gaining the required qualifications to work within the regulated financial markets can be achieved in a variety of ways. Many prospective candidates and those who are already enjoying a fruitful career decide to study the relevant documentation at home via a distance learning program, booking exams with the associated qualifiers when they feel ready to successfully pass the exam.

Study guides & material, revision kits and practice exams can be purchased from a number of sources to facilitate learning. Junior-Broker.com provides links to an extensive range of the required texts and study material from Amazon. These can be found on our main Financial Training and Qualifications homepage.

Junior-Broker.com also lists some of the finest teaching institutions in the world. You can search an extensive list of courses and teaching programs here. These course providers offer a huge variety of courses and teaching methods to cover all requirements. Alongside distance learning programs, they provide options for structured studies, whether day release/evening courses over many weeks or intensive programs including the end of term exams which can massively expedite your career.

If you are already employed in the markets, you may wish to inquire with your current employer about utilising some of the in-house training courses offered by these providers.

5. Which are the finance professional skills expected of all employers?

6. What are the different roles available?

You may have seen the movies or read the newspapers and decided that a life in the financial markets with all the apparent phenomenal wealth is for you. Most people outside the industry think of Charlie Sheen (his character ‘Bud Fox’ in the movie Wall Street, not the stand-up comedian), or Michael Douglas as Gordon Gheko, when considering their future career. Although these fictional characters do have some semblance of reality as ‘Brokers’, there are many different roles and job functions within the financial markets. All of these positions require different personality traits and involve unique functions. Some of the main areas of expertise are listed below, it is crucial you understand the differing roles, and realise which of them you may be best suited to, before studying and endeavouring on your chosen career path.

a. Stockbroker

b. Trader (FAQ: Broker vs Trader: what’s the difference between these two job titles)

c. Financial Analyst (FAQ: What is the job of a Financial Analyst)

d.Tips to get into Wealth management entry level jobs / Private Banker / Investment Consultant /

e. Portfolio / Fund Manager (FAQ: What is a Mutual or Hedge Fund and what does a Fund Manager do?)

f. What is Market Making / Flow Trading? Financial Terms and Definitions

g. Compliance jobs (FAQ: What is compliance in banking and finance?)

h. Financial Advisor jobs (FAQ: What does a financial advisor do: is it just sales and prospecting?)

7. What are the different sectors available?

Amongst the different sectors, you will find:

a. AIM Stock Exchange London jobs (FAQ: What is an AIM-listed company?)

b. Alternative Investment jobs (FAQ: 

c. Fixed Income Bond jobs (FAQ: Why are bonds known as fixed-income investments?)

d. CFDS Contracts For Difference trader jobs

e. Commodities jobs (FAQs: What are Commodities in Finance?Stock Market vs Commodity Market)

f. Derivatives jobs (FAQ: What is a typical workday like for a junior derivatives trader?)

g. Equity trader jobs

h. ETFS Exchange Traded Fund jobs

i. FX Foreign Exchange Trader jobs (FAQ: What is Forex Trading? Who trades, where, when, and why –  How to trade currency online: basics to learn about the Forex Market)

j. Fund Manager jobs

k. Futures Trading jobs

l. Insurance Broker jobs (FAQ: Financial Advisor vs Insurance Agent: pros and cons of each to help you decide)

m. Market Making jobs

n. Mortgages jobs

o. Options finance jobs (FAQ: “What are options in trading: kind of options and similarities/differences with securities“)

p. Private Equity finance jobs

q. Property Investment Adviser jobs

q. Spread Betting jobs

q. FinTech Financial Technology jobs (FAQ: What skills are most searched by FinTech recruitment companies?)