An analyst is a person who researches a subject. He collects, interprets, and applies complex data to create actionable steps that enhance procedures and maximize results. Daily, they analyze demands, gather and analyze data, and look for telltale trends or places for improvement.

Following sections expands on what data analysts, research analysts, and financial analysts are along with some of their common types in practice. 

Data analyst

Data is being used by businesses across all industries to make crucial business decisions. Such as which new goods to develop, which new markets to enter, which new investments to make, and which new clients to target.

Data is accessible to guide the corporation in the right direction for nearly any business choice. A data analyst’s job is to gather this information and draw conclusions that the organization can utilize to make decisions.

Within the analytics family, data analysts are the most well-known; people working in Data Analysis are entrusted with obtaining insights from data. A Data Analyst’s role, at its most basic level, is to use raw data to answer a question or a group of questions.

Data analysts have a narrower scope. They gather data and analyze it to discover trends and gather knowledge for business decisions.

Following are four types of data analytics build on each other to provide a company with more value.

Descriptive analytics

Descriptive analytics is the evaluation of past data to better understand company trends. The utilization of a variety of historical data to create comparisons is referred to as descriptive analytics.

Diagnostic analytics

Diagnostic analytics helps you understand why something happened in the past. Processes like data discovery, data mining, and drill down and drill through are all part of it.

Predictive analytics

The application of statistics and modeling tools to create predictions about future events and performance is referred to as predictive analytics. Predictive analytics examines current and past data patterns to see if they are likely to repeat themselves. 

This enables businesses and investors to re-allocate their resources to take advantage of potential future developments.

Perspective analytics

In this type of analysis technology is used to assist businesses in making better decisions by analyzing raw data. Prescriptive analytics, in particular, takes into account information about potential situations or scenarios, available resources, previous performance, and present performance to recommend a course of action or strategy.

Research analyst

A Research Analyst, also known as a Securities Analyst or Investment Analyst, is an analytics professional who investigates a company’s assets and securities.

To create objective responses about historical data, research analysts tend to depend more on mathematical models. A research analyst can compute the most efficient strategy to maximize output based on a set of inputs.

Research analysts can also be utilized to determine the worth of an asset or an investment. These analysts can conduct market research to identify trends, as well as create reports for buy or sell recommendations as equities analysts.

Research analysts can be found in almost every area, but some, such as the financial services industry, are more common than others. They can be found in a variety of divisions and with a variety of job titles inside a firm.

Market research analyst

Market research analysts assist a company in increasing the market share of its products or services. Customers’ demographics, market trends, and other issues worry market research analysts. They assist in identifying a potential market where their company’s products/services will be in high demand.

Operations research analyst 

Operations research analysts are experts in solving problems and determining the best course of action for a company or organization. They design business plans and assist business owners in making educated decisions using a variety of analytical and mathematical methodologies.

Economic research analyst

Economic research experts are concerned with a variety of economic factors such as exchange rates, interest rates, inflation, and so on. They assess the firm’s performance concerning the economic environment in which it operates. Taxation terms and employment levels are also studied by economic research experts.

Equity research analyst

In the securities and investment industry, equity research analysts are employed. Either a sell-side or a buy-side firm can hire equity research analysts. They assist in the acquisition and sale of securities by preparing reports and projections. They also study the client portfolio and use extensive research analysis to assist their superiors in making educated decisions.

Financial analyst

Financial analysis is a broad word that encompasses a variety of tasks that financial analysts may undertake.

A financial analyst is in charge of obtaining data, organizing information, analyzing historical results, forecasting and projecting future results, making recommendations, and creating Excel models, presentations, and reports, among other things.

Financial analysts usually concentrate on trends that affect a given geographic region, sector, or product type. They might concentrate on a topic or a foreign exchange market, for example. They must comprehend the impact of economic trends, new regulations, policies, and political situations on investments.

Financial analysts gather and evaluate data, but they always do it in the framework of a logical knowledge of how markets should work. Financial analysts must also comprehend economic principles and be able to write reports and make suggestions based on their judgments. In a nutshell, financial analysts are professionals who work behind the scenes.

Here are some of the common financial analysts

Investment banking analyst

An investment banking analyst assesses and researches investment options to locate the one that best suits their corporate clients’ objectives. Analysts evaluate prospects and provide investment recommendations based on the needs and goals of the clients.

Treasury analyst

A Treasury Analyst is in charge of overseeing and analyzing the financial activities of their company. This includes controlling cash flow, revenue, liabilities, and assets.

Corporate development analyst

A corporate development analyst’s job is to examine business decisions and information to figure out how to enhance them in ways that help the company grow.

Final thoughts 

While working in overlapping industries, these three provide entirely distinct outputs. While Data Analytics is normally industry agnostic, Financial Analysts and Research Analysts work primarily in the financial sector, but they are not confined to it. 

A Financial Analyst, on the other hand, works with a larger outlook to make more business-wide investment suggestions, whereas a Research Analyst’s scope is tight and entails investigative investigation. In comparison to Data Analytics and Research Analytics, Financial Analytics is likewise more specialized.