What do you have to be good at to become an investment analyst?

Question

How good with math do you need to be? And if your not good with it is there a way to still be in the profession?

Answer 1

math is the key of investment analysis and all but don't panic if you think you are not good with it. People who claim to be irrelevant to a specific subject later be successful in it.

Answer 2

To get an understanding about this profession, read the book, "Wall Street Meat".

Good luck! http://jsforex.blogspot.com

Answer 3

I am not certain that I know the answer to this question.  There are far more lousy investment analysts than there are good analysts.  You do not necessarily have to be a whiz at math, but you certainly do have to have mastered the basics.  Being able to read and understand a balance sheet and income statement are among the top requirements.  That requires an understanding of some of the basic principles of accounting.  

I think that the really good analysts are the ones able to understand economic trends and their ramifications.  It appears that that is something that the high paid analysts at Bear Stearns,  Leman Brothers, Merril Lynch, Citigroup, and UBS were unable to do.

I may be selling them short however.  Their analyses may have been overridden by the greed of their CEOs.