College student seeking advice on career

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Hello Senior Investors,

I’m 19 years old and I’m pursuing 2nd year of B.Com in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
I was got into binary trading around at the age of 14 and later jumped to Forex trading.

After losing quite sum of money for next 3-4 years, I realised that for now trading is definitely not for me with this amount of knowledge. Then I genuinly got interested in stock investing and building portfolio, etc. I got the interest because in trading I was 90% of the time I was looking at the chart but when it comes to Equities I loved the fundamental side of it, like analyzing the overall economy, sector, businesses, etc.

My question or doubt to all of my seniors in this forum is:
What should I be doing now and in future if I wanted to become an equity research analyst and later to start my own PMS or to become an Investment Advisor.

This is my concern & doubt that I’m having from the get go of getting into capital markets.

But still ever since the start of my college, I was deliberately learning about equites.
Through the year, I learnt and fairly know how to:

  • Analyse financial statements

  • Do intrinsic valuation

  • Build a basic research report

  • Do ratio Analysis

Also I done my NISM Research Analyst - XV certificate.

So please give me some guidance.
Thank you :)
-Yogesh

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I am not someone who has been into investing as a career, so my advice may be wrong.

Advice 1:

Set up strong foundation, Go for CFA.

Advice 2:

Check with people from this industry, if they are seeing a gradual shift in Industry where practical experience and ability to leverage AI is being given more weight as compared to Solid Degree’s / Certifications on your resume.

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There are plenty of courses available like CMA, CFA, CFP…etc. get details of all courses. Time taken, Finances, relevance of that course in AI era. If all set then jump in and enjoy. Without passion you can’t do anything in market. You’re too young so this is best time to build career

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If i were to shape my education so as to become an equity analyst/investor, here is what I would do.

A liberal arts education with concentration in Economics and Psychology. Then a CFA for a good grounding in financial analysis. Here’s why:

I consider Economics and Psychology as the most important knowledge areas along with a deep ability to analyse financial statements. One also needs to develop the ability to think widely and deeply, be an observer and thinker and develop analytical abilities.

Since you are pursuing B.Com., I would presume accountancy and a little bit of Economics is covered. Read up books on financial frauds. Very important.

To gain an appreciation of the kind of broad thinking ability one needs to develop to be a good investor, I would highly recommend extensively reading Charlie Munger and watching all the talks and interviews he has given. He was a true genius and one of the sharpest minds in this field without any doubt. His speech on ‘The Psychology of Human Misjudgement’ is a true classic worthy of being watched many times. Also try and read Pulak Prasad’s ‘What I learned about investing from Darwin’ and the book ‘Investing, The Last Liberal Art’ which could shape your thoughts on how to equip yourself for this career.

Quite a long answer, but I felt i had to share this with someone who is so clear about what they want to do. i wish I had this kind of clarity back when i was doing my graduation!

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I started investing at the age of 17. But since I came from a science background and had very little idea about finance initially, most of my learning came from practical experience — managing family funds with my dad and giving it all my heart, soul and effort.

I later started my B.Tech in CSE, and alongside engineering, I also pursued CFA and FRM, clearing Level 1 of both.

Since then, I had been trying to get into a career that utilises both my technical skillset and financial acumen, and I’ve been lucky to find a role that allows me to do that.

To answer your question, you are pretty much where I was a couple of years ago. The only difference is that you come from a commerce background.

I would suggest you focus much more on your academics, extracurriculars, and other things that can take you towards your long-term goal, while keeping a predefined amount of time for financial markets. Personally, I feel I would have done much better if I had not been so heavily involved in financial markets during college and had maintained a better balance.

I would suggest going for an MBA and treating CFA as an additional qualification rather than making it your first priority. The Indian job market, in my opinion, is not particularly well suited for just a CFA + B.Com profile. Focus more on getting into one of the top B-schools and pursuing an MBA in Finance. The odds of landing the kind of roles you mentioned increase significantly once you have that tag on your profile.

You can definitely pursue CFA alongside it, but I wouldn’t keep very high expectations that clearing CFA alone will land you such a role. In the Indian job market, CFA has become relatively common these days.

Best wishes!

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Yogesh, a good time to ask this question.

CFA, MBA (Finance), CA are the usual suspects to be pursued historically.

You can also look at the Long Term (residential, non-residential) courses from NISM (NISM Long-Term Programs: PGDM, LL.M, PGPISM & More | NISM), these will be very specific to securities market.

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Continuing the discussion from College student seeking advice on career:

While Degree is important and many have suggested above my advice would be to build skills and knowledge more widely - Similar to Latticework.

A book that might help is

Robert Hagstrom’s concept of a “latticework of mental models,” presented in his book Investing: The Last Liberal Art

I would emphasize of knowing/reading widely - Accounts, Economics, Psychology, Behavioral Economics, Philosophy, Physics, Biology etc.

Also add skills like communication (includes writing and speaking), patience to hold, eye for detail, curious mind etc. which are equally necessary.

Lastly view it as a lifelong learning journey - Its a journey which ends only with your last breath.

Wish you the very best.

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You seniors really gave me insights into the field of finance.
Thank you all for taking time to clear my doubt.

@ankiur.jain83 and @UrsRafeek advised me to be aware of the AI changes.
@BuyRightSitTight gave me s list of books to read. By the way I got to know about VP whilst reading “The Joys of Compounding” by Gautam Baid.
@Pranav_Lakhotia advised me to a have balance between the markets and other aspects.
@ashwind suggested looking into PG from NISM, especially for capital markets.
@raviprabhu2000 emphasized on building skills and knowledge widely even towards STEM subjects.

Thank you for all the advices, Seniors!:folded_hands:

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Flame Investment Labs @ Flame Univ, Pune is a great place to learn the art and craft of equity investing. They hold various programs during the year. Like this one:

"

Dear All,
We are excited to announce the schedule for the upcoming FLAME Investment Lab Winter 2026-27 programs. Below is the course calendar along with brief program descriptions. Detailed brochures, including all information and application links, have been updated on the website.

FLAME INVESTMENT LAB WINTER 2026-27 SCHEDULE
I Equity Analysis for Beginners
Speaker:
Jatin Khemani Dates:
December 10 – 13, 2026
Duration:
4 Days Fees:
INR 30,000 plus GST (INR 35,400)

Application Deadline:
October 31, 2026 Selection Notification:
November 7, 2026.

Program Description:
This is an entry-level program that will introduce participants to a step-by-step practical guide to equity investing. It will be jargon-free with many examples, illustrations, and past case studies showing the company’s actual accounts and financial journey. An attempt is being made to make it simple to understand and relatable, even for a homemaker or a student who is relatively new to the world of equity analysis. The program would start with understanding the need to invest one’s savings along with various investment avenues available in India and thereafter move to equity analysis. There will be dedicated sessions for the basics of accounting, financial ratios, business analysis screening businesses, management analysis, and valuation methodologies.

II Behavioral Economics
Speaker:
Sanjay Bakshi Dates:
January 20 – January 23, 2027
Duration:
4 Days Fees:
INR 45,000 plus GST (INR 53,100)

Application Deadline:
November 29, 2026 Selection Notification:
December 6, 2026
Program Description:
This program bridges the gap between economic theory and social psychology by combining the “rational man” models of economics with the “foolish man” models of psychology. While economic theory explains how rational players should ideally behave, social psychology highlights how individuals often act irrationally due to cognitive biases. Through this integrated approach, participants will learn to analyse business models from both economic and psychological perspectives, gain insights from successful managers who blend these frameworks to achieve competitive advantage, and understand cases where irrational decisions led to major value losses. They will also develop the ability to identify biases that distort stock prices, apply behavioural models to craft strategies that exploit market inefficiencies, and enhance their own decision-making by recognising and correcting psychological biases.

If you have any queries, kindly write to us at fil@flame.edu.in. We look forward to your active participation.

Sincerely,
FLAME Investment Lab

"

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