Alternative Investment Accounting – a Radical Career Opportunity

Written by Monojit Banerjee. CO Founder Pro-Professionals

The landscape for employment opportunities in commerce in India has been rapidly changing in the last Decade with Alternative investments (AIFs) making its mark in the sphere. The opportunities had previously been restricted to Metros but now it has expanded to tier two cities as well. Unlike most of the traditional accounting firms, these companies bring in the benefits of a corporate culture and follow international standards. With Weekend offs these also bring a respite to the stressful environment of the traditional accounting firms.

There is a wide range of companies now working in this landscape like APEX, CITCO, BNY, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, NT, SS&C, CITIGROUP etc. These are some of the Big players in the industry, the list does go on. Their main focus to ensure the accuracy of the NAVs published which in turn requires a variety of services and operational tasks, each with its unique employment opportunity.

These opportunities not only broaden the scope of employment but also broaden the understanding of the Financial Market Spectrum.

Let’s have a closer look at some of the benefits:

High Demand of Expertise: As the domain keeps expanding there is a growing demand for expertise in the field. Recently the companies have been looking for specialized degrees like CMA, CA and MBA finance for entry level jobs; though there is also a huge demand for Graduates in the sector as well.

Best in class compensation packages: Some of these companies offer packages of around 5.6 to 10 Lakhs as initial CTC. The offers also come with a plethora of benefits attached to the jobs like food allowances, Night shift allowances, Transport etc.

Safe Culture: The HR in these companies follows international standards making the jobs safe and stable. For late night shifts the companies ensure female employees are provided with guards and company transports with SOS and Tracking facility. There are regular trainings with regards to POSH and employee welfare.

Global Exposure: Many of these companies also provide opportunities for global travel for training and employment. These can be long term or short term with travel and lodging taken care of by the companies.

But perhaps the biggest challenge for these companies is a crunch of quality resources. The Major reasons for the same are lack of knowledge about the industry as a whole, adverse outlook towards late shift work culture and the lack of mentorship and coaching available in the education field to understand the key concepts necessary to get into the entrance level jobs.

Though there are few mentorship programs that have been started to cater to the students like Imarticus and Pro Professionals, still the training and development is mostly an on job training (OJT) provided after being employed in the industry. This leads to a loss of opportunities for the students as well as the loss of meritorious candidates for the organizations. CAIA being the only professional course available which aims at providing knowledge, tailored for the sector.

The sector has been continuously growing and with it comes a never ending demand for skilled employees, making it an opportune time to consider a career in Alternative Investment Accounting.