◆ Data & Analytics

What a research analyst
really does.

20 tasks, each one witnessed by the sources that watched the job — and behind every one, a prompt you can use tonight.

20evidenced tasks
132,130in the US (2025)
$81,100median pay / year
6systems it runs on
See the 20 tasks ↓Open in the atlasThe full career map →
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Provide recommendations on financial matters
Write a concise research brief for the portfolio committee recommendin…3 sources agree

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The work, task by task

20 tasks
Hands on the work14
Provide recommendations on financial matters+
Write a concise research brief for the portfolio committee recommending whether to increase exposure to emerging markets this quarter, citing recent financial statements, macro indicators, projected returns and a clear downside scenario.
escojdonet3 agree
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Assist in developing trading algorithms and risk tools+
Incorporate last week's market and factor returns into the prototype strategy backtest, adjust parameter sensitivities for tail-risk and liquidity, run overnight stress scenarios and drop results that increase expected shortfall by over 15% into the risk dashboard for the quant lead to review on Thursday morning.
jdonet2 agree
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Provide analytical support to researchers or traders+
Pull the latest sector and macro datasets, merge with our coverage universe, produce daily return and correlation tables, highlight names with anomalous volume or valuation moves, then upload the CSVs and a two-slide summary for the research desk by 08:30.
jdonet2 agree
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Define or recommend model specifications or data collection methods+
Draft a data specification for the new factor model: list required time series, frequency, cleaning rules for outliers and missing values, and sample validation tests so the data engineering team can provision feeds and the model team can reproduce backtests by next sprint planning.
jdonet2 agree
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Perform stress tests and scenario analysis+
Run stress tests on the credit portfolio: apply the three downside macro scenarios to loan-level balances, record impacts to PD, LGD and ECL, produce a summarized losses-by-sector table and flag any exposures breaching the 8% capital buffer by Friday close.
jd
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Interpret financial statements+
Analyze the three most recent annual and quarterly reports for Acme Bank, extract operating income, net interest margin, provision charges, loan growth and liquidity ratios, reconcile to prior model and write a one-page variance explanation with supporting tables.
esco
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Offer financial services+
Prepare a client-ready memo proposing a cash management solution: compare our sweep, short-term deposit and money market options for their 25 million working capital, show projected interest and fees over 12 months and recommend the option with implementation steps and timing.
esco
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Prepare financial projections+
Build a five-year financial projection for the retail division that incorporates three macro scenarios, translate GDP and inflation paths into topline growth and input cost adjustments, produce profit and cash flow lines and stress the model for covenant breaches.
esco
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Grow the practice3
Watch and assess3

What the work runs on

named inside the evidenced tasks
15 tasksMicrosoft Excelsynthesise financial statement metrics, scenario projections and return calculations into the briefOpen its task library →
7 tasksMicrosoft Officecompose formal specifications and validation test descriptions that circulate with product and engineering teams
4 tasksMicrosoft Power BIvisualizes breaches and sector loss summaries for stakeholders
2 tasksIBM SPSS Statisticsstatistical weighting, reliability testing, and producing reproducible methodology outputs
1 taskC++used to implement and run low-latency strategy backtests and compute risk metrics efficiently
1 taskLinuxexecutes and schedules the overnight backtests and stress runs in the production environment
Browse every evidenced software task →

The same task, four heights

this page is height one
ExecuteDo today's task, with fewer mistakesyou are here → ImproveMake it easy for the next person to acceptin the atlas → DecideWork out the right move when it is unclearin the atlas → BecomeLearn the pattern so it stops coming backin the atlas →

Can AI actually do this job?

the honest answer

It can

where it genuinely helps
  • Explain the theory behind the work
  • Draft, tidy and structure your writing
  • Rehearse a hard conversation before you have it
  • Build a study plan that fits your gaps

It cannot

where it stops, completely
  • Be in the room where a research analyst actually works
  • Carry the responsibility when the call is wrong — that weight stays yours
  • Notice what no one wrote down: the hesitation, the thing left unsaid
  • Live with the outcome

What the work pays

two countries, two different measures

United States

this exact occupation · BLS 2025
  • $81,100 a year — the middle: half earn more, half earn less
  • The lowest tenth earn near $48,460; the top tenth near $151,490
  • 132,130 people employed in this occupation

India

the occupation GROUP, not this job · PLFS via ILOSTAT 2025
  • ₹38,298 a month — the median for Professionals, the group this work sits in
  • India publishes pay by broad occupation group, so this covers many jobs besides this one. It is a shape, not a salary.
read this carefullyThese two numbers are not comparable and must not be converted into each other. One is a yearly figure for this job alone; the other is a monthly figure for a whole family of jobs. What travels between them is the pattern, not the amount: experience lifts pay almost everywhere.

Where the evidence lives

open any of it yourself
O*NETThe US Department of Labor's own record of this job9 of these tasks ESCOThe European skills and occupations register9 of these tasks Job descriptionsReal postings, in the wild8 of these tasks US Bureau of Labor StatisticsPay and employment, by occupation2025 figures UK NOS FSPISM16Provide research and analysis of alternative investments support for pnational standard UK NOS FSPSDNR04Undertake analysis and provide advice relevant to the securities or denational standard

Close to this work

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Questions people actually ask

You’ll split time between building or updating models and talking to traders or researchers. Mornings often run quick market checks, reading overnight news and updating Excel models or Python/C++ scripts that feed traders.

Afternoons usually mean running stress tests or scenario analysis, pulling data in Linux environments, making charts in Power BI, and writing short memos with recommendations or projections for the desk.

Start with Microsoft Excel and Power BI—most teams use Excel for quick analysis and Power BI for dashboards. Learn Linux basics for running jobs and moving data files.

After that, study C++ if you want to work on high-performance trading tools, and learn statistical tools like IBM SPSS or Python for advanced modeling and stress tests.

Use AI for pattern finding, feature selection, or backtesting ideas, but never deploy a model without clear validation. Run out-of-sample tests, cross-validation, and document assumptions so traders know limits.

Keep data lineage and version control, and avoid relying on opaque models for live trading. Senior teams require reproducible code, risk checks, and manual sign-off before a model touches money.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports about 132,130 employed in related roles. The median pay is $81,100 per year; the lowest tenth is $48,460 and the top tenth is $151,490. BLS provides these occupational statistics and is the source for those numbers.

Actual pay varies by firm, city, and whether you work in quant trading, investment banking, or corporate research—bonuses often change total compensation a lot.

Take courses in statistics, econometrics, and financial accounting so you can read financial statements and build projections. Learn Excel well and practice making models and charts.

Do small projects: build a financial model, run a stress test, or backtest a trading signal. Put code on GitHub (Python/C++), and practice explaining results in short memos or slide decks.

A research analyst focuses on financial models, economic research, forecasts, and translating results for traders or managers. You’ll interpret financial statements and advise on financial matters rather than only deploying software products.

Data scientists may focus more on general machine learning and product metrics across industries. Traders focus on execution, risk limits, and short-term P&L. Analysts sit between them—building models and providing the analytics traders use.

Clear, concise writing and the ability to turn numbers into a one-page recommendation. You’ll be asked to prepare projections, memos, and dashboards many times, so clarity matters more than fancy models at first.

Second, learn to use Excel well and run basic stress tests and scenario analysis. If you can build a repeatable model and explain its limits, you’ll be useful from day one.