15 Stats, Facts, and Stories to Guide Your Finance Career Choice
- 07/21/2020
- Guest Author
-
Careers Advice
Do stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments excite you? Then you’re an excellent candidate for a career in finance.
Jobs in the finance industry are in high demand. That means pursuing a career there can be very lucrative. With the right qualification, the job prospects and earning potential are great - whether you choose a career in accounting, investment, banking, insurance, or any number of other finance jobs in the public and private sector.
Business and finance websites are seeing exponential growth as interest in trading spikes and millions of new customers
open accounts.
We found some interesting facts and statistics to inspire and help you pick a career path within the wider finance industry.
Artificial Intelligence
1. As one of the key economic game-changers of the future,
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
2. Trading is the area of finance most disrupted by AI. Almost two-thirds of the capital markets professionals surveyed in a
2019 study said they were already using AI (44%) or expected to begin using it within two years (17%). Four of five participants predicted that AI will be fully integrated into trading systems by 2024.
3. The outcome of future international trade negotiations is further set to
benefit from AI.
Cryptocurrency vs Fiat Currency
4. Cryptocurrency is here to stay. According to an international
blockchain survey, digital assets like bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have the potential to become a strong alternative to or even replace the use of fiat (government-issued) currency by 2030.
5. The top 10 cryptocurrencies had a
market capitalization of nearly a quarter trillion dollars in 2020. Bitcoin accounted for 72.8% ($171 billion) of the total, with Ethereum ($27 billion) and Tether ($9 billion) in the 2
nd and 3
rd places.
6. Despite the inherent transparency of cryptocurrency, scammers still manage to abuse the system. Although it only represented 1.1% of the total, a whopping $11.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency transactions were associated with
criminal activity in 2019. Ponzi schemes accounted for the biggest share ($4.3 billion) of crypto crime.
7. The good news is that a 2018 US Federal Court ruling found that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has the authority to investigate and
prosecute fraud in the crypto space.
Commodity Demand and Supply
8. The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a
dramatic effect on the demand for and supply of commodities. Oil prices were expected to fall by an unprecedented amount in 2020, with the World Bank fearing the pandemic could lead to permanent changes in commodity supply and demand.
9. A
World Bank report found the rise of green technologies can have a huge impact on the commodity marketplace through increased demand for certain minerals and metals. This means lucrative opportunities for resource-rich countries.
10. At the same time, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicts climate change will severely impact
agricultural trade. Global agriculture trade already tripled in value between 2000 and 2016. The FAO predicts that the world will need to produce 50% more food, feed, and biofuel by 2050 (compared to 2012) to meet growing demand.
Inspiration From the Trading Floor
11. Someone who bought 10
Amazon shares for $180 in 1997 and held on to them, will get more than $230,000 if they sold them today. One Amazon share was worth $18 when the company went public in 1997. Thanks to three stock splits, one share became 12 by 1999. Multiply that by what each share is worth today, and you’re sitting on a small fortune.
12. In 1992, billionaire George Soros added $1 billion to his fortune in a single day by shorting the British pound and "breaking the Bank of England." His
daring bet against the pound is remembered as one of the greatest trades of the 20
th century.
13. With more than $5 trillion in currencies trading every day, the foreign exchange (FOREX) is the world’s most actively traded market in the world, according to
Nasdaq.
What About Your Future in Finance?
14. The Deloitte
Global Millennial Survey 2020 found that both millennials and Gen Zs are worried about their future finances despite being economically prudent. More than half of millennials and almost half of Gen Zs said they have enough saved up to pay for an unexpectedly large expense.
15. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, a financial analyst with a bachelor’s degree and no related experience received
a median annual wage of $85,660 in May 2018. This amounts to $41.18 per hour. Most financial analysts work more than 40 hours per week, however.
As the information we've provided shows, there is room for growth and advancement within the industry. Employment growth within the field, driven by a need for expert knowledge about financial products and geographic regions, is expected to be 6% between 2018 and 2028. The future looks bright throughout the financial industry.
