The increasing number of young traders and BFSI aspirants is also leading to a rise in applications for short-term certificate courses related to financial markets and stock market trading.

According to Coursera, an edtech platform, the ‘Financial Markets’ course from Yale University was among the top five courses with maximum applications in 2021, which was earlier ranked 9th in 2020. In addition to this, courses like ‘financial planning for young adults’, ‘private equity and venture capital’ and ‘fundamentals of finance’ were some of the popular finance courses in India, reflecting the growing interest in finance and investment advisory opportunities.

This hasn’t been the case with just edtechs, as many other big names in the industry like National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) have also introduced their set of certificate courses spanning multiple topics related to trading and technical analysis.

Professional Development Programs

NSE Academy, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Stock Exchange of India Limited, told Business Line that FY 2020-21 saw a surge in their online Professional Development Programs (PDP), with their popular topics being technical analysis for intraday trading, equity research, capital markets and derivatives.

The rising trend can be attributed to the bite-sized curriculum that gives information to the point, according to those who undertook these courses. “The certificate courses gives a proper and brief knowledge of the selected topics. I did a course on financial planning and wealth management, which helped me understand about wealth, different types of investment, risk etc. A long term degree or diploma adds to the profile of the person, but a short term certificate course helps to gain knowledge,” says Sameer Thakker, a CFA candidate.

Rishi Pania, a wealth manager in a bank, agreed with this. “A graduate degree has irrelevant courses to the field. So if someone wants precise knowledge about anything, certifications are a faster way to get it.”

The trend is seeing an uptake due to both, people looking to up their skills in their careers as well as those looking to increase knowledge, according to NSE Academy. “The trend is shifting upwards as the BFSI sector is opening opportunities to employ future-ready talent with skills for the financial services industry. Approximately, 60 per cent of our participants with about 5-6 years of working experience are looking to upskill their knowledge in the BFSI arena. There are a good number of participants who wish to learn about financial markets and investing and build their knowledge base,” they said.

But there are still many retail investors who prefer to learn through blogs and videos on youtube. For example, Shweta Kushe, a law student, finds it too time-consuming to go through with a formal course. “I refer blogs and financial newspapers. And in the last four years of me investing small amounts of savings and stipends, I have gathered that lot can be learnt about the market only through experience,” she said.

(The writer is an intern with Business Line)

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