How do you become a professional investor?

To become a professional investor, you need to educate yourself on investing, gain investment experience, and develop a successful investing strategy. Here are some details on these three steps that you can take to become a professional investor:

What is the venture capital hierarchy?

The venture capital hierarchy starts with analysts and includes associates, principles, and general partners. Larger firms may include positions like venture partners, but the basic hierarchy includes those four levels.

What should I study to become a stock investor?

Stock investors typically have an educational background ranging from finance to economics. Approximately 60% of investors have a degree in one of four fields, typically a bachelor's degree in business, finance, accounting, or economics. Nearly 30% of these investors major in business, with 16% studying finance.

How To Become An Investor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an investor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Investors financially support a business endeavor with the objective of gaining revenues summing up to multiple times the amount of the initial fund. They typically support major initiatives and reap the financial benefits of their projects over an extended period of time.

As an investor, you might put your money in any business or industry you assume will turn a profit. You have many investment vehicles to consider as well. You might buy stocks and bonds to sell them once their value has increased. You might invest in mutual funds, gold, or real estate, or earn money speculating foreign exchange rates. The list is far from inclusive, of course.

As deciding to invest your money in something is entirely up to you, no-one will ask for your degree in the process. These operations are not without risks, though, so you might want to gain sufficient insight into the pitfalls and possibilities of investing in any way you see fit. Along with the risks, the benefits will be all yours, too. It is hard to predict how much you will earn. The sky is the limit, really, but according to statistics, investors tend to make around $203,754 per year on average.

ScoreInvestorUS Average

Salary

6.9

Avg. Salary $88,055

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.3

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.29%

Black or African American 10.03%

Hispanic or Latino 11.92%

Unknown 5.09%

White 67.08%

Gender

female 38.10%

male 61.90%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress Level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.8

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.8

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an investor

Explore investor education requirements

Most common investor degrees

Bachelor's

72.5 %

Master's

11.7 %

Associate

8.8 %

Start to develop specific investor skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Statements	8.59%
IR	8.40%
Press Releases	7.29%
Investment Community	4.87%
Real Estate	4.81%

Complete relevant investor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New investors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an investor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real investor resumes.

Research investor duties and responsibilities

Manage $250K portfolio with exposure to commodities, futures, and equities.
Manage a grand opening, create business website and Facebook marketing, implement marketing campaigns and sales events.
Manage nation-wide CRM application between technical teams and business departments.
Manage commercial and multifamily REO portfolio preparing property operating plans to enhance value and marketability of REO asset

Prepare your investor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your investor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an investor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Investor Resume templates

Build a professional Investor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Investor resume.

Apply for investor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an investor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do investors rate their job?