For $27k you too can become an analyst with Macquarie
Paul Nojin is hoping his talent for picking stocks will be repeated when his first cohort of students signs up to be taught the art of understanding financial markets.
Mr Nojin, who for years ran a successful newsletter The Super Investor, has turned to educating a new generation of analysts who are ready to work for one of the big banks within six short months.
“We are taking kids straight out of year 12 and there are only two requirements: they need to be good with basic maths and they need to be fluent with a spreadsheet,” said Mr Nojin, whose new online college is called the Financial Markets Institute of Australia and will enrol its first intake in February.
Students will be taught the secrets of investment strategies. Peter Braig
“What a young person needs to be able to say to get a job with Macquarie Bank or Goldman Sachs, is that they got a spreadsheet that I developed myself with the high-quality companies in the Australian market, which analyses the economic value of each of those companies and which can determine portfolios based on a range of strategies that are proven to outperform over the long term.”
The idea is that instead of spending three or four years at a university, school leavers will be ready to embark on a career in finance in just six months when they graduate with a diploma in company analysis and portfolio management.
Of course, it comes at a price – $26,000 plus a $1500 registration fee – and is wholly online.
Mr Nojin said the course content was originally developed in 2009 by himself and Matthew Brooks, a friend from his days at Bankers Trust, who was now Macquarie Bank’s Australian equity strategist. It has been refined over the years and has now been accredited by the vocational education regulator, the Australian Skills and Quality Agency.
While diplomas usually take a year to complete, Mr Nojin said the course would be “an immersive experience” and that the 1200 hours of content could be undertaken in six months.
“And if you are good at maths, then you will probably do it in 900 hours, and you will probably do it in 600 hours if you are one of the very top students,” Mr Nojin said.
“My mentors are Richard Farley and Ivan Ritossa – these are the guys I listened to every day talk about how to beat the market. And now I’m going to grab these young people and teach them the same stuff,” Mr Nojin said.
“My goal and focus is, of course, making money and being successful. And the fact that India has a goal of 50 per cent of school leavers entering higher education by 2035. Australia is second only to the UK as an international education destination.”
Mr Nojin said the university sector was in decline and therefore organisations that were “new, nimble and ready to seize the day” would be ready to education a new generation of investment analysts.
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