Edelweiss Mutual Fund MD and CEO, Radhika Gupta, has called on students and campus recruiters to broaden their view of finance careers, saying several high-growth areas remain largely ignored even as companies struggle to find qualified talent.
In a post on X, Gupta said a majority of aspiring finance professionals continue to chase a limited set of highly sought-after roles such as equity research, investment banking and private equity.
According to her, this trend has created intense competition in a few "glamour" sectors, while several emerging fields struggle to attract skilled professionals.
Highlighting the hiring pattern at Edelweiss Mutual Fund, she noted that nearly 85% of resumes received by the company are for equity research and investing roles.
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However, she believes the most promising opportunities over the next decade may come from less crowded areas of the financial ecosystem.
Gupta identified risk management as one of the key growth sectors, citing increasing regulatory requirements and governance complexities.
A LinkedIn post I thought would be worth sharing here too.
— Radhika Gupta (@iRadhikaGupta) May 31, 2026
An honest open letter to placement cells and campuses:
We get thousands of CVs to join us. 85% of them come for one role: equity research / investing.
I am pretty all 85% of these will get these roles. Or that they…
She also pointed to investment products, where success increasingly depends on product design, positioning and communication in addition to investment expertise.
Other areas expected to witness strong demand include derivatives trading, driven by the expansion of specialised investment funds and hedge funds, as well as private debt and infrastructure investing, sectors that require niche expertise amid India's growing capital needs.
She also described sales as one of the most misunderstood careers in finance.
Despite offering significant opportunities for growth and leadership development, sales roles attract comparatively little interest from campus recruits, she said.
According to Ms Gupta, many top corporate leaders and CEOs have sales backgrounds because the profession helps develop resilience, business understanding and people-management skills.
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Advising students on career planning, Ms Gupta said they should focus on emerging opportunities, lower competition and their individual strengths rather than simply following popular career trends.
She argued that those who identify untapped opportunities today may build the most successful careers in the years ahead.
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