JOB SPECIFICATION

Job Title: Analyst - Illiquid Strategies– Investment Management Team

Reports To: Private Equity Investment Manager & Real Estate Investment Manager (to be recruited)

Lateral: Although this role involves being in the Private Equity and Real Estate areas, analysts will be encouraged to move into other asset classes over time so that they develop generalist cross-asset class skills

Location: London office

The Role

This role presents a unique opportunity to gain "breadth and depth" experience within the private equity and real estate asset classes. The analyst will directly support a group of senior investment professionals, taking an active role on various research, investments and transactions. This requires a mature, motivated self-starter with a combination of quantitative, communication and project management skills. The analyst will help Our client identify the next generation of successful fund managers, perform diligence on funds' strategies and principals, and document investments made and research performed. The Analyst will then have an ongoing role monitoring the investment portfolios and business development of the sponsored fund managers.

The role involves being an integral part of the Investment Management team. This team is responsible for constructing portfolios for Our client’s clients incorporating asset allocation and manager selection. Portfolio construction for the UK clients will operate from London and be managed by an Investment Committee consisting of key investment decision makers in the various areas of specialty. The head of the Investment Management team, is an experienced hedge fund-of-fund and multi-asset class investor, with particular expertise in credit related strategies.

Key Objectives

The Illiquid Team is responsible for the research and selection of Private Equity and Real Estate managers. Specifically, this area includes buy-out, venture capital, illiquid distressed for control, secondary private equity, mezzanine, indirect real estate (opportunistic and value added), distressed real estate and property finance. Note also that Our client employs top down views which allow it to concentrate manager research in spaces that are considered to be more attractive at the current point in the cycle.

In addition, the Illiquid Team will work together with Equity and Credit colleagues to cover multi-strategy (hedge fund) managers.

Key Responsibilities

• Supporting the Private Equity and Real Estate Investment Managers in their research process. This involves support finding new candidates, doing due diligence on interesting candidates, making recommendations to the Investment Committee, assisting operations colleagues in facilitating making the investment, monitoring incumbent fund managers and terminating appointments.

• Quantitative and qualitative screening on the Illiquid universe, desk-top analysis of past performance, identification of returns drivers and portfolio characteristics of sample portfolios, competitive analysis, reading and analysing material from fund managers and, with time, making recommendations to the Investment Managers regarding fund managers worthy of further research.

 Accompanying Investment Managers to due diligence visits with both existing investments and potential opportunities, including potentially on-site visits in overseas locations. Participating in due diligence calls.

 Analysts will be responsible for writing up meeting notes within strict timeframes, updating internal scorecards and ensuring, together with colleagues from the Operations team that information stored on relevant fund managers is up to date. For invested managers, the Analyst will be responsible for ongoing monitoring, compiling update reports on manager progress and performance, analysing portfolios and exposures and ensuring all data is up to date on an ongoing basis.

 Successful analysts should expect to stay in an Analyst role for 3 to 5 years before moving to a decision making Investment Management role.

Profile of Ideal Candidate

 One to two years post University work experience in some financial related area – could be investment banking, securities dealing, fund management, treasury. More experienced analysts with manager interviewing and selection experience will also be considered.
 Must possess strong analytical/critical skills and inquisitive nature – enthusiasm to learn about capital markets and investment.
 Must have the potential to work in an autonomous role, and proactively ask questions and seek guidance where unsure.
 The role involves extensive report writing – a structured approach to communication is essential.
 Strong team skills and the ability to employ a proactive approach in a small, entrepreneurial and innovative team.
 Educated to degree level with solid academic credentials. Motivation towards professional qualifications (eg. CFA, MBA) is highly desirable.

Vision

 Our client aims to be the leading boutique by 2015 in the design and implementation of Solvency Management solutions incorporating innovative risk management and investment solutions for institutional investors drawing on their centres of excellence in ALM, risk management, derivatives, fund manager selection, asset allocation and portfolio construction.
 Our client aim to attract, inspire and motivate top quality professionals in the financial services industry. They also aim to maintain a culture and reputation of working with the highest integrity and being entrepreneurial, results driven, innovative, open, team orientated and free from large company bureaucracy and politics. This is as important as providing competitive remuneration.
 In the UK, the group believes that most trustees currently lack an executive team of investment professionals who can manage their investments full time and take advantage of the full opportunity set efficiently. Our client’s initial goal is to provide the first successful solvency management service to UK pension funds that involves aligning interests, accepting overall accountability for the investment aspects of the funding objectives and managing the strategy dynamically by taking on delegated responsibility for implementation.
 Our client aims to create in the UK, a centre of excellence in solvency management solutions, asset allocation and non-traditional products research.
 Their goal is to be the leading provider of risk management services to pension funds and other financial institutions in Europe. They aim to design and implement innovative strategies using derivatives to manage risks. They will also maintain their European base as their centre of excellence in asset-liability management, financial engineering, derivative research and derivative execution.