R HIGHLY NEGOTIABLE PLUS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE BONUS
Our client is an asset manager licenced in Guernsey. They are more than 30+ years old and act as the investment manager and administrators to a range of managed accounts, as well as being the investment manager to a large structure in Guernsey and fund structure in the BVI. The vast majority of the company’s investment related activities involve hedge and alternatives investments via the allocation of capital to unitised 3rd party hedge funds. Total assets under management are circa $3.3bn. The company has offices in Guernsey,London, Cape Town and Singapore They perform investment management from its offices in St Peter Port, advised by an investment team in London. Administration of the company’s managed portfolio clients is undertaken in Guernsey with a small team of administrators present in St Peter Port, and supported by a team in South Africa. Despite its various locations, the company is a small, highly integrated business.
- They now seek a CFO to join their team. You will report to the managing director, who is a South African based in London. Prior CFO has retired. The client ideally is looking for someone 40 ish – youthful and high energy – a CFO from an asset management firm or divisional CFO in a large investment firm. Great opportunity!
JOB DESCRIPTION WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
- You will be required to oversee all aspects of company’s financial functions, as well as a range of ancillary functions closely linked to finance operations
- You will be responsible for discretionary decision making:
- Professional knowledge of the discipline;
- Provide input in the formulation of organisational / functional unit business plans;
- Formulate and implement departmental / team plans that will support the business plans;
- Optimisation of resources (finances, people, material, information and technology) to achieve given objectives in most productive and cost effective way;
- You will be required, as a director of regulated entities, to contribute to all board, governance, risk management and regulatory oversight matters;
- You will be responsible for overseeing and managing the firm’s finance department and the statutory regulated entities activities;
- You will be responsible for coordinating various administrative functions of the team, strategically managing relationships with outsourced service providers and the overall governance and control of the department to ensure smooth daily operations and overall compliance with regulatory obligations;
- Financial control:
- You will be required to own the month end and year end closes; ensure timely, accurate management accounts and AUM / fee accruals;
- You will be required to maintain a robust control environment (policies, procedures, reconciliations, KPI’s) across portfolio and corporate finance; minimise operational errors and meet SLA’s;
- You will be required to oversee budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis; drive cost discipline and operating leverage;
- You will be required to implement and continuously improve finance systems and reporting dashboards; modernise processes to support growth;
- You will be required to set and monitor delegated authorities and segregation of duties across finance operations;
- You will be required to coordinate investment fee calculations (management / performance fees), allocations and intercompany recharges to ensure accuracy and fairness;
- Audit:
- You will be required to lead annual statutory audits for corporate entities and support the audit of fund vehicles, resolving issues and closing out findings with external auditors;
- You will be required to prepare audit packs, oversee balance sheet substantiation and ensure auditor access to high quality evidence;
- You will be required to chair or support audit & risk committee reporting; provide clear commentary on control effectiveness and remediation plans;
- You will be required to manage auditor independence, engagement letters, scope and fees;
- Tax:
- You will be required to oversee corporate tax compliance across relevant jurisdictions; ensure timely filings and payment of liabilities;
- You will be required to manage VAT / GST, withholding tax, FATCA / CRS, PAYE and NI operational processes;
- You will be required to coordinate tax structuring for new funds and products in partnership with tax advisors; document positions and rulings;
- You will be required to monitor changes in tax law affecting corporate entities and investment structures and proactively propose solutions;
- Regulatory solvency:
- You will be required to monitor and report capital adequacy and liquidity ratios for regulated entities; maintain buffers and early warning indicators;
- You will be required to ensure boards are appropriately informed and meeting oversight obligations for regulated activities;
- You will be required to align prudential filings and returns with finance data; certify submissions and remediate regulator feedback;
- Transfer pricing:
- You will be required to design, document and operate arm’s length transfer pricing models for shared services and cross border advisory / management fees;
- You will be required to coordinate contemporaneous TP files (master / local) and benchmarking; ensure consistency with intercompany agreements;
- You will be required to monitor profitability of in scope entities; adjust policies to reflect business changes and regulatory expectations;
- You will be required to partner with tax advisors to substantiate positions during audits or inquiries; maintain clear governance records;
- Banking and payments:
- You will be required to own bank relationship management (short term treasury investments, transactional banks); negotiate services, pricing, and SLA’s;
- You will be responsible for cash flow forecasting and maintaining cash and liquidity to cover costs and expenses with margin of safety;
- You will be required to set payment controls for high value wires, FX settlements and payroll; enforce dual approvals and secure payment rails;
- You will be required to oversee cash operations for (receivables, payables, investor capital calls / distributions);
- You will be required to implement sanctions / AML screening and anti-fraud controls within payment workflows; reconcile cash and custody balances;
- Treasury and dividends:
- You will be required to centralise cash management; optimise liquidity across entities while safeguarding regulatory capital;
- You will be required to manage FX exposure via hedging policies aligned to risk appetite; monitor counterparty risk;
- You will be required to oversee investment of surplus cash within policy limits; track yields, maturities, and covenant compliance;
- You will be required to perform calculations and prepare dividend proposals in line with regulatory solvency and distributable reserves / working capital requirements;
- Budgeting and forecasting:
- You will be required to lead the annual budgeting process across all entities; ensure alignment with strategic objectives and cost discipline;
- You will be required to prepare rolling forecasts and scenario analyses to support decision making and capital allocation;
- You will be required to monitor actual vs. budget performance; provide variance analysis and actionable insights to senior management;
- You will be required to collaborate with business units to refine assumptions and update forecasts based on market conditions and business developments;
- You will be required to drive continuous improvement in planning tools and methodologies to enhance accuracy and efficiency;
- You will be required to prepare financial reports for Boards and management as required;
- You will be required to develop and provide actionable insights on finance metrics such as margins, cost to income ratios, profitability of product lines, concentration risk, RoE etc.;
- Ancillary functions:
- You will be responsible for partial oversight of the executive assistant in relations to general office management;
- You will be responsible for management of landlords and premises issues including coordination of lease agreements and renewals and accounting treatments;
- You will be required to support to the HR director on payroll;
- You will be required to support to senior management on bonuses, deferrals, staff investments and salary sacrifice schemes.
CORE COMPETENCIES REQUIRED, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
- You have leadership and management skills to lead the finance team and provide oversight and guidance;
- You are proficient in managing relationships with outsourced service providers including auditors, legal advisors, tax consultants and various other vendors;
- You have effective organizational and time management skills to optimize administrative processes;
- You have excellent communication (verbal and written) skills in English to liaise with internal teams, external vendors and stakeholders;
- You have an ability to contribute to the strategic direction of the business and implement agreed strategic plans.
CORE QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
- You are a qualified CA(SA) or equivalent, preferably articled at a top 5 firm;
- You have a minimum of 10 years current, relevant industry experience in managing a finance team in a regulated environment or entity in an asset manager or investment firm – ;
- You have prior experience on boards, audit committee’s or Risco’s;
- You have held regulated functions as either a key individual (SA) or senior management function (UK);
- You have a strong knowledge of regulatory finance requirements;
- You have knowledge of financial markets, alternative investments, collective investment schemes and hedge funds – this would be a distinct advantage;
- You have technical and functional accounting expertise including transfer pricing, IFRS and assurance;
- You have board and governance experience in so far as it relates to financial reporting, budgeting and controls.
You are professional, friendly and self-managed. You are tech friendly and will easily be able to function in a global business. You are a leader but not a hands off person – you will lead by participation. You will inspire and drive the business forward while ensuing the financial discipline needed. This is a great role – and a superb business with an outstanding leader to report to – he will ensure you are given the right information to do the best job you can while allowing you free ‘reign’ to format ideas to improve business.