R HIGHLY NEGOTIABLE PLUS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE BONUS
You will be looking at all credit options and particularly or in addition – the private credit arena – where 10 billion is earmarked for the new fund!
Our client is an investment management business fully invested in meeting client needs more effectively. They are focused on helping their clients grow and protect their investments, by managing risk and volatility and offering innovative solutions and best of breed building blocks to meet their needs. They tap into the skills and capabilities of the broader group in South Africa, Namibia and international markets to leverage a broad range of investment opportunities that are not typically accessible to investors.
This investments business is a new generation investment manager that offers investors access to more sources of return and more ways to manage risk. In the institutional space in South Africa as well as their global business, they pride themselves on offering solutions to address clients’ holistic balance sheet needs and to support business strategies in the reallocation of investment capital in the face of increasing regulatory pressures. Their approach is to understand their clients’ individual needs and to gain insight into the strategic investment challenges they face, to provide appropriate solutions to their investment challenges. Their mission as an asset manager is: “getting those that are not saving to save, getting those who are saving to save more effectively and helping to fund Africa”.
The company is a new generation investment manager that offers investors access to more sources of return and more ways to manage risk. In the institutional space in South Africa as well as their global business, they pride themselves on offering solutions to address clients’ holistic balance sheet needs and to support business strategies in the reallocation of investment capital in the face of increasing regulatory pressures. To further aid their client value proposition and to scale, the company was recently integrated under the holistic corporate and institutional (C&I) invest business and resides within C&I markets management structure.
They now seek a credit research head to join their team. You will report to the company’s chief investment officer.
JOB DESCRIPTION WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
- You will be required to provide strategic leadership and independent oversight of credit risk across the company’s portfolios and mandates. The remit spans local and offshore, listed and unlisted credit strategies, including co-investment funds and full discretionary mandates;
- You will be responsible for the quality of credit analysis and approval, sound portfolio oversight, effective governance and constructive stakeholder engagement;
- You will be required to combine deep credit expertise and analytical judgement with the ability to lead people, influence decisions and support sustainable risk-adjusted outcomes for clients;
- General:
- You will be required to lead the credit risk function and set the credit risk strategy, operating framework and standards for the company;
- You will be required to take accountability for credit risk oversight across portfolios and mandates, covering current exposures and proposed investments in local and offshore, listed and unlisted credit;
- You will be required to promote disciplined, independent and consistent credit decision-making in line with applicable portfolio mandates, governance frameworks and delegated authorities;
- You will be required to provide senior credit-risk insight to the chief investment officer and relevant investment and governance committees and contribute to broader investment strategy and portfolio discussions;
- You will be required to maintain fit-for-purpose credit policies, methodologies, models, ratings, limits, systems and management information;
- People and stakeholder management and relationships / engagement:
- You will be required to lead a team of credit analysts and take accountability for the quality, consistency and timeliness of their work;
- You will be required to recruit, develop, train, mentor and retain high-performing credit professionals, with clear performance expectations, succession planning and continuous capability development;
- You will be required partner closely with CPM and legal throughout the investment lifecycle, including transaction assessment, structuring, documentation, monitoring and remedial action;
- You will be required to engage with the investor community alongside CPM, providing clear and credible perspectives on credit strategy, portfolio risks, market developments and investment opportunities;
- You will be required to maintain effective engagement with the company’s credit committee, including the preparation, challenge and presentation of credit submissions and portfolio matters;
- You will be required to oversee relationships with service providers where elements of credit research or related activities are outsourced, including service quality, timeliness, accountability and appropriate challenge of outputs;
- You will be required to engage with clients and counterparties from time to time, representing the company professionally and communicating credit matters clearly;
- You will be required to build trusted relationships across portfolio management, risk, legal, operations and relevant business clusters, while preserving independent credit judgement;
- Credit analysis and approval:
- You will be required to set and maintain the required standard for credit research and underwriting, ensuring that recommendations are evidence-based, balanced, commercially informed and decision-ready;
- You will be required to oversee the assessment of new and existing transactions where credit risk is undertaken, including financial analysis, cash-flow resilience, structure, security, covenants, rating, loss-given-default and downside or recovery considerations, as applicable;
- You will be required to ensure that credit submissions identify material risks, mitigants, mandate considerations and conditions of approval and are submitted to the relevant committees within agreed timelines;
- You will be required to exercise delegated credit authority within the approved mandate and chair the company’s delegated credit committee, where applicable;
- You will be required to serve as a member of the company’s credit committee with a voting mandate, applying independent judgement and constructive challenge to credit decisions.
- You will be required to oversee outsourced credit analysis or research functions and remain accountable for the quality, completeness and reliability of work used in the company’s decision-making;
- You will be required to work with legal to ensure transaction documents accurately reflect approved credit terms, conditions, covenants, security and other protections before implementation;
- You will be required to assess the suitability of credit instruments for specific portfolios in accordance with their investment mandates and risk parameters;
- Ongoing risk management, watchlist / work-outs and distressed / restructuring:
- You will be required to oversee ongoing credit risk management across portfolios, including exposure limits, ratings, covenant compliance, concentration risk, emerging risks and adherence to portfolio mandates;
- You will be required to ensure timely, accurate and decision-useful portfolio and credit-risk reporting to portfolio management, risk, the company’s credit committee and other relevant governance forums;
- You will be required to maintain effective surveillance and watchlist processes, with clear escalation, action plans, accountabilities and review frequencies for higher-risk exposures;
- You will be required to work closely with Risk to identify and report limit or covenant breaches promptly and ensure that appropriate corrective action, approval, waiver or escalation is completed;
- You will be required to lead or oversee work-outs, distressed credits and recovery strategies, protecting client interests and preserving value where reasonably possible;
- You will be required to manage complex amendments, waivers and restructurings alongside CPM and legal, ensuring that commercial decisions are supported by robust credit analysis and appropriate legal protections;
- You will be required to serve as a member of the company’s credit governance committee and contribute to effective oversight of portfolio credit risk, watchlist matters and remedial actions;
- You will be required to use risk dashboards, portfolio trends and other management information to identify deterioration early and recommend appropriate risk-mitigation strategies.
CORE COMPETENCIES REQUIRED, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
- You have a record of building, leading and motivating high-performing credit teams;
- You have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build trust across investment, risk, legal, operational, client and counterparty relationships;
- You have a keen eye for detail, sound judgement and a consistent record of delivering high-quality work within agreed timelines;
- You have curiosity and courage – a willingness to challenge constructively, keep learning and make balanced decisions;
- You have a commitment to mastery and continuous improvement in credit practice;
- You have excellent communication (verbal and written) skills in English;
- You have strong presentation and stakeholder-influencing skills;
- You have strong commercial insight, risk awareness and strategic relationship-building capability.
CORE QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
- You have an M.Com, M.Sc or honours degree in finance, investment management, mathematics or a related discipline; other relevant qualifications may be considered;
- You hold a CA(SA) or CFA qualification – this would be a distinct advantage;
- You have a minimum of 7 – years’ current, relevant experience in asset management, investment banking or a comparable credit environment, including meaningful exposure to credit portfolio risk;
- You are able to bring strong experience in credit analysis, underwriting, credit risk modelling, portfolio monitoring and the management of stressed or distressed exposures;
- You have demonstrated experience leading and developing credit professionals and influencing senior stakeholders and investment committees;
- You are able to understand the factors affecting South African and global companies and the implications for investors;
- You have a thorough understanding of investment processes, portfolio mandates, governance, legal documentation and the management of investment risk;
- You have advanced Microsoft Excel and financial-modelling capability.
You will have access to: Opportunities to network and collaborate; challenging and meaningful work; opportunities to innovate.