R HIGHLY NEGOTIABLE PLUS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE BONUS
Our client is an authorised Financial Services Provider, a licensed Retirement Fund Administrator and Investment Manager. They provide a full range of services and products to retirement investors. They administer retirement funds and facilitate risk (insured) benefits. The company manages investments for retirement funds.
Our client is disrupting the investment industry to get dramatically better value for their clients’ long-term savings and lead more dignified lives in how to invest at retirement. The company is challenging the industry by providing a simple, direct low fee investment solution. They are on a mission to build a customer centric tech enabled company. They have an outstanding eight-year track record delivering industry beating returns at lower costs with operational excellence and exceptional client retention. But they have only just started. They need great people to help them achieve their dreams.
They now seek a head: indexation and portfolio manager to join their team. You will report to the head of investments.
BRAND NEW ROLE!
JOB DESCRIPTION WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
- You will be required to lead the index investment capability across CIS funds, segregated mandates and listed ETF’s;
- You will be required to own the full investment lifecycle across index tracking mandates from setting the replication strategy, governing tracking error and managing costs, capacity and operational efficiency of the capability;
- You will be required to act as the senior technical voice for the capability in front of institutional allocators, consultants, retirement funds and DFM’s. The outcome is an index platform that delivers benchmark returns net of costs with predictable precision, and earns its place in the South African market through technical credibility and the trust of the allocators who use it. You will also lead the firm’s implementation and trading capability across all company mandates including index, multi-asset, income and third-party solutions;
- Portfolio management and investment process:
- You will be required to run the index range: own tracking error, return outcomes and risk profiles across every fund on the desk, against approved tolerance bands;
- You will be required to set replication strategy by mandate: select approach with explicit reference to capacity, liquidity and cost;
- You will be required to lead index events: manage rebalancing, reconstitutions, corporate actions and cashflows so that trade construction minimises market impact and risk;
- You will be required to partner with the firm’s investment management platform function on the tooling, analytics and workflow that support the index desk across Bloomberg AIM, PORT and Nexus;
- You will be required to drive process and methodology: own the investment process documentation, decision frameworks (replication choice, optimisation parameters, rebalancing tolerances, exception handling), and the analytics that support pre-trade, in-flight and post-trade monitoring;
- Client engagement:
- You will be required to lead institutional engagement: act as the senior technical voice for the index capability facing retirement funds, consultants and institutional allocators;
- You will be required to own the RFP and DDQ standard: lead technical responses on index mandates, setting the bar for pitch material;
- You will be required to develop relationships with DFM’s and advisor groups to grow flows into the index range;
- You will be required to build the external profile: represent the company at industry conferences, in the media and through published research on indexation;
- Implementation and trading:
- You will be required to lead the firm’s dealing and trading function across all company mandates;
- You will be required to maintain implementation quality through pre-trade analytics, in flight monitoring and post-trade transaction cost analysis;
- You will be required to coordinate with the firm’s investment management platform function on the technology stack and operational infrastructure that supports trading and implementation;
- Team leadership:
- You will be required to lead a senior index portfolio management and implementation team, setting direction and creating the conditions for experienced practitioners to do their best work;
- You will be required to represent the team in firm-wide forums and contribute to the broader investment talent agenda at the company.
CORE COMPETENCIES REQUIRED, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
- You are passionate, determined, smart, self-starting and ambitious independent thinker;
- You are passionate about index investing and its role in client outcomes;
- You are able to hold a considered position under challenge from committee, clients, or consultants;
- You have excellent communication (verbal and written) skills in English;
- You have a collaborative demeanour.
CORE QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
- You have a post graduate degree in mathematics, statistics, computer science, actuarial, engineering, finance or related quantitative field, masters – this is preferred;
- You have a CFA, CQF, FRM, CIPM – this would be a distinct advantage;
- You have a minimum of 15 years current, relevant investment experience, with a minimum of 10 years in a senior index portfolio management role at an established asset manager;
- You have a demonstrable track record of running multi-billion rand replication mandates across multiple asset classes with documented tracking error outcomes;
- You have established credibility in the institutional channel;
- You have a deep technical command of index construction, replication methodology and tracking error attribution;
- You have working knowledge of corporate actions, securities lending economics, index reconstitutions and the operational mechanics that drive replication outcomes;
- You have working knowledge of derivatives used in index implementation: including but not limited to index futures and total return swaps;
- You are fluent in institutional investment platforms: Bloomberg AIM for order management, PORT for attribution analytics, and a comparable IBOR or investment book of record. Python or equivalent for analytics;
- You have senior leadership experience: a track record of building, retaining and developing a portfolio management team.
This is a highly ambitious and growing business. They are recruiting a number of roles at the senior level to ensure they are best positioned for the growth they have planned and believe is inevitable. If you are an energetic individual with SME in this area and the willingness to roll up your sleeves – this is a phenomenal opportunity for you.