R HIGHLY NEGOTIABLE PLUS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE BONUS
Our client offers distinctive investment strategies spanning equities, fixed income, multi-asset, alternatives and sustainability to help institutional investors, those advising others and individuals navigate an ever-changing world. All the employees have the opportunity to own part of the firm. They also have their founding leadership in place. The distinctive owner culture allows them to commit to building a long-term, inter-generational business. It supports a business fully aligned with their clients’ long-term investment objectives. The company is a global investment manager driven by people who value the power of performance and relationships.
They now seek an investment specialist – private credit to join their team. You will report to the -head, EM alternative credit. You are probably not in the market but this brand will be difficult to ignore!
The EM Alternative Credit platform is one of the company’s highest-growth investment
businesses, deploying private credit across South Africa, Rest of Africa, broader emerging markets and select developed market opportunities. They invest across the capital structure in leveraged finance, infrastructure debt, direct lending, high yield and structured credit — originating complex, bespoke transactions where deep sector knowledge and strong relationships drive alpha. The platform operates a rigorous origination-to-execution model with meaningful in-house deal capability. Their investment professionals are embedded in transactions from first conversation through close and ongoing portfolio management, working in a high-trust, lean environment where pace and quality both matter.
JOB DESCRIPTION WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
- You will be required to own end-to-end origination of private credit transactions across your sector coverage, with a minimum 80% focus on the South African market and selective cross-border activity into the rest of Africa and broader EM;
- You will be responsible for building a credible and substantial pipeline of suitable transactions, predominantly through proactive origination. You will be expected to independently source, screen and progress opportunities from first contact through to investment committee approval. Success in this role will be measured to a large degree by the quality, volume and conversion rate of originated deal flow;
- You will be required to build and maintain relationships with the full range of deal-sourcing counterparties — including private equity and infrastructure sponsors, corporates, banks, intermediaries, development finance institutions and infrastructure developers — with a particular focus on channels most likely to generate proprietary deal flow;
- You will be required to lead deal structuring, credit analysis and transaction execution across leveraged finance, structured finance and direct lending — covering consumer, services, real estate, industrials and core+ infrastructure sectors;
- You will be required to serve as the deal lead and primary investment professional on transactions from origination through credit committee, documentation and close;
- You will be required to prepare and present investment papers, credit committee materials and portfolio monitoring reports to internal governance forums with clarity and conviction;
- You will be required to contribute to platform development — including fund strategy, investor reporting, sector views and team capability — as a senior member of this team;
- You will be required to mentor and develop junior members of the investment team, raising the analytical and commercial standard of the platform.
CORE COMPETENCIES REQUIRED, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
- You have the ability to build and maintain meaningful relationships;
- You have intellectual curiosity;
- You have high conviction and comfortable sharing opinions;
- You are able to be the investment lead and passionate about markets.
CORE QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
- You have a CFA, CA(SA), MBA or equivalent professional qualification – this would be a distinct advantageous; a strong undergraduate foundation in finance, economics or law – this is expected;
- You have a minimum of 8– 10+ years current, relevant experience in leveraged finance, structured finance, principal credit investing or a closely related discipline — ideally with a combination of sell-side origination and buy-side or principal execution;
- You have a demonstrable track record of originating and closing privately negotiated credit transactions, with evidence of relationships that are genuinely portable;
- You have deep sector expertise across at least two of the following: consumer and retail, business services, real estate (including REIT’s and property finance), industrials and core+ infrastructure (energy, transport, utilities, social infrastructure);
- You have strong credit structuring skills — fluency in capital structure design, security packages, financial covenant setting and relative value assessment;
- You have experience working on South African transactions with an understanding of local market dynamics, regulatory frameworks and the domestic banking and credit landscape;
- You have comfort operating across the full deal cycle, from teaser review and NDA through term sheet negotiation, credit approval and documentation oversight.
Great team – new role – huge scope – great visibility and rewards on performance are superb!