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.. 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 have grown the firm since its founding, in 1991, on the bedrock combination of these two qualities. They are looking for like-minded people to join them – strong performers who create strong relationships. They are active investors. At the company they say they are investing for a world of change. They started in South Africa in a time of global upheaval. Their experience lets them adapt and grow, in markets of all kinds. From one office in Cape Town, they are now present on five continents and manage R2.8 trillion for clients globally. They are aligned behind a common purpose, which is to invest for a better tomorrow. They want to achieve better outcomes for their clients, their firm and the world they inhabit. This means they are optimistic and act with conviction. They offer their people opportunity, trust and the freedom to operate. At the company they are committed to providing equal employment opportunities. They have a strong belief in giving individuals the freedom to be themselves and ensuring all diverse perspectives are heard. Their culture provides all of the people, no matter what their background, with the opportunity to build a rewarding career.
The legal team is a global team within the company, with highly qualified lawyers in South Africa,the UK and the USA. The SA legal team has a diverse and broad remit and is responsible for managing all aspects of the firm’s legal affairs across the African continent, including fund structuring, maintenance and distribution; regulatory lobbying and advice; client and commercial agreement negotiation; and corporate initiatives and governance. The team also works closely with colleagues in London and New York on various matters.
This role is an opportunity to be a senior in-house generalist lawyer in an experienced legal teamwithin a major player in the global investment management industry. It is a strategic legal seat with direct exposure to senior stakeholders and an opportunity be involved in a variety of strategic initiatives and projects.
JOB DESCRIPTION WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
- You will be required to be lead on special projects and M&A work:
- The company is involved in a multitude of complex projects; corporate M&A transactions; joint ventures, strategic relationships; collaborations with major industry players across the globe; shareholder activism and ESG / active management initiatives; outreach, CSI and corporate upliftment initiatives; dispute resolution and reputationally sensitive engagements with external parties; and also internal corporate initiatives to achieve specific outcomes;
- These initiatives all require significant amounts of strategic legal direction, oversight and sound judgment (together with mix of industry knowledge, business acumen, regulatory knowledge and an ability to drive actionable decision-making) in order to implement successfully and soundly;
- You will be required to be lead on regulatory work:
- Act as a regulatory lead on any regulatory or legislative initiatives that impact company’s operations across the African continent (particularly in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Angola and Lesotho);
- This includes driving lobbying efforts, interpretation, advice and implementation of complex regulation and legislation;
- Drive the legal aspects associated with large regulatory projects (particularly where these have an interaction with our clients and mandates);
- Collaborate with other internal stakeholders to shape and steer our engagements and interactions with regulators and ombuds;
- Representing the company on industry bodies and initiatives;
- You will be responsible for internal plumbing and peripheral agreement negotiation:
- Negotiation and oversight of complex peripheral contracts and internal plumbing arrangements such as transfer pricing arrangements; outsourcing and delegation arrangements; IT / infosec agreements; material supplier / vendor procurement contracts; trading relationships; property/lease arrangements and other arrangements associated with the running of an investment management business;
- You will be responsible for product and fund work:
- There are large volumes of novel, complex products that are being structured and launched by the company. They also have a large array of African fund ranges which constantly require maintenance and evolution. The role provides an opportunity to be involved in these product and fund-related initiatives;
- You will be responsible for institutional client agreements and engagements:
- The number of complex institutional client engagements has increased significantly with the growth of the company’s institutional book. the role provides an opportunity to be involved in these institutional client initiatives;
- You will be required to be distribution relationships:
- The nature and extent of the company’s distribution relationships for its funds and products is expanding and evolving;
- Maintaining, negotiating and plumbing complex new distribution relationships with asset allocators, intermediaries, multi-managers, DFM’s and strategic partners;
- You will be responsible for AI, technology and knowledge transfer:
- Drive and implement AI and technology solution. This is an important part of the role as they are in a phase of rapid technological advancement, adoption and implementation;
- They are not building a conventional legal team. They are reimagining how it operates, scales and delivers better outcomes in a technology-first environment;
- Driving better use of data, improving knowledge repositories, encouraging knowledge sharing and being instrumental in lifting the overall knowledge and skills of the team.
CORE COMPETENCIES REQUIRED, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
- You have the ability to build and maintain meaningful relationships;
- You have the ability to ‘approach and own’ and continuously look for opportunities to develop;
- You have excellent communication (verbal and written) skills in English and able to present complex legal concepts clearly to non-lawyers and senior stakeholders;
- You are driven and intellectually curious, with a strong keen eye for detail;
- You have a high conviction and comfortable sharing opinions and driving actionable decision-making;
- You have visible leadership skills – shaping direction, not just validating outcomes;
- You are comfortable in agile, cross-functional environments where priorities shift and innovation is constant.
CORE QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
- You have a LLB or related tertiary legal qualification – this is essential;
- You have 8 years current, relevant PQE with strong exposure to investment management industry;
- You have a mix of private practice and in-house experience preferred, ideally within asset management or financial services experience;
- You have demonstrated experience in autonomously handling complex projects / transactions and reputationally sensitive matters, including crisis response, media issues, and stakeholder management;
- You have good working knowledge and familiarity with legal/regulatory regimes in the core African jurisdictions in which we operate (namely South Africa, Namibia, Botswana);
- You have a broad generalist foundation across corporate, commercial, investment management, dispute resolution and governance — able to triage and lead on matters outside your core specialty;
- You are able to lead and own matters independently with minimal supervision;
- You have exceptional judgment on reputational risk.
You are well presented; articulate; smart; hard working and are a great team player. You will be instantly able to fit in to this high performing team. Career prospects are amazing and real!