Quants Analyst (Junior)

As an Investment/Quants Analyst, you will be working within a team of highly experienced, thought-leading, and globally connected investment professionals. This is a key new role with our client that intersects with all the functions performed across the investment team, and through which you will be supported and empowered to develop hands-on knowledge and expertise across multiple areas within the investment firm. With offices in South Africa and the United Kingdom, our client manages local and offshore client assets, and provides investment advisory services and fund manager research to local and offshore clients. In this role you will benefit from hands-on exposure to the global asset management, wealth management, and unit trust industries. In addition, through involvement in each area of their rigorous and institutional quality investment process, you will get the opportunity to develop the expertise that will accelerate your career growth as an investment professional.

The Role
You will report to the Head of Investment Process, and shall be responsible for assisting with investment analytics, trading, and a range of activities spanning all the investment functions. Investment analytics plays a pivotal role in their investment process, and you will have a broad range of responsibilities in this area, including quantitative analysis, data management and modelling, and performance calculations and attribution analytics, all of which provide key inputs into various aspects of the investment team’s processes. Trading within unit trust funds is essential for the implementation of investment strategies and the management of cashflows, and you will share responsibilities for the modelling and implementation of trades in local and offshore unit trust funds. This role provides unparalleled opportunities for learning and growth, and you will take on responsibilities that span the areas of investment research, asset allocation, portfolio management, implementation, compliance, and reporting.

Work Experience
The ideal candidate for this role will have 1 – 5 years’ experience within the financial services industry. Examples of financial services industry experience would include the following:
• Understanding of the investment environment and financial markets both local and international (incl. CIS’s, ETF’s, equities, benchmarks)
• Quantitative analysis (modelling, design, and development)
• Financial modelling
• Development of analytical tools (incl. Excel, BI tools, proprietary tools)
• Structuring and processing large amounts of data
• Performance attribution analysis
• Performance calculations
• Portfolio mandate and regulatory compliance monitoring
• Trade implementation
• Trade life cycle management (incl. execution, confirmation, and settlement)
• Understanding of investment analysis metrics (incl. tracking error, standard deviation)
• Compilation and delivery of investment reporting (to the investment team and clients)
• Sourcing and maintenance of market data and data from 3rd parties
• CIS operations (incl. asset and liability administration, Manco, trustees, custodians)
• Design and implementation of internal process improvements

Qualifications and Skills
Qualifications and skills serve to provide the potential candidate with a strong foundation upon which to grow and develop within this role. The type of qualifications and skills we are looking for include the following:
Degrees (or similar): Bachelor’s, Honours, or Master’s degrees (fields incl. Actuarial Science; Finance; Mathematics; Statistics; Computer Science; Investment Management).
Degree Results: Upper Second; First-Class; Deans Merit List.
Additional Studies: Studying towards or completed CFA, CIPM, CFP or other fields of specialisation.
Computer Skills: Proficient use of all MS Office applications (ability to use MS Excel is essential to succeed in this role); Programming experience (e.g., SQL, Python, Java, C#, R); Experience with trade management, analytics, and market data systems (e.g., Refinitiv, Bloomberg, Morningstar, FE Analytics).

To apply for this role, please send your CV, ID and academic transcripts to operations@asearch.co.za