Portfolio Implementation Associate recruitment

This position will support the Portfolio Implementation (PI) team with all aspects of documentation and systems that house the documents and/or track the workload. The primary focus is to get the data/documents into the systems, data stewardship and management of those systems and creating and running metrics for the data and workload of the team. On a trial basis, this role will start to learn aspects of contracting and managing external money managers for manager hires/fires.

This position also will be responsible for the management of the quarterly Risk Management Questionnaire (RMQ) process in coordination with senior team member(s).

The responsibilities of the individual in this position include:

Transition Support/Documentation:

•  Execute contracts, amendments and investment guidelines for all money managers globally for all fund groups and separate accounts

•  Load documents to document repository in a timely manner; ensure consistency between timing of hire/fire and document repository maintenance.

•  Request legal/regulatory documentation; prepare board materials and proprietary materials letters for all money managers, and follow-up on all documentation requests to ensure timely recordkeeping

•  Maintain money manager files (both electronic and hard copy) using a department-specific records retention schedule in compliance with legal and regulatory policies and procedures

•  Post updated documents to the Portfolio Implementation Intranet site

•  Assist PI team during manager change/fund launch/strategy events to accurately complete/update all necessary documentation

Data Management/Stewardship:

•  Prepare monthly reports and follow-up on investment guidelines compliance monitoring process for all fund groups and separate accounts globally to ensure all money managers are within their investment guideline requirements

•  Perform ongoing data maintenance to ensure timely and accurate information is available to users of the InterAction money manager database. Assists with preparation of quarterly Portfolio Implementation statistics reports and charts on a quarterly basis for Investment Division senior management and OC Committee review

•  Manage data integrity for Portfolio Implementation Team including the reconciliation and verification of data within InterAction, Panagon, TeamTrack and other tools. Ensure accuracy and completeness of data, and analyze exceptions/outliers and resolve discrepancies with appropriate parties.   Work with appropriate Investment Division and IT resources to develop queries, tools and reports as needed for team requirements

•  Act as technical/data subject matter expert and resource to the Portfolio Implementation Team. Own data quality and continuous improvement to various systems and processes

Client Service/Other Administration:

•  Interact in a professional manner, demonstrate willingness and cooperation with internal clients, money managers and team. 

•  Be responsive to requests, ensure completion and proactively share information among teams and work groups to facilitate development and implementation of processes

•  Apply expertise in services and strategies; identify issues and develop new approaches and services to address clients’ needs, as appropriate

•  Adapt to and facilitate change within the Investment Division as it relates to client needs and technical processes

•  Create and maintain metrics to measure performance of the team and the workload

Implementation Management and Contract Management

•  Assist Portfolio Implementation Team members in coordination/status updates with various teams on transition of money managers (product, portfolio structure, operations, legal) 

•  Facilitate and amend basic contracts/investment guidelines with all money managers hired in the funds and separate accounts globally

•  Work with Russell portfolio managers and external money managers to draft/discuss appropriate content for investment guidelines

The successful candidate will have extensive demonstrable skills and experiences including the following:

•  Bachelor's degree preferred; minimally some college courses completed.

•  Minimum five years including increasingly responsible data, analytical and administrative experience (or a combination of education and experience) including word processing, spreadsheets, database stewardship/maintenance and

•  Two to five years of investment management, financial services, business knowledge and experience.

•  Minimum two years of contract administration and records maintenance

•  Minimum of two years working with Russell, or, two years experience with financial databases printing reports, maintaining/updating document storage and mining data for metrics and/or workflow management.

•  Experience working in a fast-paced, highly productive team environment is desirable

•  Demonstrated high level analytical and problem solving ability to accurately diagnose moderately complex issues; demonstrated experience of understanding and utilizing data to accurately diagnose issues.

•  Must demonstrate a good understanding of investment content.

•  Experience working closely with many different internal clients to successfully manage objectives and results; sees the benefits and values collaboration.

•  Demonstrated understanding the impact of decisions and the ability to strive to improve team performance.

•  Must represent Russell in a confident manner; demonstrates credibility in business situations; learning to articulate and present role of PI Team to others, and describe how team fits in relation to the Investment Division as a whole.

•  Must possess a high level of professionalism, confidentiality, discretion, decision making, judgment in resolving problems and recommending a course of action.

•  Displays strong interpersonal communication and presentation skills; ability to effectively communicate with associates of all levels.

•  Must possess a high energy and productivity level; be assertive, self-motivated, able to work independently and take initiative.

•  Identifies what needs to be done and takes action before being asked or required; presents new ideas or potential solutions without prompting.

•  Demonstrates organizational and prioritization skills, and ability to work effectively under tight deadlines, to meet project deliverables.

•  Establishes course of action for self and others to ensure that the work is done efficiently; works with management to prioritize workload if overtime may be necessary.

Russell Overview

Founded in 1936, Russell Investments is a global financial services firm that serves institutional investors, financial advisers and individuals in more than 40 countries.

Through a unique combination of interlinked businesses, Russell delivers financial products, services and advice. A pioneer, Russell began its strategic pension fund consulting business in 1969 and today is trusted by many well-known worldwide institutions for investment advice. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA and with offices in major financial centers worldwide, Russell has $155 billion in assets under management (as of March 31, 2012) in its mutual funds, retirement products, and institutional funds, and is well recognized for its depth of research and quality of manager selection.

Russell offers a comprehensive range of implementation services that help institutional clients maximize their assets. The Russell Indexes calculate over 50,000 benchmarks daily covering 65 countries and more than 10,000 securities.

We offer a competitive compensation and benefit package including: medical, vision and dental coverage, profit sharing retirement plan, sabbatical leave, and tuition assistance.  Most importantly, Russell offers a work environment where respect for the individual and teamwork are part of our fundamental values.  Russell supports workforce diversity and we are an Equal Opportunity Employer.