SENIOR QUANTITATIVE PORTFOLIO ANALYST - Garrison Associates Llc : Job Details

A Leading Multi-Billion Dollar Investment Advisory Firm in Manhattan is looking for a Full-Time, permanent, employee for a Senior Quantitative Portfolio Analyst in their Portfolio Analytics Group:

Position

The Portfolio Analytics Group seeks a Senior Portfolio Analyst to own investment and risk management-related firm-level analytics. The PAG team is responsible for developing and maintaining our analytics platform underlying our manager selection activities (i.e., it is central to our alpha engine). This includes conceptual/framework ownership, data management, systems development, and putting in place robust processes and support for our Portfolio Managers.

As a Senior Analyst, the successful candidate will be able to get up to speed quickly and to take a proactive role in shaping and managing priorities, deadlines, and structuring analysis, reliably delivering quality output, setting ambitious yet realistic and meeting deadlines.

Primary responsibilities

The new hire will be primarily responsible for three broad areas:

1. Core routine analytics. • _Own and enhance existing manager selection, market risk, attribution and reporting analyses, and related processes

• _Ensure consistency and accuracy of system outputs and reports published by the PAG team

• _Thought partner and design solutions with Quant Dev team to implement enhancements in our calculations and reports to reflect framework refinements, portfolio changes, or additional reporting requirements

• _Expect to work on multiple projects simultaneously; these projects may include ad-hoc analyses, data visualization, and calculating metrics concerning current portfolio and risk issues

• _Create documentation of calculation frameworks, output data, and report generation

• _Provide recommendations to the team to improve calculations, methodologies, and systems and automate processes

• _Mentor analysts on the team and take on some less complex managerial responsibilities (e.g., owning and executing a small project)

2. Projects for improvements and updates to analytics: Own and execute projects for improvements to the analytics frameworks outlined above (collaborating with Investments/Risk/PAG/IT teams)

3. Ad-hoc research and analyses: Be a thought partner and provide analytical support to CIO/CRO/PMs in ad-hoc custom research analyses (either executing independently or working with analysts); recommend solutions, keep stakeholders informed upon execution, and utilize analyst assistance when it makes sense.

This role requires an extreme ownership mentality (including building a deep conceptual understanding and meticulous execution) of the routine analytics produced by the team and ensuring high-quality control of outputs delivered. In addition to routine analytics, we anticipate increasing project work to improve existing analytics and create new analytics. The candidate must rapidly grasp new concepts since the team is expected to work on various analytics. The role also requires intellectual curiosity and a mindset for problem-solving to consider continuous improvements to routine tasks and to execute projects that will require collaboration with many stakeholders.

Profile of the successful candidate

The ideal candidate will possess the following capabilities:

• _Innate Curiosity and Meticulousness: We seek a candidate whose natural curiosity drives them to understand the intricacies of systems at a fundamental level. This individual does not merely complete tasks but delves into the mechanics of processes, akin to someone who, knowing it is precisely 4 PM, has achieved this certainty by disassembling, understanding, and meticulously maintaining each watch component. Our complex risk and exposure reporting framework, built on diverse data sources, assumptions, and mathematical calculations, requires this depth of curiosity and attention to detail to preemptively identify and address potential inaccuracies that may not be immediately apparent.

• _Exceptional Communication and Relationship-Building Skills: The ideal candidate must possess strong communication skills and the ability to foster relationships, catering to the needs of demanding stakeholders across Investments, Risk, Finance, and IT. This role requires proactive engagement and continuous dialogue with stakeholders to ensure their concerns are acknowledged and addressed and to clarify the implications and limitations of our reporting. Candidates who work silently in the background, avoiding collaboration and stakeholder interaction, will not align with the demands of this position.

• _Analytical Problem-Solving Expertise: We value candidates with a proven analytical and conceptual problem-solving track record, essential for navigating our risk framework. The ability to embark on research-driven mini-projects, define clear objectives, break down issues systematically, and determine the most effective analyses to resolve these challenges is crucial. A structured approach to thinking and problem-solving is paramount for success in this role.

• _Project Management Proficiency: The role involves managing numerous mini-projects, requiring an inherently organized candidate adept at project management. The successful candidate will set realistic yet ambitious milestones to ensure timely project progression and skillfully manage communication with all stakeholders to keep projects on course and aligned with expectations.

• _Foundational Investment Theory Knowledge: A deep understanding of investment theory is essential, particularly relevant to a macro-oriented asset management context. Candidates should have substantial experience and knowledge in calculating and managing beta and alpha, comprehending how factors and styles contribute to systemic (beta) risk, grasping the mathematical foundations of portfolio theory, and employing key investment assessment techniques such as the information ratio.

• _Ownership and outcome-oriented mindset: The successful candidate will have a strong ownership mindset around their outputs and the calculation frameworks and systems producing them. This mindset should naturally produce high-quality outputs and ensure analytics are fit for purpose. As the team leader, the candidate must focus on achieving outcomes and not just completing the assigned tasks. Some outcomes will require thinking of new tasks that may not be apparent earlier and instinctively working on them to achieve desired objectives.

Desired background

• _5-8 years of relevant experience in portfolio construction, manager selection, or portfolio analytics at a first-class investment firm, most likely an allocator (e.g., endowment, family office, fund of fund, or multi-strategy fund) or possibly a quantitatively oriented equities or macro hedge fund

• _Graduate degree in financial engineering, computational finance, economics, statistics, computer science, finance, mathematics, or related quantitative field

• _Strong conceptual understanding of Finance/Risk concepts; ability to absorb new concepts quickly

• _Strong analytical and quantitative skills (comfort in sophisticated economic analyses)

• _Strong communication skills

• _Strong knowledge of Excel/VBA, Tableau, Python

• _Participation in CFA / FRM program is a plus