Investment Onboarding - Associate

About this role

BlackRock is one of the world’s preeminent asset management firms and a premier provider of global investment management, risk management and advisory services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors around the world. BlackRock offers a range of solutions — from rigorous fundamental and quantitative active management approaches aimed at maximizing outperformance to highly efficient indexing strategies designed to gain broad exposure to the world’s capital markets.

Our clients can access our investment solutions through a variety of product structures, including individual and institutional separate accounts, mutual funds and other pooled investment vehicles, and the industry-leading iShares® ETFs. Global Investment Operations is a centralized group dedicated to ensuring that all information required for the investment management process including positions, security data, pricing, risk, cash, net asset value (NAV), assets under management (AUM), performance and compliance are delivered to BlackRock internal teams consistently, accurately and on a timely basis. 

Team Overview

The Portfolio and Provider Services team is part of Blackrock’s Global Investment Operations Organization responsible for the market opening, trade messaging and settlement instruction management.  The team is also engaged in all cross-functional tasks within the broader organization which consists of Portfolio Management, Client Order Management, ICB, Transaction Management, Derivative Operations, Securities Lending, and Corporate Actions.

The PPS team provides pre-trade implementation expertise to other GIO teams and beyond, is responsible for the on-boarding and restructuring of funds, new fund launches, new products or entry into new markets.  PPS acts as the primary interface for a number of internal stakeholder groups for the execution of change, facilitates the oversight of all custodian connectivity on behalf of GIO groups, and ensures routing and counterparty information is complete and in place to support trading. Additionally, the team serves as the central point of contact for market openings and the documentation of standing settlement instructions.

The team plays a prominent role in both market and firm initiatives, integrations, and supports the overall readiness of portfolios on the BlackRock Aladdin platform. The team manages critical data that drives trade confirmation, settlement, trade routing as well as STP with providers (Custodians/Fund Administrators/Transfer Agents) and counterparties. 

The team works side by side with our production teams in our core operating centers in Delaware and Edinburgh. Candidates will support a growing area in a dynamic and challenging environment on a global team that has presence in the US and UK. 

Role Responsibility

• The Associate completes the team’s daily processes and reports to the regional team manager.
• Responsibilities include completion of daily workflow, reports, control checks, inquiry management through the mailbox, and ownership of work allocated by the team lead.
• The role provides support to partners, executes on inquiries, escalates and tracks issues, and coordinates action plans to address.
• Additionally, the Associate participates in aligning the team with initiatives impacting the broader group, including process enhancements, control reporting, and audit requirements.
• You will be responsible for a general understanding of the operating models and methodology within the broader GIO team.
• You will work in partnership with the global team by attending all relevant calls and meetings and providing and receiving cross-training for coverage purposes.
• You will identify areas for improvement in scalability and service levels in order to help mitigate risk.
• You will build relationships with your colleagues, partners, and service providers and work to ensure smooth implementations through communication and your understanding of Aladdin.

Key Responsibilities

• Participate as the PPS stakeholder for portfolio lifecycle event calls

• Timely response to/escalation of implementation-related inquiries and issues

• Complete workflow/tasks on time

• Actively monitor team workflow with help from manager, assist colleagues in need

• Boot portfolios on Aladdin, populate account attributes

• Confirm basic portfolio functionality

• Establish and confirm inbound/outbound connectivity with custodians (SWIFT/FTP, website)

• Interact with global custodians to open markets, establish standing instructions, ensure trading readiness, confirmation, settlement

• Update ALERT with relevant settlement instructions

• Maintain the Counterparty Maintenance tool (CPM) with appropriate counterparty information in support of trading

• Verify STIF/sweep set-ups

• Sign off on daily control checks

• Monitor and allocate workflow via the Dashboard and team mailbox

• Identify opportunities for process improvement

• Create action plans to ensure workflow and service issues are identified are remediated

• Actively participate in cross-training

• Partner with global colleagues to adhere and contribute to “gold copy” processes for BCP/audit purposes

• Leverage the global and regional team for questions, coverage, and consistency

Experience

• Experience in Business Operations and expertise in the Aladdin Suite of products

• Experience with managing relationships and delivering to partners within deadlines

• Familiarity with different financial products and account structures

• Familiarity with overall Life of a Trade and general understanding of trade confirmation and settlement processes

Competencies

• Candidates should be proactive, organized, risk-averse, and focused on scalability

• Strong attention to detail

• Possess strong interpersonal skills with ability to communicate constructively at all levels

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to synthesize information and summarize issues at a high level

• Process oriented - effectively review, comprehend and provide recommendations based on methodology

• Comfortable operating within deadlines

• Balancing responsiveness with accuracy

• Ability to effectively manage workflows, and re-prioritize when needed

• Intermediate-Advanced Excel and SQL experience preferred

Development Value:

• Gain exposure to multiple facets of the investment process

• Develop and extend networking opportunities through stakeholder engagement and multiple touchpoints

• Exposure to execution of change activities, providing variation in the role

• Fostering of personal & technical growth by working with a supportive management team keen to help staff reach their career aspirations

• Team is tiered and structured allowing for personal growth, development and promotion

Our benefits

To help you stay energized, engaged and inspired, we offer a wide range of employee benefits including: retirement investment and tools designed to help you in building a sound financial future; access to education reimbursement; comprehensive resources to support your physical health and emotional well-being; family support programs; and Flexible Time Off (FTO) so you can relax, recharge and be there for the people you care about.

Our hybrid work model

BlackRock’s hybrid work model is designed to enable a culture of collaboration and apprenticeship that enriches the experience of our employees, while supporting flexibility for all. Employees are currently required to work at least 4 days in the office per week, with the flexibility to work from home 1 day a week. Some business groups may require more time in the office due to their roles and responsibilities. We remain focused on increasing the impactful moments that arise when we work together in person – aligned with our commitment to performance and innovation. As a new joiner, you can count on this hybrid model to accelerate your learning and onboarding experience here at BlackRock.

About BlackRock

At BlackRock, we are all connected by one mission: to help more and more people experience financial well-being.  Our clients, and the people they serve, are saving for retirement, paying for their children’s educations, buying homes and starting businesses. Their investments also help to strengthen the global economy: support businesses small and large; finance infrastructure projects that connect and power cities; and facilitate innovations that drive progress.

This mission would not be possible without our smartest investment – the one we make in our employees. It’s why we’re dedicated to creating an environment where our colleagues feel welcomed, valued and supported with networks, benefits and development opportunities to help them thrive.

For additional information on BlackRock, please visit @blackrock | Twitter: @blackrock | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock

BlackRock is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, disability, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and other protected characteristics at law.