Lead Investment Analyst

Job Type: Permanent 

Location: This role will be based in our London office and there will be some flexibility to work between the office and home, and we will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about flexible working here.

Salary and Benefits: from £100,000 (subject to experience), plus bonus, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more.

Closing Date: 9th October

We’re Standard Life, a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement savings and income. We champion the belief that everyone’s journey to and through retirement can be better, and for more than 200 years, we’ve been helping our customers plan and prepare for their financial futures. 

Life today is increasingly complicated, uncertain and unpredictable. People move through different careers, face unexpected moments and navigate important choices. We offer our colleagues flexibility, trust and benefits that work for whatever life brings. In return we expect curiosity, connection, accountability and high standards. We make room for what matters - so you can bring your best, every day. 

If you’re someone who has willingness to learn, curiosity to explore new opportunities and drive to further develop your career in investments (i.e. assessing Structured Credit & Mortgage investments (Mortgage Solutions, Equity Release Mortgages, Securitisations (including ABS/CLO), Asset-Backed Finance and/or Insured Credit), our Private Markets team would love to hear from you! 
We're looking for someone who takes initiative, embraces new challenges, rolls up their sleeves when needed and is excited about building a long-term career in Private Markets.

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to develop your career within Private Markets, helping to deliver strong investment outcomes across Standard Life's c.£300bn assets under administration. As part of the Real Assets team within Capital Markets, you'll work alongside experienced investors and transaction specialists to originate, analyse, execute and manage investments across Infrastructure, Asset-Backed Lending, Real Estate Debt, Long Income and other Private Markets strategies.

Working closely with colleagues across Private Markets and RS&AM, you'll support complex transactions from initial assessment through to ongoing portfolio management, while contributing to the continued evolution of Standard Life's Real Assets proposition. The role offers broad exposure to investment origination, execution and asset management, providing an excellent platform to deepen your technical expertise, build market relationships and develop a long-term career within Private Markets.

Key Responsibilities

• Participate in and lead the structuring and execution of internal and external securitisations, including on Equity Release Mortgages and other ABS/CLOs – Optimising capital treatment and return. Support ERM underlying pricing & analysis.
• Partner with Actuarial, Risk and Capital teams – Refining longevity, prepayment, and property value assumptions, ensuring alignment with Solvency II and internal risk appetite frameworks.
• Act as primary structuring lead in cross-functional deal teams - coordinating across Asset Management, Standard Life and external stakeholders to deliver successful transactions
• Contribute to wider securitised asset strategy development – support the development of asset strategy through planning, MI development and engagement with wider stakeholders
• Lead in pricing and executing other structured credit and complex transactions across Private Markets as well as commercial, financial and legal terms to optimise risk-adjusted outcomes.
• Build and maintain cash flow models and investment recommendations to support decision-making.
• Become the team resource for complex transactions, subject matter expert on pricing tools, targeted financial metrics and the wider Standard Life platform in order to maximise execution efficiency across the Private Markets team.
• Monitor portfolio performance, emerging risks and covenant compliance, supporting asset management and restructuring activity where required.
• Contribute to strategic initiatives & projects, market research and investment insights that expand and enhance the firm's investment capabilities.

What we're looking for

This role would suit colleagues who have built strong foundations through our graduate programme or within RS&AM and are looking to take the next step into a front-office investment role. We value potential, curiosity and learning agility alongside existing technical experience, and will support the successful candidate in continuing to develop their investment expertise and market knowledge.

Experience & Skills

Essential:

• Experience in an investment role (buy-side or sell-side), with exposure to assessing Structured Credit & Mortgage investments (Mortgage Solutions, Equity Release Mortgages, Securitisations (including ABS/CLO), Asset-Backed Finance and/or Insured Credit); broader cross-asset experience and familiarity with market participants
• Extensive knowledge of securitisations (ABS, MBS, CLO), and/or ERM & mortgages solutions as well as underlying securitised pools (mid-market loan/direct lending, SME loans, mortgages etc)
• Demonstrated strong cashflow analysis skills, credit fundamentals and experience of structures reliant on specific pools of assets (e.g. derivative desk or rating agency covering these counterparties / assets)
• Experience structuring investments within complex regulatory environments
• Track record of high-quality delivery, including the ability to manage multiple workstreams and priorities
• Experience operating in environments requiring strong self-direction, prioritisation and effective stakeholder management
• Advanced proficiency in Excel, Word and PowerPoint; familiarity with Intex 
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to deliver high-quality output at pace and with attention to detail

Desirable:

• Programming skills and/or VBA is advantageous
• Understanding of Solvency II regulation and the Matching Adjustment framework
• Exposure to investment origination and ongoing asset surveillance, including familiarity with commercial, contractual and legal negotiation concepts
• Established or developing network across relevant market participants

Personal Attributes

Success in this role isn't just about what you know today, it's about your willingness to learn, your curiosity to explore new opportunities and your drive to develop. We're looking for someone who takes initiative, embraces new challenges, rolls up their sleeves when needed and is excited about building a long-term career in Private Markets.

• Highly collaborative, proactive and flexible contributor in a dynamic and agile team.
• Proven leadership and management skills of junior investment teams
• Strong problem solving and analytical skills and the ability to work quickly with high attention to detail
• Ability to assign priorities to multiple activities while ensuring integrity, accuracy, and timeliness.
• Clear and confident communicator, able to explain complex ideas in a way that is accessible to different audiences, including senior external and internal stakeholders
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to establish credibility and influence effectively. 
• Organised and resilient, able to balance multiple priorities while maintaining a high standard of work.
   

Qualifications

Bachelor of Science or equivalent professional experience. 

Additional study such as a Master's degree, CFA, CAIA, CQF or similar qualifications would be beneficial but are not essential
 

We want to hire the whole version of you.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you. 

 If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best. 

We’re reviewing applications as they come in and may close this role before the closing date, so apply early to avoid missing out.

Find out more about working at Standard Life

• Guide for Candidates: standardlifeplc.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates

• Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.standardlifeplc.com/careers/talk-to-us 

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