Position Overview
The Portfolio Operations Associate is responsible for ensuring the integrity of data provided by custodian banks, prime brokers, and administrators. You will perform various controls, audit, analytical, accounting and reporting responsibilities for a number of GMO’s mutual funds, hedge funds, ETFs, and separately managed accounts. “Ownership” is the key. You will take ownership of each account for which you are assigned. You will support the investment process (portfolio managers, traders, and analysts) by identifying, researching, and resolving any and all discrepancies discovered through the review and validation of all investment activity. You will work with a variety of teams at GMO including the front and middle office as well as our technology, and client relationship teams.
Responsibilities
- Develop a comprehensive understanding of all assigned accounts and their underlying activity
- Perform end-to-end reconciliation of holdings, cash, and security transactions against custodian banks; proactively investigate and resolve complex accounting and custody discrepancies while communicating effectively with investment teams
- Conduct daily and monthly NAV validation by comparing GMO-calculated net assets with those reported by fund administrators
- Monitor and report cash availability and overdraft positions to GMO’s Cash Desk and FX teams in a timely manner
- Partner with the Pricing team and fund administrators to research, escalate, and resolve security valuation issues
- Produce accurate and timely client-specific and ad hoc reporting, ensuring all outputs meet quality assurance standards
- Proactively track and follow up on all outstanding issues with custodians; maintain full ownership through resolution and identify opportunities to prevent recurrence
- Communicate clearly with internal stakeholders to highlight and escalate discrepancies that may impact investment decisions
- Collaborate with the Data Management team to investigate and resolve data integrity issues
- Work closely with all teams across Operations at GMO to ensure reconciliation items are resolved timely
- Contribute to cross-functional initiatives and ad hoc projects at the firm
Additional Responsibilities May Include
- Supporting data integrity initiatives, including system and database reviews
- Assisting with onboarding and implementation of new systems
- Contributing to process improvement efforts across the team and broader organization
- Participating in SOC1 audit activities
Required Skills and Characteristics
- Bachelor’s degree
- 1-4 years of relevant experience; fund accounting a plus
- Derivatives and other asset class experience preferred
- Experience with BlackRock Aladdin a plus
- Experience with FIS’s Data Integrity Manager a plus
- Strong analytical skills
- Self-motivated with proven ability to work effectively on a team
- Proficiency with Microsoft Word and Excel is required, Microsoft Office programming skills are a plus
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What We Do
For more than 40 years, GMO has partnered with a broad range of sophisticated institutions, financial intermediaries, and families to provide the investment expertise they need to meet their goals and fulfill their missions. Investing on behalf of our clients is GMO’s sole focus. Across asset classes and around the world, our investment teams identify and exploit long-term opportunities and develop solutions that both anticipate and respond to client needs. GMO is comprised of a collection of investment teams with focused specialties. All are grounded in a long-term, valuation-based investment philosophy – an approach we believe provides the best risk-adjusted returns. GMO partners with an impressive roster of sophisticated clients worldwide, delivering innovative investment solutions and tailored client service. Our clients benefit from our diverse expertise, intellectual curiosity, and open culture of debate, as well as from our ability and willingness to take advantage of contrarian market opportunities. For important disclosure information please visit: https://www.gmo.com/americas/terms-and-conditions/
