Senior Specialist - Investment & Trade Client Services

At Franklin Templeton, we’re driving our industry forward by developing new and innovative ways to help our clients achieve their investment goals. Our dynamic and diversified firm spans asset management, wealth management, and fintech, offering many ways to help investors make progress toward their goals. Our talented teams working around the globe bring expertise that’s both broad and unique. From our welcoming, inclusive, and flexible culture to our global and diverse business, we offer opportunities not only to help you reach your potential but also to contribute to our clients’ achievements.

Come join us in delivering better outcomes for our clients around the world!

What is the Senior Specialist - Investment & Trade Client Services - Investment Ops Brandywine Group responsible for?

• The Derivative and Market Onboarding Team operates within Brandywine’s Investment Operations Department and is involved in specialized client and fund on-boarding activities; specifically, those tasks related to the onboarding of new and existing clients onto derivative trading agreements as well as the opening and maintenance of foreign market settlement accounts at client custodian banks.  

• The Derivative Onboarding Specialist is responsible for the on-boarding activities related to the execution and clearing of derivatives and other instruments supported by the team. This would involve documenting Brandywine's inventory of derivative agreements such as ISDAs, MSFTAs, Master Confirmation Agreements (MCAs), clearing agreements, etc. Working closely with Brandywine's Legal and Compliance Departments, who are involved in the legal review and negotiation of these agreements, the Derivative Onboarding Specialist is responsible for the maintenance of these agreements, such as adding new clients/funds via amendments by providing each dealer with KYC/AML information, providing data as required by the trading agreement (e.g. AUMs), responding to counterparty/broker inquiries, circulating open issues to the appropriate departments, etc.

• The team is also involved with the timely establishment of all foreign market settlement accounts by interacting with a variety of teams including, but not limited to, Account Events, Client Service, Legal, Portfolio Compliance, and Trading. The team is responsible for coordinating this process end-to-end, from the initial Portfolio Manager request to custody market opening.  In addition, the team will initiate and maintain all market opening requests in Brandywine’s Market Registration System, perform ongoing reconciliation to custodians, and work with Portfolio Compliance to ensure appropriate restrictions are in place to mitigate operational and financial risks.

What are the ongoing responsibilities of a Senior Specialist - Investment & Trade Client Services?

• The responsibilities of the Derivative Onboarding Specialist include the following:

• Obtain required documentation from clients (via the CSA, where appropriate) to onboard onto ISDA Master Agreements, Futures Clearing Agreements (FCA), and other related derivative agreements with various counterparties and brokers

• Reconciliation of ISDA, FCA, and other derivative agreement schedules

• Coordinate derivative documentation and act as a liaison between business groups to help establish and complete the derivative documentation process, including development of policies and procedures

• Redaction of confidential/sensitive items in client documents

• Reconciliation and delivery of AUMs to counterparties on ad hoc and monthly basis

• Maintain account on-boarding metrics and providing regular updates to the appropriate departments

• Assist on any special ISDA/Derivative projects deemed necessary by the firm.  Configuration and maintenance of operational systems

• Updating of Brandywine’s agreement and derivative trading relationship inventory

• Ensure compliance with policies and procedures and identify opportunities to improve internal processes and controls

Additional functions covered by the team, related to derivatives onboarding, include:

• Administer the market registration process by logging investment team requests into Brandywine’s Market Registration System

• Coordinate requests with Custodians and periodically confirm the status of such requests

• Perform regular market reconciliations between operational records and portfolio compliance rules; working with Portfolio Compliance team to resolve discrepancies

• Perform regular market reconciliations between operational data and custodial data; taking appropriate actions to resolve discrepancies.

• Monitor global updates on regulatory/tax/legal/settlement changes in markets and communicate to Investment and Operation teams as needed

What ideal qualifications, skills & experience would help someone to be successful?

• Professionalism and a strong sense of accountability

• Impeccable attention to detail with the ability to see “the big picture”

• Strong verbal and written communications skills at all levels:  courteous, effective and professional; authoritative and diplomatic

• Ability to multi-task independently in a busy and demanding environment amid significant organizational growth and change

• Aptitude to exercise initiative and to define and resolve problems; think “outside the box”

• Clear understanding of industry terminology and Fixed Income products

• Strong organizational skills with excellent follow-up discipline

• Ability to interpret and understand legal contracts to ensure proper data is captured in relevant systems

• Knowledge and proficiency with Microsoft Office products

• Knowledge and proficiency of SharePoint a plus

Other Duties:

• Special project and systems based initiatives as appropriate

• BCP Planning and DR Testing, which may include weekend or after hour remote access and participation.  Access to personal computer and internet access is required.

• Other duties as assigned

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Economics, Finance, or related business discipline

• 5 years of experience in the financial services industry.

• Familiarity with derivative agreements (e.g. ISDAs, MSFTAs, etc.) is a plus

• Investment or custody operations is a plus

Requirements:

• This position requires an individual who possesses the personal attributes and the professional experience consistent with the Firm’s high standards of conduct and performance. In performing the job, the individual must: (i) always act in the best interests of clients, (ii) continuously evaluate and escalate areas of risk to the Firm, (iii) work cohesively and effectively with people across all functions, and (iv) comply with all Firm policies and procedures. Accordingly, it is expected that the individual is of high moral character, well-organized and self-directed, with strong personal skills and an ability to execute work objectives in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

Work Shift Timing - 8:30 PM - 5:30 AM IST