Financial Accountant at M&G Investments Southern Africa

Overview

An opportunity has arisen for a Financial Accountant at M&G Investments. We are looking for a quick adaptor who challenges the ordinary. This is a small Finance Department and although one of the primary areas of focus is looking after the Life Company, the role does not start and end there. The successful incumbent would be required to work within a team that juggles multiple deliverables throughout the year as assistance will be needed in areas across Finance in order to meet those deliverables. This position reports to the Head of Finance.

Key responsibilities

While the primary role is a Financial Accountant who is dedicated to oversight of the Life Company, there are a number of other areas of involvement across the Finance Department, including supervisory duties. 

Regulatory reporting:

• Responsible for the preparation of the quarterly and annual SAM reporting for the Life company, including monitoring and communicating capital requirement positions.
• Responsible for preparation of the monthly and quarterly reporting for the Life Company to the South African Reserve Bank.
• Responsible for the Life Company submissions to the Association for Savings and Investments South Africa.
• Responsible for the monthly regulatory capital reporting for the Life Company.
• Assist Compliance with any ad-hoc reports required for regulatory visits.
• Working alongside Compliance to complete and submit the Group Own Risk Solvency Assessment (ORSA) report to the Board and the FSCA.

Supervisory role in respect of fees, flows and Assets under Management (AuM):

• Responsible for first level review of management and performance fee calculations and invoices on a monthly basis. 
• Responsible for oversight of the fee function, including engaging with internal and external stakeholders where necessary.
• Responsible for first level review of AuM and flows per segment on a monthly basis.
• Involvement in the annual budgeting process in respect of AuM, flows, and fee income. 
• Assisting the business with ad hoc fee related requests, including review of new mandates or amendments in respect of fee clauses. 

Statutory reporting:

• Responsible for the preparation of the annual financial statements of the Life company.
• Assist with the external audit process for the Life company and Management fees related items.
• Assist with consolidation submissions to our Parent Company in London.
• Oversight of AuM and flows reporting to our Parent Company in London on a monthly and quarterly basis. 

Management accounts:

• Responsible for working with the Operations Life/NAV teams in order to process month-end journals for Accounting Purposes. (This relationship needs to be owned by the Life Company Accountant). 
• Responsible for the review of the monthly Life company management accounts.
• Responsible for the review of the fee income sections of the group management accounts, including forecasting fees for the rest of the year.

Other:

• Review of monthly policyholder transactions received from external service providers.
• Additional monthly and ad-hoc reporting, including the preparation of board reports.
• Ad-hoc accounting projects.
• Various tax preparations and submissions (Company Tax, VAT, Dividend Witholding tax etc).
• Review and approval of  payments.
• Review and approval of journal entries where necessary.
• Review and approval of month-end reconciliations.
• Review of invoicing to clients.

Attributes Qualifications, Skills & Experience

• CA(SA)
• Minimum 2 years post qualification experience (PQE)
• Financial Services experience is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of IFRS

Competencies & Personal Attributes

• Strong planning and co-ordinating skills and good time management
• Ability to execute tasks in a timely manner.
• Problem-solving skills and able to continuously improve/automate processes.
• Ability to prioritize tasks effectively, specifically when dealing with client queries and other external parties.
• A team player and able to build strong working relationships with colleagues and clients.
• Strong numerical and analytical skills.
• Good communication skills, both in oral and written form
• A willingness to continuously learn.
• Self-motivated and pro-active in investigating and implementing changes/new requirements.
• Able to work independently.