Jnr Investment Strategist at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• Actuarial Science qualification preferred
• Statistics, Mathematics, Finance, Investments related qualifications 
• Any other quantitative qualification 
• CFA is an added advantage
• Proficiency in MS office (Excel, Powerpoint, PowerBI)
• Coding in Python/R/MATLAB or any other quantitative/statistical software

Job Description

Strategic asset allocation and investment strategy 

• Conduct local and global research on market and economic conditions and trends; fundamentally, quantitatively and qualitatively 
• Gather data, perform statistical analysis and build market and economic forecasts using time-series modelling techniques, parameterising financial and economic models, and introducing machine learning algorithms like neural networks 
• Run the Strategic Asset Allocation model using established asset allocation frameworks and present any recommended changes to Asset Allocation Committee 

Outcomes 

• Delivering market-beating investment performance 
• Publications of high-quality and in-depth and up-to-date regular research reports
• Producing accurate asset class return forecasts 

Portfolio management  

• Management of quantitative investment portfolios 
• Management and rebalancing of specialized portfolios such as living annuities, life-stage portfolios 
• Portfolio trading and rebalancing of offshore and local portfolios 

Outcomes 

• Implemented portfolios are managed in alignment to Houseview and/or any relevant model portfolios 

Equity research  

• Conducting detailed, in-depth and high quality fundamental research on companies looking at their strategy, operations, financials and valuations with the aim of making high-conviction investment recommendations for the local and global portfolios 
• Incorporating ESG into the investment management philosophy and process and integrating this into the bottom-up research process 
• Applying the latest techniques and using technology and data effectively in assessing company operations, financials, strategy and valuations  
• On-going monitoring of company developments and on-going reassessment of company investment cases in-light of changing operating environments 

Outcomes 

• Production of timely, high quality and informative research reports including the daily and weekly Markey wrap 
• Providing high quality, in-depth and informative stock presentations to the investment committee on an on-going basis to keep the committee abreast with stocks covered 
• Providing stock recommendations to the Investment committee with a high level of conviction 

Stakeholder engagement 

Objectives 

• Engaging with various stakeholders within other areas of the business, gathering data to identify business problems, objectives and processes requiring solutions 
• Developing solutions appropriate to meet the needs of stakeholders 
• Monitoring the outcomes of the solutions regularly and ensure a feedback loop to the problem idenfication process 
• Communicating the results of the solutions on a regular basis 

Outcomes  

• Developing investment solutions and value propositions for other areas of the business that aid in them fulfilling their targets and objectives 
• Expanding the investment product offering with launching of new portfolios to meet the needs of  
• Developing and/or enhancing processes to improve investment outcomes 
• Regular client meetings to report on performance of solutions 

Client/Media engagements  

• Objectives 
• Upholding and representing the Absa brand 
• Marketing Absa Investments as well as broader business units where applicable 

Outcomes 

• Regular presentation of market and macroeconomic research to internal distribution channels 
• On-going external communication and engagement with media and clients 
• Upholding and representing the Absa brand 

Education

• Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)