Specialist | Institutional Fund Operations | Investment Accounting at Allan Gray Proprietary Limited

Job Summary

• The Foreign Trade Operations team is responsible for performing various administrative duties relating to offshore investments for Allan Gray Institutional clients. As a key specialist in the Foreign Trade Operations team, this individual would need to take full ownership of tasks, have excellent attention to detail, be comfortable interacting with various stakeholders e.g., regulators/brokers and have excellent time management skills.
• The candidate will work in Institutional Fund Operations, within the Post-Trade Operations team.

 
Job Responsibilities
Key functional responsibilities of the role 

• Action and monitor the workflow of foreign transactions (purchases, redemptions, switches and transfers) accurately and timeously.
• Performing reconciliations (Orbis Holdings Reconciliations and Unit Reconciliations) of foreign investments. 
• Completing various regulatory reporting including South African Reserve Bank reports.
• Address and resolve ad-hoc internal and external requests and queries relating to the Foreign Trade function.
• In collaboration with the Manager and other stakeholders, ensuring that the team is on track to deliver its’ long-term objectives and ensuring that all aspects are covered in the operating model.
• Drive change by assisting the team through coordinating project and initiative work within the broader area.
• Overseeing project work from planning through to testing, implementation and ensuring that the outcomes upon implementation are in line with expectations. 

Process review and improvement

• Constant focus on reviewing and improving existing operational processes and being proactive in response to internal and external change.
• Eliminating inefficiencies and process waste.
• Driving process change where such areas are identified (in consultation with the Manager and collaboration with other stakeholders)

Stakeholder management and communication

• A key aspect of the role will be to liaise with the various internal and external stakeholders, e.g. Trading, Compliance, Orbis, brokers, exchanges, regulators, custodians and third party administrators that are involved in the various activities.

Experience and Qualifications

• Business related degree.
• A minimum of three years of experience in Fund Operations in Financial Services

Competencies

• Ability to function well in a detailed environment with particular concern for accuracy and quality.
• Ability to deal with complexity and be an analytical, investigative problem solver.
• Proactive, “can-do” and engaged attitude that ensures that tasks get done timeously and accurately, while inspiring team members to do great work.
• Self-motivated, determined and persistent.
• Ability to multitask and work under pressure.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build and maintain relationships. Includes the ability to communicate and interact effectively with people at all organisational levels.
• Ability to work well within a team.
• Disciplined and methodical working style.
• Ability to plan, organise and prioritise work pieces. 
• Conscientiousness.
• Excellent verbal & written communication skills.
• Ability to be proactive to prevent crises. 
• Good understanding of the Institutional business processes is an advantage.
• Knowledge of Charles River, FPM, Invest+, Camunda is an advantage.