Job Vacancies at Stonehage Fleming

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS & ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Accounts maintenance of relevant information to trial balance level as well as the preparation of offshore financial statements
• Maintaining entity ledgers on a regular basis ensuring they are up-to-date
• Identifying payment requirements for the client, instructing and executions of the payment process to ensure accurate and timing payments.
• Systematic filing and information gathering of client agreements with third parties to identify actions required such as issuing invoices.
• Providing assistance to the Investment Accounting team to ensure that all entity ledgers are up to date by reconciling investment and bank accounts, in the preparation of investment reporting and other financial analysis within strict reporting deadlines
• Providing external service providers with relevant information to allow them to prepare financial reports, tax and other statutory returns for our clients within strict deadlines
• Liaising with the Trust Administrator and Middle Office Team to ensure adequate supporting documents are in place for various updates in clients.
• Provision of relevant reports for client reporting purposes including client meeting preparation
• Provision of reporting for local and international tax purposes

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• BCom Accounting graduate having completed either SAIPA (with Professional Exams passed) or SAICA articles (with AGA(SA) registration complete).
• Practical experience within the financial services (wealth management or investment management) environment in a similar role, with exposure to both local and international trust structures being beneficial

SKILLS

This position requires a good understanding of the following:

• Accounting knowledge and competence including IFRS for SMEs, STEP accounting, basic understanding of trusts and investments, understanding and the interpretation of financial statements
• Technical experience in Caseware, Xero and Microsoft Office
• Experience in Business Central and Laserfische beneficial
• Excellent in communication skills
• Deadline driven 

COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIOURS

• Energetic: Self-motivated and self-manages with a good work ethic (attitude), schedules and manages workload effectively, thinks ahead, sets plans to achieve goals
• Results orientated: Delivers work of a high standard, output is accurate and error free; owns delegated tasks and pays attention to detail, takes prompt action and sees tasks through to completion
•  Resourceful problem solver: Considers the wider consequences of each decision, gathers and analyses information to find creative solutions
• Team player: Supports and works towards team goals, shares information, is helpful and cooperative, works effectively with people outside the immediate team
• Efficient and effective communicator: Communicates clearly and concisely with clients and colleagues of all levels, listens effectively, has well-presented written communication and the ability to deal with sophisticated clients
• Client focused: Understands and satisfies client needs at all times, takes full responsibility and accountability for all client matters including delegated tasks

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OVERALL PURPOSE AND WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

• The role is as part of a team in Cape Town and Johannesburg, which reports to the Client  Accounting Team Leader. It involves maintaining the accounting records of and producing timely and accurate financial statements for onshore trusts and companies, therefore requiring close and regular interaction and collaboration with team members in both Cape Town and Johannesburg, all members of the Family Office team, clients, the international accounting team and various external business contacts (including banks, SARS, 3rd party and in-house custodians and in particular accounting and tax compliance service providers).

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS & ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Accounts maintenance of relevant information to trial balance level as well as  the preparation of financial statements 9Trusts & comapnaies) 
• Maintaining entity ledgers on a regular basis ensuring they are up-to-date
• Systematic filing and information gathering of client agreements with third  parties to identify actions required such as issuing invoices.
• Work with relationship managers to gather relevant information to allow the team to prepare financial reports, tax and other statutory returns for our clients within strict deadlines
• Liaising with the Trust Administrator and Middle Office Teams to ensure adequate supporting documents are in place for various updates in clients.
• Provision of relevant reports for client reporting purposes including client meeting  preparation
• Provision of reporting for local and international tax purposes
• Manage and maintain the tax compliance of allocated clients(Individuals, Trusts & 
• Companies) by ensuring all tax affairs are accurate, up to date and adhere to relevant  legislation.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• BCom Accounting graduate having completed SAIPA Articles (with Professional  exam passed)
• Practical experience within the financial services environment in a similar role,  with exposure to local trust and company structures.
• Experience in a deadline-driven environment.
• Registered tax Practitioner or able to complete the SARS readiness program during the  interview process.

SKILLS
This position requires a good understanding of the following:

• Accounting knowledge and competence including IFRS for SMEs, basic understanding of trusts and investments statements, and the interpretation of financial statements
• Technical experience in Caseware, Xero and Microsoft Office
• Exceptional communication skills 
• Ability to manage expectations and competing priorities

COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIOURS

• Energetic: Self-motivated and self-manages with a good work ethic (attitude), schedules and manages workload effectively, thinks ahead, sets plans to achieve goals
• Results orientated: Delivers work of a high standard, output is accurate and error free; owns delegated tasks and pays attention to detail, takes prompt action and sees tasks through to completion
• Resourceful problem solver: Considers the wider consequences of each decision, gathers and analyses information to find creative solutions
• Team player: Supports and works towards team goals, shares information, is helpful and 
• cooperative, works effectively with people outside the immediate team
• Efficient and effective communicator: Communicates clearly and concisely with clients and colleagues of all levels, listens effectively, has well-presented written communication and the ability to deal with sophisticated clients
• Client focused: Understands and satisfies client needs at all times, takes full responsibility and accountability for all client matters including delegated tasks

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OVERALL PURPOSE

• The individual will form part of the Banking and Investment Support team and to ensure a high quality and consistent client service. The individual will assist in the execution of instructions and various administrative tasks around bank account and investment management in an accurate way and by respecting appropriate deadlines.

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS & ACCOUNTABILITIES
BANKING

• Opening and closure of bank and investment account with core and non-core banks
• Collaborate with a variety of financial institutions across numerous jurisdictions worldwide to set up client relationships 
• Maintain bank and investment accounts, for instance by adding/removing a beneficiary/settlor/protector or give a power of attorney to a third party
• Maintain bank and investment account
• Maintain E-Banking users list
• Take on and loss of clients
• Transfer of equities, bonds, mutual funds and private placement between custodians, through fund administrators and/or with private companies
• Input of data in our in house integrated database system to keep up to date information at any point in time
• Respond to day to day queries from internal and/or external parties and help resolving issues
• Manage and execute business initiative independently from inception to implementation 
• Relevant/day to day people management tasks

INVESTMENTS

• Preparing subscription/redemption instructions for Alternative Investments (Single Hedge Funds, Private Equity Funds, Property Funds etc)
• Inputting non-automated investment transactions in our in house integrated database systems
• Keeping line by line and non-automated clients investment accounting up to date
• Managing and executing instructions like corporate actions, proxy votes, conversions, capital calls and distributions
• Collating KYC, FATCA, CRS and compliance documentation for fund administrators and other third parties
• Preparing SWIFT payment instructions
• Reconciliation of investment positions and working on reconciliation breaks

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Appropriate degree or higher diploma and 5 to 8 years of experience in working in the financial industry would be an advantage
• STEP qualifications would be an advantage but at least a good understand of basic information re Offshore Trust and Company and the relationship between Trust and Company, Trustee and Beneficiaries 
• Team management experience required
• Computer literacy (Word, Excel, Outlook and modern financial accounting packages)
• Knowledge and understanding of Double Entry Bookkeeping and Multi-Currency accounting 
• Knowledge and understanding of Financial Products 

COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIOURS

• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage priorities efficiently in a demanding environment
• Strong decision-making skills
• Strong technical and conceptual skills
• Strong interpersonal skills, a high level of motivation and flexibility. Excellent communication skills with the ability and maturity to deal effectively with all levels of staff and Management within the Group, third party service providers such as asset managers and tax consultants, and with high powered (often demanding) clients
• Strong people management skills
• A strong client care / service orientation and attention to detail
• Deals responsibly with confidential information
• Displays a high level of professional integrity

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OVERALL PURPOSE

• The primary purpose of the role is to support the investment reporting team both for onshore and offshore clients and to support the administration needs of the client managers and the portfolio analysts.

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

• This role reports to the team leader, who in turn reports to the Head of Investment Accounting South Africa based in Cape Town and has a strong working relationship with the Investment team across all Stonehage Fleming offices. Other working relationships include general Stonehage Fleming Relationship Managers, Fiduciary Accountants, external investment managers and linked investment service providers.

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Delivery of a high‑quality service that is accurate, timeous, and reliable with respect to reporting. 
• Daily reconciliation of bank accounts, investments and general investment accounting breaks, with the ability and resolve exceptions.
• Assisting with collating contract notes relating to corporate actions and reconciling client portfolio’s.
• Ensuring appropriate controls are in place and performing daily control checks to mitigate risk, improve system efficiency, and proactively identify opportunities for process improvements. 
• Supporting the management and coordinating of team deliverables relating to projects and new client take-on’s.
• Handling queries efficiently to ensure resolution of both internal and external client queries (in conjunction with the client relationship management team on monthly statements, valuations, deal with selected billing, tax reporting requirements.
• Assist in daily, monthly and quarterly Investment Review processes.
• Administrative problem‑solving and the creation of efficiencies within the admin environment. 
• Liaising with 3rd‑party service providers and various internal contacts, including banks and custodians. 
• Draft general correspondence.
• Maintaining the filing database, including daily filing of client documents, contract notes, valuations, and bank statements. 
• Ability to work both from the office and from home according to a set weekly schedule.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s Degree (B.Com Accounting/Commerce/Finance) with accounting and investment insight. At least 1 to 3 years’ experience in similar roles or Fund Accounting positions.

SKILLS

• Proficiency in MS Office
• Confident and professional telephone manners
• Ability to work with accounting or reporting software; experience with Business Central would be advantageous.

COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIOURS

• Planning & Organizing: Schedules and manages workload effectively, thinks ahead, sets plans to achieve goals.
• Teamwork: Supports and works toward team goals, shares information, is helpful and cooperative, and works effectively with colleagues across the wider group.
• Communication Skills: Communicates clearly and concisely, listens effectively, and produces clear written communication.
• Client Orientation: Understands and satisfies client needs at all times, delivers excellent client service, and takes full responsibility and accountability for all client matters, including delegated tasks.
• Accuracy, Quality & Productivity: Delivers work of a high standard; output is accurate, error‑free, and produced consistently at a satisfactory level.