Investment Associate or Senior Investment Associate

Summary: 

Trinity University is a private, liberal arts and sciences institution in San Antonio, Texas, where our 2,480 students discover, grow, and become visionaries to make the world a better place. The University is guided by a mission and set of values that place a quality liberal arts and sciences education at its core. Trinity seeks to be a transformational liberal arts and sciences university with selected professional and pre-professional programs that will redefine liberal arts education for the 21st century.

The Trinity University Endowment is a $1.3 billion (as of June 30, 2018), globally diversified investment portfolio with investments across public and private equity, venture capital, real assets, hedge funds and fixed income. The purpose of the Endowment is to provide a stable source of funding for current university operations and to preserve and grow the purchasing power of the endowment to benefit future generations of students. The Endowment is critical to the University’s ability to achieve its strategic goals; annual distributions from the endowment fund approximately 35% of the university’s annual $145 million operating budget.

Position Description:

The Trinity University Endowment Office is seeking an Investment Associate or Senior Investment Associate to join their team in San Antonio, Texas. The Investment Associate / Senior Investment Associate will be actively involved in all aspects of investment research, portfolio management, and endowment operations management for the Trinity University Endowment. The Investment Associate / Senior Investment Associate will report to the Director of Investments and the position will be structured as a generalist role, which will cover the full spectrum of asset classes for the Trinity University Endowment, including global public equity, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, real assets, fixed income and cash management. The generalist role will provide the Investment Associate / Senior Investment Associate broad exposure to various asset classes and investment products as well as involvement with broader day-to-day management of the Trinity University Endowment, including spending policy development, treasury management, and University audit & valuations.

The Endowment Office is a small-team and the position will provide the opportunity to interact with senior University executives in an entrepreneurial setting and have an impactful role on meaningful University projects. This position is a key member of the investment team and integral to providing decision support to the Director of Investments around the investment portfolio and Endowment Office initiatives. The Investment Associate / Senior Investment Associate will have a high degree of responsibility and a unique opportunity to work with leading global investors across a diverse range of investment strategies, industries and regions.

The Investment Associate / Senior Investment Associate must have an interest in investment management and finance, strong quantitative and analytical skills, proven work ethic, attention to detail, the ability to work independently and in small teams (sometimes with minimal supervision and limited direction), self-motivation, strong written and communication skills, expertise with computer applications, particularly Microsoft Office products, and be driven to improve and innovate the team’s approach to investing.

This position will be filled at one of two levels (Investment Associate or Senior Investment Associate) depending upon the qualifications of the individual selected at the discretion of the hiring manager. Salary is commensurate with experience.

Duties and Responsibilities: 

• General:
  • Provide primary decision support to the Director of Investments on investment recommendations, risk management, portfolio construction and monitoring, and endowment office initiatives; lead special projects as assigned.
  • Assist with asset allocation, manager due diligence, day-to-day portfolio monitoring, and general portfolio evaluation. Help analyze and assist with regular reviews of asset class attributes, risk management metrics, and overall portfolio and general market characteristics, including portfolio exposure, performance, liquidity, cash flow, and key risks.
  • Assist with and support due diligence efforts through quantitative and qualitative analysis, meeting attendance and participation, due diligence process documentation, and written memo construction.
  • Supervise and lead the Trinity Endowment Office Internship Program and investment team student workers.
  • Represent Trinity University and the investment program with the utmost integrity and professionalism. Serve as a respected ambassador for the organization at manager meetings, conferences, and industry events. Establish and maintain strong relationships with industry participants and subject matter experts.
• Research:
  • Produce thoughtful work with limited direction from the Director of Investments.
  • Present original work on relevant topics for investment research meetings; provide valuable feedback on investment priorities in meetings that demonstrate good judgement.
  • Document manager due diligence process and complete investment memos as needed with limited supervision.
  • Act as a first level of screening for manager inquiries and use data to determine and communicate quality to Director of Investments.
  • Attend manager meetings and provide thoughtful, independent, value-add analysis.
  • Develop substantial research reports on investment themes, industry sectors, geographic regions and general macroeconomic developments.
  • Provide security or company level analysis of investments; demonstrate strong knowledge of corporate finance and valuation fundamentals.
• Monitoring & Reporting:
  • Develop high value internal reporting across asset class and risk management frameworks alongside the Director of Investments.
  • Assist with and support monitoring efforts for asset classes or subclasses and assist in the monitoring of existing investment managers of the public and private investment portfolios.
  • Analyze asset class level performance for Director of Investments.
  • Assist with and support the development of quarterly Investment Committee meeting materials.
  • Keep up-to-date with the latest technology trends in the endowment and foundation arena; research and understand data warehousing and technological portfolio platforms for institutional portfolios.

Experience Required: 

• Associate: Three or more years of experience in investment management or related fields with a recognized and respected firm, which could include an endowment, foundation, pension fund, family office, Outsourced CIO (“OCIO”) firm, consultant, investment management firm, or investment banking firm.
• Senior Associate: Five or more years of experience in investment management or related fields with a recognized and respected firm, which could include an endowment, foundation, pension fund, family office, OCIO firm, consultant, investments management firm, or investment banking firm.
• Experience in evaluating investment managers or significant understanding of underlying investments, quantitative and qualitative due diligence skills, and experience drafting thoughtful and detailed investment recommendations.

Skills Preferred: 

• Strong interest in and knowledge of finance and capital markets and a passion for investing; an ability and willingness to work across asset classes.
• Deep intellectual curiosity and critical reasoning skills with sound judgment and capacity to ask insightful questions.
• Meticulous attention to detail and superior organizational skills.
• Ability to evaluate and synthesize quantitative and qualitative data. Comfort in utilizing quantitative analysis and numbers to develop a thesis and tell a clear story.
• Motivated self-starter and problem-solver with a demonstrated track-record of producing high quality deliverables on tight deadlines.
• Ability to plan, organize, and prioritize work assignments to manage a high-volume workload, respond to changing priorities, and contribute to areas beyond the direct scope of responsibility.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Expertise with computer programs, particularly Microsoft Office products
• Ability to work effectively as a member of a small, diverse team with an interpersonal style that fits a collegial, collaborative, team- oriented culture.
• Ability and willingness to travel, both domestically and abroad.
• High moral character.

Education Requirements: 

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration or Finance (or related field) with strong academic credentials required; a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), or equivalent (or progress toward) is preferred.