Portfolio Administration, Sr Associate

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management is a Houston-based investment management firm of highly experienced, research-oriented professionals. Since being founded in 1970, we have focused on managing equity and fixed income portfolios for investors including foundations, endowments, corporate retirement plans, mutual funds, and families/individuals both domestic and international. Our management through all market environments reflects our mission of providing for the financial wellbeing of our clients and employees through superior service consistent with our values.

Job Description

This position will be responsible for managing the daily trading cycle including pre-trade processes through post-trade communications with the brokers and custodians. Tasks range in complexity and involve the ability to efficiently follow processes, think critically, and problem solve under pressure. The role requires a deep understanding of internal systems and the opportunity to champion new operational strategies. The ability to work with and communicate with others in a team environment while focusing on exceeding client expectations is critical. Attention to detail and time management skills are key performance indicators and vital to success.

This position will report primarily to the Manager of Portfolio Systems .

Duties and Responsibilities

• Perform global and domestic account reconciliation daily against custodial values via Electra Software, including but not limited to FX conversions, analyzing, and researching items to ensure all accounts are balanced and cash flows are processed in GPS Accounting System.
• Administration of Omgeo ALERT database for client settlement instruction updates and setup.
• Communication with brokers and custodians on the settlement of transactions.
• Responsible for the trade review within Order Management System (Charles River).
• Maintain and update global markets within GPS Accounting System.
• Review global trades within internal offline instruction database and Operations  Manager database, includes releasing and updating SWIFT Message instructions as well as understanding currency transactions and FX conversion.
• Maintain and update account and broker settlements data within the Operations Manager Database.
• Set-up new securities for both the International and Domestic Equity department, and Fixed Income Management department via internal New Security Matrix Utility linked to Bloomberg.
• Coordinate with managers and respond to Custodian Corporate Actions for Global Accounts.
• Responsible for maintaining supporting broker trade confirmations for auditing purposes.
• Back-up to other members of the operations team and other tasks as assigned.
• Special projects as needed, such as assist with the implementation of longer-term projects and analyses as requested by the Chief Compliance Officer.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business or equivalent work experience.
• Required experience of 5+ years’ experience in a securities industry.
• Required experience in trade life cycle knowledge and settlements.
• Possess a strong knowledge of global and domestic capital markets with understanding of financial data.
• Possess analytical and problem-solving skills with strong attention to detail.
• Possess an interest in workflow process and procedural workflows and the documentation thereof. Can leverage technology and have a love of adding efficiency to workflows.
• Experience with investment industry specific software including using Bloomberg, trade order management systems Charles River (CRD), Omgeo/DTC systems and SWIFT.
• Software requirements consists of expert user level with Microsoft Excel including macros and advanced functions and average understanding and use of Microsoft Word.
• Personal time management, multi-tasking, and organizational skills needs the individual to be organized, detail-oriented and possess an ability to multitask.
• Teamwork, collaborative, and interactive skills. The individual needs to be a team player, collaborative, and eager to work with others.
• Self-motivated, flexible, one who enjoys a variety of responsibilities, able to work independently, and is adaptable to changing priorities is a must. The ideal candidate is a highly motivated self-starter, who can independently problem solve with little oversight. No job or responsibility should be too big or too small for this person to do.  
• Communication and the ability to interact confidently with all employees, and possess strong written and verbal communication skills is needed.

Position: Full Time

Benefits: Medical, Vision, Dental, Disability, Life insurance

Limited Travel as needed 

Location:  Either Houston, Tx or Chicago Il 

Language required: English

Must be eligible to work in the United States, and have or will obtain a Social Security number