Research Assistant

JobDescription :

The Role: Research Assistant, Financial Services Ratings

The Location: Centennial, CO
The Team: This Research Assistant position will provide analytical support for the North American Financial Institutions team that assigns and surveils bank ratings. You will support the group in monitoring global developments related to our portfolio and assist with maintaining our quantitative templates, including our risk-adjusted capital metrics. You will support analysts in updating and maintaining spreadsheets and databases, extract financial and economic data from source materials to input into proprietary applications and perform financial modeling. You will work as an integral part of the analytical team, providing support for detailed reports required for evaluation by rating committees, and statistical or written support for commentaries and sector reviews.
The Impact: The successful candidate will own and drive the processes that support our credit analysis and our ratings framework for banks.
What's in it for you: With the guidance of senior analysts, a qualified Research Assistant typically supports the Bank team on its ongoing surveillance of a portfolio of rated issuers and performs basic fundamental credit analysis, forecasting, and industry analysis. The Bank Team provides plenty of room for growth for an intellectually curious, detail-oriented and tech savvy individual to progress and develop their credit skills into a future primary analyst and brand ambassador. It will give you room to be innovative in identifying and developing process enhancement tools. It will provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate leadership and autonomy in Centennial's rapidly growing analytical practice. Lastly, this is an excellent platform to gain exposure to senior management to learn firsthand of the challenges and opportunities our issuers face, work alongside a team of experienced analysts to assign and surveil ratings, and grow from the opportunity to collaborate on research on an important and visible sector.
Responsibilities:

• Support the ongoing surveillance of bank ratings in partnership with senior analysts.
• Provide research input and statistical support for special projects and external market commentaries
• Perform basic fundamental credit analysis, forecasting and industry analysis in conjunction with and at the direction of senior analysts

Prepare necessary information for rating committee presentations, management meetings and industry thought leadership.

• Actively participate in management meetings with issuers or rating committees

What We're Looking For:
Basic Qualifications:

• Undergraduate degree, preferable majors in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Statistics, Mathematics or engineering with an academic foundation in financial math
• Highly motivated and quantitative-oriented
• Strong analytical skills
• The ability to work well in teams
• Customer service orientation
• The ability to organize, meet deadlines and to multitask frequently
• Good problem solving skills
• Solid computer skills, including MS Word, advanced Excel, and PowerPoint, other database skills an advantage
• Good communication skills, verbal and written, as well as the capacity to expand, learn, and make a contribution

Preferred Qualifications:

• Passing one or more CFA exams a plus
• Familiarity/experience with Bloomberg
• Advanced Excel Skills (Macros, etc.)
• Knowledge of fixed income or equity instruments is a plus