Associate Consultant – Research & Investments (Entry-Level)

Mesirow is an independent, employee-owned firm founded in 1937. As specialists in investment, risk management and advisory services, we are committed to helping our institutional, corporate, and individual clients achieve their objectives. We are proud of Mesirow’s culture of fostering team member engagement, entrepreneurship, and empowerment. Our positive culture, volunteerism, and opportunity for advancement make Mesirow one of the few employers to be included in both Chicago Tribune’s Top Places to Work and Crain’s Best Places to Work in Chicago.

We are seeking a self-starting/goal-oriented individual for the role of Associate Consultant to provide comprehensive data, operational and investment research support to our Fiduciary Solutions team which offers fund selection and robust retirement asset allocation strategies to institutional clients. This role offers excellent growth opportunity for an entry-level individual with an intrinsic curiosity and interest in retirement investing and research.

Responsibilities:

• Provide integral support to client consulting teams including the creation and quality assurance of reporting; verification, completeness and tracking of client agreements; and processing of monthly and quarterly invoicing
• Assist in both quantitative and qualitative investment research of mutual funds, collective investment trusts, and other investment types commonly used for retirement investing
• Engage in due diligence methodologies employed by the team and effectively utilize various fund research and reporting tools
• Conduct outreach to retirement plan sponsors and advisors to ensure necessary action items are completed, verify that retirement plan lineups meet specified service requirements and other similar requests as directed by consulting teams
• Participate in testing of new systems or system enhancements
• Serve as a utility player to support other ad-hoc projects within the team

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, mathematics, statistics, or a related field
• 1-3 years of experience with retirement investing strategies including mutual funds and/or defined contribution plans strongly preferred (internship or full-time)
• Detail and deadline-oriented, along with an ability to work with large sets of data efficiently, independently, and accurately
• Resourcefulness, ability to pick up quickly and be a utility player as needed
• Demonstrated passion for investing and the retirement industry specifically
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of Excel required
• Strong technical acumen to utilize various investment-oriented databases (e.g., Morningstar Direct)
• Series 7 and 66 Licenses required within one year of start date

EOE