Associate Director, Public Finance Ratings, Beijing / Shanghai

Company Overview:

Fitch Group is a global leader in financial information services with operations in more than 30 countries. Fitch Group is comprised of: Fitch Ratings, a global leader in credit ratings and research; Fitch Solutions, a leading provider of credit market data, analytical tools and risk services; and Fitch Learning, a preeminent training and professional development firm. With dual headquarters in London and New York, Fitch Group is owned by Hearst.

Fitch Ratings is a leading provider of credit ratings, commentary and research. Dedicated to providing value beyond the rating through independent and prospective credit opinions, Fitch Ratings offers global perspectives shaped by strong local market experience and credit market expertise. The additional context, perspective and insights we provide help investors to make important credit judgments with confidence.

As a global credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings gauges the ability of entities and instruments to meet their credit obligations. Investors and financial market participants rely on multiple sources, and the credit rating - indicating how an issue or transaction is likely to perform over time - is one of their key inputs. In this way, we help investors map potential credit risks.

Fitch Solutions, a subsidiary of Fitch Ratings, provides a range of industry-leading products and professional development services to the global financial community. In addition to offering proprietary market-based content, we distribute the ratings, research and financial data of Fitch Ratings through a variety of flexible platforms. With innovation and experience behind every solution we bring to market, our offerings are designed to meet the diverse needs of the fixed-income markets.

Fitch complies with all laws governing employment in each jurisdiction in which it operates, and provides equal opportunity to all applicants and employees. All applications will be considered without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, and other status protected by applicable laws.

Department overview:

Fitch Ratings' International Public Finance (IPF) group provides public and private ratings of public sector entities, subnationals, and their debt instruments in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, particularly in China, India and Indonesia.

The department is split into two main sectors: Local and Regional Governments and Public Sector Entities.

Responsibilities:

This role will have strong current experience of economic and financial analysis, ideally in Public Finance, and will primarily concentrate on public entities, with a focus on China, however there will also be the opportunity to be involved in other APAC countries.

• Data analysis related to the public sector entities, local governments sector and individual issuers
• Monitoring a portfolio of issuer ratings, including the preparation of rating committee documentation and discussing credit analyses in rating committees.
• Writing and publishing of comprehensive rating reports on individual issuers and participate in management meetings with the rated entities
• Participation in credit rating committees for local governments and public entities in both your allocated region and other countries.
• Regular interaction with external contacts, investors and bankers and liaison with issuers' senior management.
• Publication of sector-specific research and insightful commentary.
• Responding to external queries from investors, bankers and other fixed income market participants and the media together with more senior analysts
• Plus other duties as required

It is important that the candidate should be able to work independently in an international environment while also being a good team player, being able to cope with time pressure and deadlines, and being happy to travel for short periods.

This role requires extensive travel mainly to China however potentially Indonesia and India in the future.

Qualifications and experience:

The ideal candidate will have relevant experiences to assume the credit analyst role focusing on IPF issuers, and the following:

• Degree educated, ideally within Finance or Public Sector / Accounting / Economic
• Minimum of 5 to 7 years of professional experience in credit analysis, preference to those candidates with State-owned enterprises or local government exposure
• Good accounting and financial modelling skills
• Excellent Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills
• Excellent communicator - both verbally and in writing
• Ability to meet tight deadlines
• Ability to work well independently in an international environment as well as in a team, is essential
• Fluency in Mandarin and English, both verbal and written, is essential
• Proficiency in Hindi, Bahasa Indonesia or Korean is beneficial but not essential
• CPA/CFA qualifications are beneficial but not essential

#L1-VC1