Director, Private Equity Strategies

LOCATION: SEATTLE, WA; SAN FRANCISCO, CA; NEW YORK, NY; or PHILADELPHIA, PA

As a senior member of the Investment team focusing primarily on Private Equity, you will lead efforts to design private equity solutions for a broad range of the firm’s clients. Our team is creative, driven and focused on providing the most actionable research and implementation strategies to our clients.

The Director, Private Equity Strategies, position combines investment research, asset allocation, and portfolio/risk management skills, with a focus on researching and underwriting private capital strategies (i.e., private equity, venture capital, etc.) including impact investment strategies. Primary responsibilities include sourcing and diligencing investment strategy ideas, monitoring our extensive portfolio of private investments, contributing to private equity portfolio construction, expanding domain expertise in the private markets, building and maintaining strong relationships within the private equity industry, contributing to portfolio and risk management efforts, and working closely with Client Service colleagues and external clients. As part of the Investment Team, the Director position will report to the Senior Director of Manager Research and partners with the Chief Investment Officer, Chief Impact Officer, Portfolio Management & Investment Committee (PMIC), as well as our clients and client facing professionals. 

Your Role and Responsibilities

• Act as investment due diligence leader, using subject matter knowledge to develop and support new investment recommendations, inclusive of thematic impact investing strategies, and coordinate the entire investment process, including operational and legal due diligence. 
• Conduct and complete searches and due diligence on a timely basis. Searches will include analyzing and forming opinions on both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of investment strategies and the firms that manage them. Searches and idea generation will come from identifying and utilizing the proper databases and analytical tools as well as the Investment Analyst’s industry relationships.
• Evaluate how private capital managers integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) considerations into their investment processes and, for thematic impact strategies, how they manage and report on impact outputs and outcomes.
• Shepherd their investment recommendations through the due diligence process ending with presenting a formal recommendation to the PMIC.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with 3rd party asset managers as well as Wetherby’s and LNWM’s network of industry contacts.
• Research and maintain a continuous understanding of relevant asset class dynamics and be a contributor to the firm’s asset allocation, portfolio construction, risk management and capital market update processes.
• Develop a clear, understandable process for decision-making within private markets, supported by relevant and maintainable indicators.
• Generate new ideas to improve the investment process and create greater context for portfolio construction and manager selection.
• Produce and maintain updated capital market expectations for private markets.
• Monitor the current macroeconomic environment, near-term trends, and asset class metrics including fundamentals, valuation, sentiment and liquidity factors.
• Provide formal firmwide quarterly reviews (written and verbal) of investment performance and attribution for the Investment Analyst’s coverage universe and contribute to the Investment Team’s macro-economic updates.
• Actively expand team knowledge, contribute to investment decisions, and work collaboratively with team members.
• Support team growth and develop investment team members.
• Participate in client meetings as requested.
• Create internal investment communication and client-friendly investment-related publications as needed.
• Participate in PMIC meetings as needed in support of specific conversations.   

More About You

• Have at least 10 years of relevant experience in manager research/capital allocation, with a relevant industry network
• Proven, relevant experience (+5 years) in selecting private equity managers, building successful private equity portfolios, coaching others, and making individual contributions
• Extensive knowledge of U.S. and non-U.S. primary, secondary, and co-investment private equity strategies
• Demonstrate interest and/or experience in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and impact investing
• Display excellent organizational, analytical, critical thinking, communication, and social skills, and take immediate ownership of your work
• Ability to work with others and resourcefulness in navigating an organization
• Possess a strong work ethic and are a standout colleague Exhibit intellectual curiosity Demonstrate proficiency of Microsoft Office suite (with an emphasis on Excel)
• Strong computing skills and the ability to parse, process, and analyse large datasets
• Experience with Morningstar Direct, Bloomberg, Evestment, Preqin, Burgiss, Cobalt is a plus
• Experience with programming languages, databases and tools; knowledge of Python is a plus
• Higher degree, i.e., MBA or similar, or participation in CFA program is a plus 

Compensation and Benefits

We provide a competitive salary commensurate with your experience and skills and offer an annual bonus based on company and individual performance. The hiring base salary range for this position is $145,000 to $225,000 plus eligible for a year-end bonus, depending on location, experience, and on achieving performance objectives. In addition, this position is eligible for a competitive year-end bonus based on individual and organizational performance.

We offer excellent benefits including medical, dental, and vision coverage; generous time off (including a sabbatical program after 10 years); flexible spending plans for health care, transportation, and dependent care; 401(k) plan, educational reimbursements, and more. Detailed information can be found on our site and here.

Our Team

You will be joining a team that is dedicated to helping our clients achieve their goals by providing exceptional investment management and wealth planning services. Putting our clients first guides our decision-making and culture, and allows us to build long-term, caring and trusted relationships.

We love working in a professional yet relaxed working environment. We encourage openness, active listening, mutual respect, candor and integrity. We cultivate a diverse and inclusive work environment where we encourage a work/life balance through a generous PTO policy and flexible work hours. We enjoy each other's company at team and semi-annual firm wide outings. We take a hybrid in-office/remote working approach.

About Us

Laird Norton Wealth Management (headquartered in Seattle) & Wetherby Asset Management (headquartered in San Francisco), with satellite offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, recently combined to expand and enhance the exceptional wealth management and trust services we offer wealthy individuals, families, and institutions throughout the nation. The firm is the result of a merger between two industry leading independent advisory firms and combines the entrepreneurial spirit of broad employee ownership with the stability and long-term vision that comes being part of a seventh-generation family enterprise. Our firms share a client-centric culture, a commitment to teamwork, and a business mindset that asks: what is best for our clients, best for our employees and best for the communities in which we work? Combined, we manage more than $15 billion in assets and our 180+ employees deliver a holistic and integrated set of services including investment management, wealth planning and trust and estate administration.

Additional Information

Our firm aims to cultivate an inclusive environment and culture that fosters growth, collaboration and acceptance; where we celebrate the diverse voices and perspectives of our employees; and where employees feel empowered to bring their full, authentic selves. Our diversity drives us forward and helps us build deeper relationships with our clients and our community.

We are an equal opportunity employer that prohibits discrimination against employees, applicants for employment, individuals providing services in the workplace pursuant to a contract, unpaid interns and volunteers based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ancestry, marital status, registered domestic partner status, military and veteran status, civil air patrol status, national origin, immigration status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions, and including medical conditions related to lactation) or medical condition (cancer and genetic characteristics).