Cornell is a private, Ivy League university and the land-grant university for New York State. Its mission is to discover, preserve and disseminate knowledge, to educate the next generation of global citizens, and to promote a culture of broad inquiry throughout and beyond the Cornell community. The Office of University Investments (OUI) manages the University’s $7+ billion endowment which supports this mission by seeking to generate superior risk-adjusted returns through traditional and alternative investments in US and international equities, fixed income, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, and real assets.
The Chief Investment Officer is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of the Investment Office and is supported by a dedicated team of investment professionals. The Investment Office is responsible for implementing policies established by the University Board of Trustees and its Investment Committee.
OUI seeks highly qualified Investment Analysts for its analyst program. This is a three-year term position in OUI’s New York City office with a start date of summer 2019 (earlier is possible).
A background will be required.
Analyst Program Purpose and Goals
Through a wide variety of asset class, operations, and portfolio and risk analytics assignments, Investment Analysts are expected to acquire a deep knowledge of issues surrounding the development and execution of a robust global, multi-asset class, long-term oriented institutional investment strategy. Over the three-year period, Investment Analysts are assigned a broad and deep range of projects covering all aspects of institutional portfolio construction and management.
Responsibilities
Investment Analysts are expected to:
- Learn and conduct investment underwriting including investment sourcing, due diligence, and structuring of new investments as well as on-going monitoring of existing investments;
- Use rigorous quantitative/statistical techniques and develop modelling skills to analyze current and perspective investments and conduct portfolio-level analyses;
- Acquire a deep understanding of portfolio rebalancing and optimization, asset class construction, and investment valuation and relative valuation techniques; and
- Execute a wide variety of performance and risk measurement and attribution analyses.
As part of the program, the OUI encourages and supports Investment Analysts as they pursue the Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) designation as well as one other professional credential (CAIA, FRM, CIPM, etc.).
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent is required (master’s degree candidates are welcome to apply)
- Significant coursework in one or more of the following fields (even if not a major) is highly valued: statistics, mathematics, computer science, operations research, science, and/or information systems (evidenced via a transcript or other documentation); and
- Strong qualitative and interpersonal skills necessary to interact effectively with external investment managers, the campus community, and the University’s Investment Committee.
- 6 months experience (relevant internships count towards this) or combination of education and experience is desirable;
Desired Skills
The ideal candidate(s) must:
- Exhibit a keen interest in learning about investment theory and practice, and working in financial markets;
- Be capable of developing and mapping quantitative techniques and skills into relevant investment and financial analysis with a view to support the evaluation of investment strategies/managers;
- Be willing to undertake the CFA program upon joining (see http://www.cfainstitute.org for background on the CFA® credential);
- Represent the University in a professional manner and have enthusiasm for supporting the mission of higher education;
- Have strong written and oral communication skills;
- Be self-motivated;
- Have a positive attitude and gain and maintain credibility with the campus community and investment managers;
- Be willing to travel, at times extensively, on average 15% of time; and
- Demonstrate programming skills in one or more of the following languages: R, VBA, SQL, SAS, Tableau, C#.
Other:
- Proficiency in spreadsheet software and mathematics/quantitative technique is desirable;
- Knowledge of financial and investment terminology, economics, and an understanding of the current investment environment is desirable.
When applying through our system, please remember to attach your application materials (Resume/Cover Letter/CV) in either Microsoft Word or PDF format. In the Experience section of your application, use the ‘Drop Files Here’ box to manually drag document(s) into your application. For a more detailed description and instructions on how to apply online please click here as an external candidate or click here if you are an internal candidate . Please note: Cornell Employees must apply through the Internal Cornell Career site.
If interested, please apply here.
