We serve Utah public employees with retirement and insurance benefits in a partnership of trust with a commitment to value, innovation, and excellence. URS has two divisions. The Retirement Office administers pension benefits and retirement savings plans. Public Employees Health Program (PEHP), a division of Utah Retirement Systems, is a nonprofit trust with the vital job of providing health benefits to Utah’s public employees and their families. We serve only the public sector — the State of Utah, its counties, cities, school districts, and other public agencies.
URS Investments Department
Our work is a mix of public service and professional investing. The URS Investment teams manage equity, credit/fixed income, absolute return, real assets, and private equity globally across both public and private markets.The Investments Team is strongly rooted in collaboration and every individual is an integral part of the team. The team is responsible for implementing the investment program of the URS Defined Benefit plan with long-term sustainability of the portfolio in mind. The team manages investments internally and partners with external investment firms to manage a globally diversified portfolio. The teams’ efforts have a strong emphasis on Absolute Return, Real Assets, and Private Equity investments.
Defined Benefit assets are approximately $32 billion. The team also supports the $5 billion Defined Contribution program. Each member of the investments team is expected to be dedicated to the mission of the organization and safe-guarding the future of Utah’s public employee’s retirement benefits.
What we are looking for
The URS Investments Team is seeking an Investment Analyst. Experience or strong interest in private equity is preferred (buyout, venture capital, special situations).
The successful candidate will possess a high degree of intellectual curiosity, a passion for analysis (both qualitative and quantitative), and have a strong interest in investment strategy, manager, and fund selection.
Job Description
POSITION SUMMARY
Collaborates with the Investment Team in the ongoing monitoring, evaluation, and selection of external investment managers. May perform similar functions related to joint venture or direct investments. Provides research, analysis, and recommendations to Senior Investment Professionals on risk, performance, and portfolio fit. Gathers data for Risk Management Systems. Provides support for decisions regarding asset allocation, board communication, and reporting.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
- Responsible for conducting research and due diligence on investment managers. Evaluates, monitors, and makes recommendations in the context of market conditions, performance of peers, and appropriate benchmarks. May perform similar functions related to joint venture or direct investments.
- Responsible for assisting Senior Investment Analysts and other Investment Professionals.
- Prepares investment recommendations based on strategic and tactical asset allocation decisions.
- Corresponds frequently with investment managers, external service providers, and industry experts to formulate market opinions, identify investment opportunities, and gauge investment trends.
- Contributes to ongoing process improvement for investment decisions, analyst workflow, strategy modeling, etc.
- Attends professional seminars and conferences; establishes professional relationships with institutional investor peers and with tenured industry professionals.
- Promotes internal cooperation among the Investment Team and with external service providers.
- Promotes organizational efficiency through high professional standards.
- Maintains strict confidentiality and adheres to URS Ethics and Compliance policies.
- Other related duties as required.
Required Experience
Education and Experience
Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum of one (1) year directly related professional experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Applicable education includes investment management, business administration, accounting, financial management, economics, mathematics, statistics, physics, chemistry, law, humanities, or related field. An understanding of financial theory and statistical measures is required.
Progress toward Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) or other related designations is preferred.
Investment research experience in an institutional investment setting (pension fund management, endowment, asset management, etc.) is preferred.
Prior experience conducting manager research and due diligence is preferred.
Experience with Access, Visual Basic and SQL is preferred.
MBA or related master’s degree is preferred.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Requires working knowledge of the purposes, principles and theory of institutional portfolio management and statistical analysis; business, monetary, and economic trends and practices; security analysis and financial forecasting; computer operations and technical software applications.
Must distill analysis into original reports and recommendations; must display excellent written and oral communication skills; ability to follow written and verbal instructions; establish and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues and external investment professionals; must be able to work effectively in both team-based and independent contexts; must be able to work effectively in a deadline-oriented environment.
Requires strong knowledge of personal computer operations and various program applications including Outlook, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
Must have the ability to:
- Work effectively in a deadline-oriented environment.
- Follow written and verbal instructions.
- Prioritize work.
- Perform within deadlines.
- Work well in a team environment as well as independently.
- Multi-task by handling a variety of duties in a timely and efficient manner.
- Follow through with assignments.
- Deal effectively with stress caused by workload and time deadlines.
The incumbent must always demonstrate judgment, high integrity, and personal values consistent with the values of URS.
Additional Requirements
As a requirement of this position, the employee will submit to the URS Investment Compliance Officer a record of trade confirmations or monthly transaction summaries, as they become available, of all security transactions (excluding mutual funds), in any account under the employee’s control and direction, or under the control and direction of the employee’s spouse.
If interested, please apply here
