Argo Ventures is the early- and growth-stage investment arm of Argo Group (an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products; the company is publicly traded on the NYSE under the ticker “ARGO”). Argo Ventures’ mission is to discover and empower entrepreneurs reinventing financial services. Our primary focus is investing in high-quality technology companies that are changing the landscape of insurance and financial services. See https://argoventures.vc/ for more information.
Argo Ventures Is Defined By Our Values
- Disciplined, thesis-driven underwriting.
- Attitude of service toward our investors and entrepreneurs.
- Independent thought, intellectual curiosity, and willingness to dissent.
- Culture of transparency, empathy, support, and growth.
The Argo Ventures team seeks an exceptional individual for a pre-MBA, Full-Time Investment Associate role at the intersection of venture capital, financial services, and emerging technology. This is a two-year role.
The Associate will lead efforts to analyze potential investment opportunities by performing due diligence and robust financial analyses, conducting market research, and constructing detailed Investment Committee memoranda. The Associate will also be meeting regularly with entrepreneurs and co-investors, sourcing new deal flow, and representing Argo Ventures at industry conferences.
The Associate will work closely with the Head of Argo Ventures and the other investment professionals to understand business fundamentals, conduct market research and financial due diligence, and draft investment memoranda to be presented to senior management/investment committee.
The role is an extraordinary opportunity for a motivated individual with interests in startups, technology, finance, and venture capital to experience and be a part of the dynamic growth of a fintech oriented venture capital team. We are a lean team that values people first and foremost, and we expect to fully integrate the Associate into our group.
We would like to emphasize that successful applicants are not expected to have previous venture capital experience. However, it is critical for applicants to be excited about technology; curious about the fundamental applications of finance and insurance; and enthusiastic, humble, and willing to work on anything and everything. Argo Ventures prioritizes emotional intelligence, intellectual horsepower, eagerness to learn, and a “can-do” attitude in applicants.
Responsibilities
- Develop a keen understanding of the insurance technology and financial technology landscapes by performing market research and industry analyses.
- Support the Argo Ventures Team on evaluating potential investment opportunities.
- Conduct business, financial, and market due diligence to evaluate investment opportunities.
- Support investment execution, including drafting investment summaries, vetting legal documents, and modeling financial projections and returns.
- Support the Argo Ventures Team on all portfolio management efforts.
- Take ownership of critical internal projects conducive to fundraising, portfolio monitoring and reporting, brand building, and thesis development.
Qualifications
Candidates should possess the following:
- Strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. You will represent Argo Ventures in front of entrepreneurs, co-investors, and key stakeholders in our business. As such, an attitude of respect, an air of professionalism, and the ability to form genuine connections with others are of the utmost importance to succeed in this role.
- Exceptional work ethic. This is a small group, and each member’s contributions are critical. We expect candidates to display a “no task is too small or unimportant” attitude.
- A four-year Bachelor’s Degree and a strong undergraduate academic history and demonstrated extracurricular involvement in areas of interest to the candidate (does not necessarily have to pertain to technology or financial services). Candidate should have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.5 unless there is a strong explanation provided.
- One to two years of work experience. Ideally, a candidate has prior experience in innovation consulting, management consulting, investment banking, investing, or starting a business. We will also consider candidates with product management or business development experience at an early stage startup. Prior venture capital experience is not required.
- Proficiency in Excel and basic financial modeling skills, including the ability to run with modeling exercises, understand key drivers to a business, and run sensitized returns outputs.
- Strong research and written communication capabilities.
- Clear intellectual curiosity and ability to run autonomously with tasks.
- Passion for technology, financial services, entrepreneurship, and/or venture capital.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, color, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin or citizenship (including language use restrictions), denial of family and medical care leave, disability (mental and physical) , including HIV and AIDS, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), race, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), sex (including pregnancy, child birth, breastfeeding, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, child birth or breastfeeding), sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or other status protected by federal, state and/or local laws.
Applicants: For the most convenient application experience, please use the “Apply with LinkedIn” button. If manually entering, only include your most recent or relevant job information needed for this role. For either method, please attach your most current resume. Additional job history may be obtained if selected for the interview process.
If interested, please apply here.
