Sr. Associate

Over the last 20 years, Ares’ success has been driven by our people and our culture. Today, our team is guided by our core values – Collaborative, Responsible, Entrepreneurial, Self-Aware, Trustworthy – and our purpose to be a catalyst for shared prosperity and a better future. Through our recruitment, career development and employee-focused programming, we are committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive work environment where high-performance talent of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can build careers within this exciting and growing industry.

Job Description

Ares is looking for a Senior Associate to join the Investment Operations team.  The Investment Operations team works closely with business stakeholders in primarily Credit, Private Equity and Real Estate, as well as various corporate functions.  The team is global working out of Los Angeles, New York, London, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Singapore.  The ideal candidate will be responsible for assisting with day-to-day investment operations to support the Ares Insurance Solutions (AIS) business.  AIS is an in-house team that provides asset management, capital solutions and corporate development services to Ares Management’s strategic initiatives in insurance, including Ares’ life and annuity platform, Aspida (Aspida.com). The new hire will work collaboratively with AIS and Aspida, internal and external investment operations teams to support the investment operations of the business. The role requires strong relationship building, project management, communication, and operational understanding of all asset classes. The role requires a dynamic, adaptive, experienced hands-on professional to ensure best practices in a fast-paced rapidly growing environment.

The AIS business currently manages ~$19 billion and invests across 19 strategies. In 2025 the business has AUM growth targets of 50% which is expected to be achieved by investment into new asset classes, new insurance cedant onboardings, and new policy sales. Between these we are expecting 5-8 major onboarding efforts in 2025.

Primary Functions And Essential Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Coordinate with Ares’ Operations teams, AIS Portfolio Management and Risk Management, and Aspida’s Accounting and Operations teams to ensure all security masters, positions and cash are reconciled daily.

• Ensure integrity and smooth operation of the data process to support the AIS business: including daily reconciliations for trades/holdings, identifying and fixing breaks or missing data (transactions, holdings, security master attributes, analytics).

• Liaise with investment operations and partner with portfolio management and other AIS team members to support AIS data needs for day-to-day portfolio management and risk management needs.

• Support LP investments and subscription document process.

• Manage ad-hoc requests from Aspida and Aspida’s reinsurance clients for data and investment documents to support investments, operations, and accounting needs (PPMs, private ratings, private ratings letter )..

• Build strong relationships with portfolio managers and members of other operational teams across Ares and outside managers as needed to act as a key point of contact for investment operations.

• Proactively identifying areas that would benefit from additional process / procedure / discipline to enhance current organization and build to ensure scalability.

• Help with the onboarding, account set up and other investment operational needs to support new clients and asset types.

• Escalating critical data issues to ensure all client and management reporting is accurate.

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance or other business related discipline

• MBA, CFA and/or CPA preferred but not required

Experience Required: 

• 4+ years of experience in high quality, global capital markets or investment management firms

• Experience in insurance investment accounting processes and procedures including GAAP/STAT preferred

• Experience in Investment Operations in any of middle office, back office, treasury functionals preferred

• Prior experience with an alternative asset manager preferred broader asset management experience required

• Strong knowledge of various asset classes, primarily focused in alternative credit & fixed income with an emphasis on bank debt/loans and high yield/alt credit

• Experience with Black Mountain (Allvue), Clearwater or other insurance investment accounting software, Everest, Geneva, and/or IVP data management platforms a plus

• Track record in the management of operational risk from a procedural and regulatory perspective

• Experienced with a diverse set of investment vehicles such as Institutional Separate Accounts, SMA/Limited Partnerships, Closed-End Funds and UCITs, CLOs, and complex fund structures

• Experience with Clearwater (Insurance accounting system) a plus

• Experience with transferring securities between accounts a plus

• Knowledge of the life cycle of a trade (and how different asset classes differ), from commitment through settlement/funding, through servicing and maintenance

General Requirements:

• Ability to extract meaningful information from extensive research and analysis to effectively present facts and findings in a digestible format, a keen eye for attention to detail

• A self-directed individual with a can-do attitude, willing to work in an energetic, collaborative, and fast-paced environment, proactive in nature, and a proven ability to resolve issues with minimal supervision

• Proven outstanding communication (written and verbal), presentation, documentation, and interpersonal skills

• A hands-on approach and ability to synthesize business operations and talent needs

• Ability to successfully manage multiple priorities and competing demands

• High accuracy and detail orientation

• Good judgment in terms of escalating issues vs. solving problems independently

• A solutions-oriented, self-starter and ability to see the big picture

• Comfort in dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty in a dynamic and fast-paced environment

• Ability to be flexible in terms of hours in order to coordinate with team members across various time zones

• An analytical mind and a passion/interest in bringing new ideas to increase efficiency of existing processes

• Dependable, great attitude, highly motivated and a team player

Reporting Relationships

Compensation

$130,000 - $150,000

There is no set deadline to apply for this job opportunity. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the search is no longer active.