Fixed Income Risk Analyst

THE COMPANY

Wellington Management offers comprehensive investment management capabilities that span nearly all segments of the global capital markets. Our investment solutions, tailored to the unique return and risk objectives of institutional clients in more than 60 countries, draw on a robust body of proprietary research and a collaborative culture that encourages independent thought and healthy debate. As a private partnership, we believe our ownership structure fosters a long-term view that aligns our perspectives with those of our clients.

THE POSITION

The Risk Analyst, Fixed Income position is part of the  global investment risk function for Wellington and sits within the firm’s Global Risk and Performance Strategy (GPS) department. The primary focus of GPS is leading Wellington Management’s portfolio oversight, risk measurement, and security analytics processes across our broad multi-asset, hedge fund, equity, fixed income and research strategies. The Risk Analyst will work with our fixed income investment teams across the Americas, Europe and Asia, helping them use quantitative tools to inform their portfolio construction and investment processes.

The Risk Analyst will engage closely with Risk Strategists and the portfolio teams they cover to better understand their investment processes and the investment risks inherent to those processes. A successful Risk Analyst will leverage Wellington’s risk modeling and analysis platform to enhance the engagement of the Risk Strategists with the Portfolio Management teams. They will also continually work to enhance the risk platform itself, to better meet the evolving needs of investors. The Risk Analyst will create or enhance clear, engaging reporting that emphasizes material portfolio risk sources from a variety of different angles, while ensuring that reporting is both accurate and relevant to the portfolio processes covered. Rapid response times and quick turnarounds commensurate to the dynamic demands of the investors are important. The Risk Analyst should be sufficiently confident in their analyses to interpret the outputs of their work, explaining or defending their conclusions within the Risk Management team or to the investment teams as appropriate. Risk Analysts are expected to be vocal, self-starting members of the team, challenging colleagues and independently reviewing risk-related data in their areas to highlight potential areas of concern or focus to Risk Strategists for further review and potential follow-up.

The Risk Analyst role requires a strong knowledge of fixed income risk analysis gained from meaningful experience in institutional investment management and risk management. Prior experience focused on structured or corporate credit risk would be considered favorably.  They should be continually apprised of investment trends to determine the risk implications and communicate the resulting risks within the group. The successful candidate will bring technical skill and knowledge, be adept at building collaborative working relationships with colleagues, and take proactive ownership for the quality of their work.  Risk analysts are expected to be comfortable designing and executing appropriate risk reports, dashboards, and other quantitative assessments of risk positioning in fixed income accounts.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Interact directly with portfolio management teams alongside Risk Strategists, providing complementary insights and constructive challenge to investors on their investment theses and portfolio composition in support of superior risk-adjusted outcomes for clients.
• Take increasing levels of responsibility for key aspects of assigned risk engagements.  Proactively and creatively work to enhance these engagements by leveraging any unique insights from the Risk Analyst’s own experience with input from more senior risk professionals.
• Conduct ad-hoc research and analysis to address investor questions and support the engagements of Risk Management.
• Engage daily with Risk Strategists and investment professionals to ensure transparent measurement and reporting of risks in portfolios.  Ensure dashboard, reports, or other shared tools are accurate and timely, and escalate concerns and observations of interest appropriately.
• Partner with Line Management and Investment Products and Fund Strategies colleagues to ensure the firm’s fiduciary needs on investment risk are met.
• Participate actively in Risk Meetings with Portfolio Strategists, group meetings within Global Risk and Performance Strategy, and other dialogues on market and portfolio risk insights, risk concerns and measurements.
• Actively engage in enhancing the Risk reporting infrastructure, including design of exhibits and reports to support the risk oversight process.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate will have a solid analytical foundation coupled with an analytical curiosity, strong organizational skills, passion for financial markets, be motivated by a team environment, and have the ability to learn about new analytical applications and investment products. They will have experience working with technology resources on implementation, particularly when combining risk concepts with data analysis. Demonstrated capability to work independently with primary data in mathematical packages is key, with experience in SQL and Python highly preferred (although other tools such as R or Matlab are also acceptable). Specific skills with risk models and/or data visualization tools are considered a plus. Experience in analysis of corporate credit, structured credit, or agency mortgage risk would be favorably considered.   

Additional key qualifications include:

• 3+ years’ experience in risk management within long only or benchmark-relative fixed income or multi-asset portfolios. This may have been gained on the Buy-side, the Sell-side or Consultancy
• Proven ability to partner with investment talent effectively
• Ability to manage multiple tasks, prioritize effectively, meet deadlines, and deliver high quality, accurate work in a fast-paced business
• Demonstrable fixed income derivatives knowledge
• Experience with structured fixed income products such as MBS (Mortgage-Backed Securities) or CLO (Collateralized Loan Obligation) products would be considered a plus
• Prior experience in Risk Management roles is desirable but demonstrated quantitative or programming expertise coupled with experience in front-office facing roles such as trading, credit analysis, or portfolio management support positions would be considered.
• Strong academic credentials: post-graduate degree in a quantitative field and/or FRM/CFA/CAIA preferred 

LOCATION

The Risk Analyst, Fixed Income, will be based in Wellington’s Global Headquarters in Boston, MA although candidates located in London, UK who are available to operate at our offices there will also be considered.