Senior Associate 1 - Investments - Alternative Investments

Although we prefer candidates from the NY Metro area, we are also open to East Coast candidates interested in working remotely. 

About you and the role:

The Investments Senior Associate partners with the Head of Alternatives and Non-Core Specialty Mandates and the Alternative Investments team to support portfolio oversight, forecasting, reporting, and manager evaluation across the Alternatives and Non-Core portfolios.
•    Monitor existing external managers and underlying investments
•    Build and maintain asset models and financial plan projections
•    Support portfolio management, performance analysis, and stakeholder reporting
•    Execute manager due diligence, including evaluation and recommendation materials
•    Deliver ad hoc analyses and projects to support investment decision-making

Enstar has 30+ managers across Alternatives (Private Equity, Private Credit, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Hedge Funds) and Non-Core (High Yield, Public Equity, CLO Equity) asset classes. These are targeted to represent 30% of approximately $20B in total investable assets and are expected to contribute a significant portion of projected investment return; the remainder is managed by core fixed income managers (outside the scope of this role).

What you will be doing:

Key Accountabilities / Deliverables 

Ongoing Monitoring of Existing Managers, and Investments
•    Quarterly Monitoring: Support initial and ongoing relationships with assigned managers; produce quarterly investment updates; and ensure the accuracy of existing ratings
•    Performance Measurement and Attribution: Analyze and explain absolute and relative performance; attribute results versus budget, assigned benchmarks, and peer groups
•    Manager Scorecards: Maintain scorecards for funds, strategies, and managers using a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis
•    Peer Group Analysis: Deliver peer-group comparisons for existing and prospective managers and strategies
•    Investment Data Management: Maintain up-to-date mandate, manager, and investment data across internal databases and third-party systems

Asset Modelling and Financial Planning
•    Asset Modelling: Develop, maintain, and update NAV, cash flow, gain/loss, and return projection models for assigned investments and managers
•    Plan Development: Support the setup, execution, and ongoing maintenance of Alternatives financial plan projections

Portfolio Management and Reporting
•    Investment Execution Support: Support negotiations for new investments; coordinate with regional investment teams, risk management, investment operations, investment accounting, legal counsel, external vendors, and investment managers
•    Onboarding and Setup: Onboard new managers and investments in coordination with regional investment teams, legal, investment accounting, investment operations, and IT, as well as external managers and vendors; ensure internal systems and databases are updated with complete and accurate manager and investment data
•    Compliance: Monitor adherence to internal and external portfolio constraints; escalate and support remediation as needed
•    Reporting: Prepare quarterly materials for the Group Investment Committee, Board of Directors, and/or CIO

Manager Due Diligence
•    Pipeline Development: Develop market maps for Alternative and Non-Core asset classes; build and maintain an accurate forward fund pipeline for existing and prospective managers; produce peer-group comparison summaries for pipeline managers
•    Manager Due Diligence: Support RFP development and end-to-end due diligence for current and prospective managers and funds, including investment structure review, tax considerations, insurance regulatory capital requirements across jurisdictions, and reference calls
•    Investment Recommendation: Draft and/or contribute to investment memoranda and supporting analyses for Investment Committee review

Ad-hoc Projects
•    Deliver additional analyses and special projects on an ad hoc basis, as business needs dictate

What you will bring:  

• 4-6 years minimum experience in an institutional investment role focused on sourcing, due diligence, and monitoring external managers, with emphasis on the alternative strategies noted above.
• Experience within an insurance company environment—such as an investment general account, CIO office, or    insurance asset manager—is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated proficiency in screening and conducting due diligence on alternative investment funds.
• Prior experience in tracking, monitoring, and reporting on a sub-portfolio or sub-strategy within a broader  investment program.
• Deep understanding of investment management, asset allocation (strategic and tactical), and capital markets.
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred.
• Progress toward CFA and/or CAIA designations is preferred.
• Applicable experience and understanding of non-core asset classes, including: public equity, private equity, real estate, hedge funds, infrastructure, CLO equity, high yield, bank loans, emerging market debt, and other alternative investments.
  • Deep understanding of statistical concepts, methods, and models, and their application to investments. 
  • Knowledge of performance measurement and attribution, and benchmark construction required
  • Proficient with calculating alternatives performance measures, and metrics such as TVPI, DPI, IRR, TWR, Unfunded, Exposure etc.
  • Proficiency in financial statement analysis, asset and portfolio NAV, Cash-flow, Gain-Loss forecast modelling, LBO modelling
• Excellent quantitative skills required for the asset modelling, performance measurement, portfolio construction and risk measurement processes.  
  • Strong written communication is required for communications with the Investment Committee, Board of Directors, and various internal and external stakeholders. 
  • Ability to prioritize commitments and time management is a significant requirement given the nature of our operations.
  • Ability to use Excel and PowerPoint is critical, given the requirement to develop investment analytics and proposals. 
  • Strong collaborator with other functional areas and executive management to ensure consistency and efficiency of approach.
• Ability to engage in crucial conversations to ensure effective decision making.

Your Benefits:

• Enstar offers best-in-class Medical, Dental, and Vision healthcare for single and family coverage.
• Board-certified doctors and pediatricians are available virtually 24/7 for urgent care.
• Access to Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
• Access to Dependent Care FSA to cover daycare expenses.
• Access to Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) for health and well-being.
• Optional Pet & Home/Auto Insurance.
• Wellness Reimbursement program (up to $600 annual reimbursement for wellness-related expenses, i.e., gym memberships, massage, etc.).
• 401K retirement plan (company matches up to 6% of employee contribution).
• One paid annual volunteer day.

General Info

The target base salary pay range for this role is $135,000-$155,000*

*Target full-time equivalent base salary range is based on relevant market data. The actual salary offered will depend on applicable market data for hiring location and relevant candidate knowledge, skills/experience. This salary range is not inclusive of applicable discretionary incentives.