Investment Analyst - Smaller Companies

Aberdeen Standard Investments; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Aberdeen Standard Investments seeks a Generalist Investment Analyst to join their team in Edinburgh. This role involves conducting extensive investment research, collaborating with colleagues, and engaging with company management to inform investment strategies. Candidates should have strong communication skills, a relevant degree, and ideally be pursuing CFA qualification. The position offers excellent career progression and a supportive work environment with substantial benefits.

Benefits

40 days annual leave

16% employer pension contribution

Discretionary performance-based bonus

Private healthcare

Flexible benefits including gym discounts

Qualifications

• Degree qualified and ideally pursuing CFA.
• Strong communication skills with a quality investment approach.
• Must be self-driven, collaborative, and open to peer reviews.

Responsibilities

• Conduct thorough investment research using a growth and momentum approach.
• Chair meetings with company management teams for insights.
• Provide clear investment recommendations on stocks.

Skills

Excellent verbal/written communication skills

Initiative and strength of conviction

Team player

Education

Degree qualified

Working towards or holder of CFA qualification

Tools

Quant tools

Job description

Job Description

At Aberdeen, our ambition is to be the UK’s leading Wealth & Investments group.

Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry’s best talent.

Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders and society.

We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent.

Aberdeen comprises three businesses, interactive investor (ii), Investments and Adviser, each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients’ evolving needs:

• interactive investor, the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, enables individuals in the UK to plan, save and invest in the way that works for them.

• Our Adviser business provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their customers.

• Our Investments business is a specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market, through either public markets or alternative asset classes.

About the role:

The successful candidate will act as a generalist Investment Analyst, covering stocks across all different sectors, and possibly across a number of geographies. They will be supported in their development of understanding our Quality Growth Momentum investment process to identify stocks most suitable for portfolios, using our stock screening tool “The Matrix” to support them. The variety of businesses to be analysed is sure to keep interest levels high, as well as great opportunities to develop understanding of different business models, a variety of stages of a business lifecycle, and to have good access into meeting company management teams.

They will be a member of Global Pods, where they will collaborate with other team members on the portfolio holdings and management of those portfolios, with active challenge and debate, the opportunity to learn from insights on all the Global stocks discussed and owned, and the portfolio management considerations around aspects such as risk, mandate constraints, style exposures.

Successful team members have been offered career progression opportunities, so whilst initially the IA will be an active part of the Global Pods, there could be furthermore direct portfolio management opportunities in the future.

Key Responsibilities:

Investment Research:

• Write timely, thorough and insightful research on stocks under analytical coverage using a quality, growth and momentum approach.

• Keep fully up to date on sector, country and market developments and trends, interpret how those developments impact stocks under analytical coverage and affect investment recommendations, and communicate that understanding to colleagues.

• Collaborate with colleagues across equities and across asset classes to share stock, sector and country level insights, in order to improve investment decision making and client outcomes.

• Research requirements will allow the individual to focus efforts on their most attractive investment opportunities, rather than blanket overage.

• Incorporate quantitative input into stock and sector analysis, particularly through the use of the Matrix

• Proactively identify new potential investments.

• Ensure ESG aspects are fully integrated into stock research

• Analyse stocks in different regions as and when funds require, opening up a broad and diverse universe which will provide an interesting research opportunity

Company meetings:

• Chair meetings with company management teams in order to improve our understanding of and insight into those companies and inform investment recommendations. Where relevant, engage with company management teams to ensure that businesses we invest in are being managed in a way that aligns with our clients’ interests.

• Produce clear post-meeting notes for all company engagement.

Investment Recommendations:

• Provide clear investment recommendations on stocks under analytical coverage. Explain and justify these investment recommendations to the team, answer questions from colleagues, and persuade fund managers to act on those recommendations, ultimately having a beneficial impact on fund performance.

• Demonstrate awareness of the suitability of recommendations, given the investment principles of the team, including the risk and exposure implications of holding the stock and mandate requirements.

Peer Review:

• Contribute constructively to team debate about research, stocks and sectors resulting in high quality investment decision making contributing to positive client outcomes.

• Actively involved in team POD discussions with direct impact on portfolios

Team Contribution:

• Be an effective team member who understands and responds well to peer review of own analytical coverage. Expected to work with some direction from line manager.

Risk Management:

• Maintain up to date knowledge of compliance procedures.

• Comply with all regulatory, legal and corporate requirements.

Training and Development:

• Build and maintain knowledge of Aberdeen investment process, products and allocated market or sector responsibilities.

• Build and maintain knowledge of relevant Aberdeen systems.

• Attend and participate in Continual Professional Development opportunities to maintain and develop knowledge and skills.

Qualifications and experience:

• Excellent verbal/ written communication skills.

• Appreciation and willingness to adopt a quality, growth and momentum approach to investing

• Appreciation of use of quant tools in the investment decision making process, willingness to adopt the matrix

• Initiative and strength of conviction in decision making

• A team player who is willing to discuss and share investment ideas. Should be able to provide as well as receive peer review in an open, collaborative manner. Must also be self-driven and able to work independently

• Degree qualified

• Working towards or holder of CFA qualification

We are a Disability Confident Committed employer and are happy to provide adjustments to the recruitment process to support candidates.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefitshere.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients’ changing needs. You can find out more about what we dohere.

An inclusive way of working:

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we’d like to hear from you.

At Aberdeen we’ve adopted a ‘blended working’ approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business. An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone. If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.