Investor Development Team (IDT) - Associate Director or Director level - Saudi Arabia

Fitch Ratings; Saudi Arabia; On-site; SAR 200,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global credit ratings agency is seeking an Associate Director or Director for its Riyadh office. This role focuses on enhancing investor engagement and managing relationships within the GCC investment community. Ideal candidates will possess over 6 years of experience in fixed income capital markets and have strong communication and interpersonal skills. The position offers a unique opportunity to influence Fitch’s market strategy and drive engagement with key investors, contributing to the company’s visibility and brand-building efforts.

Qualifications

• Excellent communication skills with a clear understanding of fixed income dynamics.
• 6+ years of experience in international fixed income capital markets or wealth management.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build long-term relationships.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute market engagement strategy in the GCC.
• Manage relationships with leading GCC investors.
• Educate investors about Fitch Ratings' research and insights.
• Organize events showcasing Fitch’s expertise.

Skills

Excellent communication

Ability to work independently and in a team

Solid understanding of fixed income investment strategies

>6 years experience in international fixed income capital markets

Strong interpersonal and presentational skills

Demonstrated ability to build relationships

Fluency in spoken/written English

Job description

The Investor Development Team is currently seeking an Associate Director or Director level employee based out of our Riyadh office.

The role of the Investor Development team at Fitch is to:

• Enhance investor engagement with Fitch Ratings analysts, research and commentary and position Fitch Ratings as the agency of choice in both established and new markets.
• Be the voice of the investor community within Fitch Ratings, providing critical feedback on rating performance, criteria, analytical interactions, and supporting analytics (including research and data).
• Embed Fitch ratings and supporting analytics in investor workflows, by driving deeper engagement, providing timely and actionable service levels, offering improved products, and removing barriers to adoption and usage.

The strategic objective of Fitch’s investor engagement programme is to drive demand for Fitch Ratings and, in conjunction with the separate sales team, demand for Fitch research and related products.

What We Offer

This is a global team, with members in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Beijing and Sydney. Working in IDT offers the candidate exposure to senior stakeholders and an ability to make an immediate impact to the visibility and brand-building of the company.

We’ll Count On You To

Reporting to the EMEA head of investor development and working closely with the regional business and relationship management (BRM) team, you will be responsible for 1) developing and executing Fitch’s market engagement strategy in the GCC, in consistence with Fitch’s overall strategy and 2) managing Fitch’s relationships with a portfolio of leading GCC investors and sell-side research teams.

Role’s responsibilities include among others:

• Raising awareness and educating investors about Fitch Ratings’ research, coverage and credit insights, using all channels and vehicles
• Directing traffic on where analytical and data resources should be allocated
• Organizing events, webinars and tours showcasing Fitch’s expertise in regional and international ratings
• Leading and coordinating with Fitch Ratings’ Marketing and Events on broader market engagement, campaigns (content and format) partnerships with external market organizations (e.g. professional bodies, trade associations)
• Setting up meetings with investors who need to better understand Fitch’s credit views, criteria and rating actions
• Overall, showcasing Fitch Ratings’ analysts and research, which constitute one of our stronger competitive advantages
• Developing and aggregating investor support, creating channels for application by global issuer, banker and PE teams. Working with business and relationship management (BRM) team to identify and achieve deliverables
• Following up on market developments and Fitch’s credit views with outreach and investor engagement
• Assisting investors in getting answers to their questions about sector, criteria or individual credit topics
• Engaging with investors on their analytical needs with the view of embedding Fitch ratings, data and research in their workflows (from investment guidelines to day-to-day credit analytics)
• Identifying barriers to Fitch Ratings in buyside workflows (systems, indexes, investment guidelines), developing strategy to tackle and coordinating execution with relevant stakeholders
• Being the voice of investors internally and coordinating with senior members of the analytical staff on research
• Providing summaries of investors’ topics of interest and areas of focus to senior analytical staff
• Promoting Fitch’s expertise with relevant sell-side research teams in order to enhance the company’s visibility in regional capital markets, e.g. organising joint webinars, seminars or conferences with relevant MENA research teams at local or international investment banks
• You will also be responsible for the coverage of a portfolio of key GCC investors and will be tasked with the following:
• Overall leadership and coordination for your accounts, creating excellent relationships with key decision makers (credit portfolio management, risk management) within those organizations
• Identify key individuals of strategic importance to the Fitch Group
• Become the expert on those organizations and their rating agency views and requirements.
• Be responsible for the setting up of investor interactions (one to ones, roundtables, focused groups, seminars, teleconferences) for all Fitch sector analysts for investors within your portfolio
• Entrenching Fitch’s ratings in investor workflows, ensuring eventually that they are fully accepted and routinely used.

What You Need To Have

• Highly motivated with excellent communication
• Ability to work independently, yet be a team player and align with internal stakeholders is an absolute must
• Solid understanding of fixed income investment strategies and debt capital market dynamics
• >6 years sell-side or buyside experience in international fixed income capital markets. Similar and comparable experience in a wealth management institution, or in a reputable information services company (e.g. Bloomberg) would also be considered
• Strong interpersonal and presentational skills
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain long term relationships
• Fluency in spoken/ written English.

What Would Make You Stand Out

• Existing contacts and relationships with large GCC investors would be beneficial
• Track record of managing key accounts in the financial services industry is an advantage
• Fluency in Arabic would be an advantage

Why Fitch?

At Fitch Group, the combined power of our global perspectives is what differentiates us. Our global network of colleagues comes together to accomplish things greater than they ever could alone.

Every team member is essential to our business and each perspective is critical to our success. We embrace a diverse culture that encourages a free exchange of ideas, guaranteeing your voice will be heard and your work will have an impact, regardless of seniority.

We are building incredible things at Fitch and we invite you to join us on our journey.

Fitch Ratings is a leading provider of credit ratings, commentary and research. Dedicated to providing value beyond the rating through independent and prospective credit opinions, Fitch ratings offers global perspectives shaped by strong local market experience and credit market expertise. The additional context, perspective and insights we provide have helped fund a century of growth and enables our clients to make important credit judgements with confidence.

Fitch Group is a global leader in financial information services with operations in more than 30 countries. Wholly owned by the Hearst Corporation, we are comprised of three main businesses: Fitch Ratings | Fitch Solutions | Fitch Learning.

Fitch is committed to providing global securities markets with objective, timely, independent and forward-looking credit opinions. To protect Fitch’s credibility and reputation, our employees must take every precaution to avoid conflicts of interests or any appearance of a conflict of interest.

Should you be successful in the recruitment process at Fitch Ratings you will be asked to declare any securities holdings and other potential conflicts prior to commencing employment. If you, or your immediate family, have any holdings that may conflict with your work responsibilities, you may be asked to divest yourself of them before beginning work.

Fitch Group is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, and other statuses protected by law.