Principal, Head of Private Markets & Investor Solutions

Role purpose

Control Risks supports private equity and credit, infrastructure and real assets, real estate, sovereign wealth, and development and multilateral funds, with a range of consulting services. These include transaction-specific diligence, encompassing financial crime, reputation and performance, material ESG factors, and cyber risks associated with an investment target and its management; sector- or country-specific political and policy risk assessments; commercial intelligence, and broader proactive and reactive risk management services for our client’s portfolio companies and assets. This role is responsible for leading our strategy with private markets investors in Singapore and APAC to position Control Risks as a leading advisor to private market clients.

The position’s core responsibilities are:

1. Identifying and acquiring new clients.
2. Managing relationships and engagements with existing clients.
3. Developing and innovating our services to meet our clients’ requirements and changing market conditions, with a particular focus on portfolio risk solutions.
4. Leading our engagement with industry associations and other professional advisors to improve the awareness of our brand and services amongst these buyers.
5. Identifying skills gaps in our teams and developing plans to address them.

The successful candidate would join an established business intelligence team, with over 60 team members in 8 cities across the Asia region, though work collaboratively with other practice areas in Control Risks. The team is growing due to the diversification of our client base by both the type or organisation and their geographical location.

Role tasks and responsibilities

Client management and business development
Define and implement our private markets business development campaign in conjunction, demonstrating year on year growth in our client base, and the complexity and diversity of our mandates.
Develop our relationships with industry associations and professional advisors, and evaluate the best events and networks to engage, to raise awareness of our brand and services among private market investors.
Identify and acquire new points of contact with new and existing clients, and manage these relationships to best meet our client’s requirements for both transaction and portfolio company support.
Develop and maintain a public profile in the industry as an expert in your specialist field through public speaking and written thought leadership.

Case and project work
Ensure our proposals focus on our clients’ requirements and our ability to meet them, and that our proposals stay ahead of the market by incorporating clients’ feedback and service innovation.
Lead more complicated engagements for private markets investors, drawing in Control Risks’ expertise from different practices as required.
Develop and manage a human source and subcontractor network to support the growth of the practice and the delivery of our work.

Product and service development
Lead on innovating and developing risk-based products for private market investors, utilising our country, compliance and risk intelligence, knowhow and data.

Working culture
Foster an inclusive, collaborative environment between practice areas, offices and regions.
Ensure that pricing, margins and value are understood in the team to ensure we capture lower and higher margin opportunities.

Knowledge and experience

Scoping and delivering complex and repeat engagements for one or more of the following teams within different private markets investors: investment, legal and compliance, and ESG or impact teams.

Sustaining trusted advisor relationships with senior-decision makers within these types of clients.

Identifying and growing new client relationships, and growing a practice area around this.

Innovating services and successfully taking these to clients.

Demonstrating in-depth knowledge and understanding of economic, political and regulatory trends affecting private markets funds and their risk considerations.

Qualifications and specialist skills

Undergraduate degree or equivalent.
Professional experience in private markets, investment banking, or consulting.
Excellent communication, listening and negotiation skills in English (and preferably one other Asian language).
Advanced analytical and report writing skills in English (and preferably one other Asian language).
Methodical approach and strong project management skills.
Ability to multi-task and manage multiple commitments under time pressure.
Demonstrable commercial acumen when planning and pricing projects.