SMA Operations Associate (Finance)

Merit Personnel & Consulting; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 41,328 - 55,104; Full time

Job summary

A financial services consulting firm is seeking an SMA Operations Associate for their Newport Beach or New York locations. This role is integral in servicing the Separately Managed Account business, managing daily tasks, and collaborating with Account Managers. The ideal candidate has a Bachelor’s degree and 2-4 years in financial services, excellent interpersonal abilities, and problem-solving skills. Competitive compensation and training provided.

Qualifications

• 2-4 years of experience in financial services, asset management, investment banking or accounting.
• Working knowledge of Operations and Client Service preferred.
• Ability to take direction from multiple parties and work independently.

Responsibilities

• Manage daily queues for new account restrictions and resolve issues.
• Review daily reconciliation files and communicate with back office.
• Research account breaks and reconcile discrepancies timely.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Problem-solving skills

Detail oriented

Organization

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited 4-year institution

Job description

Location: Newport Beach, CA or New York, NY

Rate: $30-40/hr (DOE)

Experience: 1-3 years

The Team

We have a diverse, hardworking and collegial team of professionals representing different levels of experience across the financial services and asset management industry. Our team environment promotes open communication, ability to collaborate on special projects, opportunities to be challenged while honing your skill set along the way.

As a member of our SMA Operations team you’ll have the unique opportunity to partner with our Account Managers who lead all aspects of our client relationships and SEI Investments Company our back-office service provider.

We’re committed to the success of our Associates and will provide you with comprehensive training and mentorship from our experienced staff. In addition, you’ll have an opportunity for career growth in our dynamic team that we describe as the gold standard in client service.

The Opportunity

As a “SMA Operations Associate”, you will play an integral role in servicing our Separately Managed Account (SMA) business, providing the highest quality support relating to new accounts supervision, and delivering “best in class” service by:

• Managing daily queues for new account restrictions, transfer in-kinds, state preference, strategy changes and work with Account Managers to resolve any issues
• Reviewing daily reconciliation files for firm's internal accounting system and communicating with back office for processing
• Researching account breaks and working with back office to reconcile account discrepancies in a timely manner
• Responding to daily inquiries from other internal departments regarding SMA accounts
• Monitoring daily account freeze notifications, proxy meetings, claim reports and escalates issues to the appropriate internal teams as needed
• Coordinating new sponsor relationships and onboarding process
• Assisting Portfolio Managers with tax selling process, including downloading cost basis from custodians and coordinating client specific requests
• Reconciling model accounts on monthly basis and communicating model changes internally
• Collaborating with Compliance and Account Managers to complete quarterly custodial questionnaires
• Supporting team with quarterly access review for SMA systems and applications ensuring compliance regulations are met

Qualifications

To be successful in this role our qualified candidate will have:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited 4-year institution
• 2-4 years of experience in financial services, asset management, investment banking or accounting; working knowledge of Operations and Client Service preferred; FINRA registrations are a plus
• Strong interpersonal and problem-solving skills with the ability to work effectively and collaborate in a dynamic, fast paced team environment
• Ability to take direction from multiple parties, work independently, balance multiple deadlines and assignments simultaneously
• Detail oriented, well organized and flexibility to easily adapt to change
• High level of professionalism, exceptional verbal and written communication skills, and a “team” attitude