SMA Operations Associate- Solana Beach, CA

Merit Personnel & Consulting; New York (NY); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A financial services firm in Solana Beach, CA, is seeking an SMA Operations Associate to manage daily account operations and support the SMA business. The ideal candidate has a bachelor's degree and 2-4 years of relevant experience. The role requires strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 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.
• Ability to work independently and balance multiple deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal and problem-solving skills with the ability to collaborate in a fast-paced team environment.
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines and work independently.

Responsibilities

• Manage daily queues for new account restrictions and strategy changes.
• Review daily reconciliation files and communicate with back office.
• Respond to daily inquiries regarding SMA accounts.
• Responding to daily inquiries from other internal firm’s departments regarding SMA accounts.
• Monitoring daily account freeze notifications, proxy meetings, claim reports and escalate 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

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Problem-solving skills

Detail oriented

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited 4-year institution

Job description

SMA Operations Associate- Solana Beach, CA

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.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

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 firm’s departments regarding SMA accounts
• Monitoring daily account freeze notifications, proxy meetings, claim reports and escalate 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