Manager - Offshore Fund accounting

Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Date Posted: Apr 15, 2024

Recruitment for a Manager Offshore Fund Accounting

Apex Group Ltd., established in Bermuda 2003, is a global financial services provider. With 85 offices in 42 countries worldwide and 10,000 employees upon the close of announced acquisitions, Apex delivers and extensive range of services to asset managers, capital markets, private clients and family offices. The Group has continually improved and evolved its capabilities to offer a single-source solution through establishing the broadest range of services in the industry; including fund services, digital onboarding and bank accounts, depository, custody and super ManCo services, business services including HR and Payroll and a pioneering ESG Ratings and Advisory service for private companies.

Apex Group includes FundRock , LRI and European Depository Bank. F und administration is where our business started and the cornerstone of our single-source solution offering . Our current asset under administration is $3 trillion and continues to grow globally.

An opportunity has arisen for a Manager Offshore Fund Accounting to join our Apex Cape Town office, based in Mowbray.

Summary of the position

The successful candidate will be expected to manage multiple teams of offshore fund accountants who will perform the accounting and administration for various investment f und types domiciled in British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Luxembourg. The individual will be required to oversee the fund accountings teams daily tasks to ensure all deliverables are produced and dispatched on time in accordance with client service level agreements (SLA) and in line with Apex operational and risk quality standards.

To manage the teams and all functional deliverables under the Offshore Fund Accounting business unit, the role will be focused, but not limited to, the following supervisory responsibilities that include: resource and task planning, recruitment of appropriate experienced staff to effectively discharge functional activities, resolve operational queries, review fund accountants daily/weekly/monthly deliverables, manage various third party expectations, escalate operational issues, while ensuring operational processes are followed and quality standards adhered to.

Apex is looking for a self-motivated and thought ful, experienced leader in the Offshore Fund Accounting space to lead, recruit, supervise, appraise, train and coach Offshore Fund Accounting teams to maximize this business unit operational efficiencies. To achieve this, the individual will be required to assist with the design, implementation and maintenance of an operating model that continues to meet regulatory standards, obligations under fund prospectuses, client SLA terms, while adhering to quality standards. Apex is seeking an individual with extensive industry experience and offshore fund accounting knowledge.

The position is a senior, full-time role which will report directly to the Senior Manager Offshore Fund Accounting.

Outline of main duties and responsibilities

The successful candidate will be responsible for the following main functional responsibilities:

• Show thoughtful leadership in the practices and processes of accounting for offshore investment funds ;
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of fund valuations for offshore open-ended investment funds ;
• Motivate staff and identif y training and development needs;
• Ensure accurate calculation of f und valuations through oversight review s of cash and scrip reconciliations, expense accruals and reporting;
• Ensure inaccuracies in fund valuations and NAV errors are identified, administered internally and communicated to clients and appropriately remediat ed;
• Perform valuation quality assurance reviews on a regular basis to ensure consistent quality of product output between teams ;
• Ensure fund valuations are administered in line with fund legal documentation, administrator policies and TCF principles

Operational Management:

• Setting up and maintaining a production schedule that provides for all Offshore Fund Accounting teams fund valuation deliverables ;
• Plan the team member allocations to ensure all valuation activities and deliverables for Offshore Fund Accounting team s meet SLA timelines;
• Manage the Offshore Fund Accounting daily output in accordance with daily/weekly/monthly valuations production schedule;
• Monitor service delivery of Offshore Fund Accounting team s to SLA s and client expectations to ensure timely and accurate NAV calculations are delivered and client queries addressed;
• Actively manage issues and risks to resolution for all escalated matters in Offshore Fund Accounting team in a timely and efficient manager, keeping the Senior Manager Offshore Fund Accounting informed at all times;
• Co-coordinate and review all processes, checklists and controls pertaining to Offshore Fund Accounting team s to ensure accuracy and completeness of processes and controls followed .
• Review operational processes periodically to ensure a smooth operation, adherence to quality standards and to identify process gaps and documentation requiring updates ;
• Engage with senior specialists to identify, design and implement process efficiencies through automation of processes.
• Coordinate performance management of each team member, that include s setting up KPIs that align s with job description s , focus on staff development and provide performance feedback;
• Participate and lead training to teams with the assistance of senior specialists (where needed) to allow knowledge share within the team s ;
• Meet with other jurisdictions oversight managers monthly to discuss operational open items and client satisfaction feedback where operating model includes delegation of services to the South African office.
• Provide mentorship and motivation to staff to drive a high-performance outputs from teams .

Relationship Management:

• R eview SLA to ensure terms of agreements are adhered to with external and internal clients;
• Establish and maintain key relationships, particularly with internal counterparts in other functional units , across offices in the same and in other jurisdict ions.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with external clients to ensure good client satisfaction levels are maintained .
• Drive and coordinate high-performance from the teams and collaborate with other operational team managers to enable effective delivery and resolution of all matters .
• Hold team leaders accountable for delivery and results.
• Ensuring that appropriate operational controls are in place to mitigate risk.
• Log and review incidents to ensure appropriate corrective actions are recorded and implemented to mitigate risk from reoccurring.
• Driv e continuous improvement projects in your area with assistance from allocated senior specialists;
• Assess opportunities for improved efficiencies and reduced overhead in existing processes, including new technologies and tools;
• Assess implications of operational controls within the domain on the ISAE 3402 .

Project management:

• Manage delivery of all inputs required from offshore fund accounting team as part of client onboarding and implementation process to ensure a smooth go-live transition.
• Manage allocation of appropriate resources to support client-implementation and go-live transition.
• Implement checks and controls with assistance of senior specialist after operational take-on of new clients to mitigate risk .
• Provide management assistance on business related projects that can include but are not limited to system migrations, client take- ons , process improvements as well as the integration of business processes between offices.

Skills and experience required

The successful candidate will require:

• A relevant tertiary business qualification (minimum Honors B.Com or equivalent);
• At least 7 years experience in Asset Management portfolio administration and pricing;
• Minimum of 3 years in a management role in Asset Management portfolio administration and pricing;
• Strong all-round understanding and experience of fund accounting processes within back office administration;
• Good knowledge of exchange traded and OTC derivatives as well as other asset classes e.g. Equities, Fixed Interest and FX;
• Confident & enthusiastic, and have a structured approach to work;
• Ability to work in a pressurized environment on a regular basis;
• A can-do attitude and ability to make decisions assertively.
• Individual need to be self-motivated, conscientious and hard-working to meet tight deadlines and committed to deliver work of a high standard.
• Essential that the candidate is reliable and flexible as far as working hours are concerned ;
• Knowledge and experience of InvestOne is essential;
• Experience of Paxus, Advent Geneva, NX Manager and Xceptor is an advantage;
• Knowledge of and experience with reporting standards which i n clude IFRS, Lux GAAP will be beneficial; and
• An advanced level of experience in using Excel is needed. .

Reporting structure

The Manager: Offshore Fund Accounting will report to the Senior Manager Offshore Fund Accounting.

Remuneration will be market related and commensurate with experience and seniority. In addition, the successful candidate will receive a competitive benefits package and be eligible to participate in the firm-wide discretionary bonus scheme.