Specialist | Institutional Fund Operations | Fund Operations (Investment Accounting)

Allan Gray; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Allan Gray is seeking a diligent Operations professional to support day-to-day investment accounting, corporate actions, data management and market data activities. You will collaborate with NAV Pricing, Performance, Portfolio Administration, Tax, Client Services, Legal & Compliance, IT and Trading.

The role involves monitoring data feeds, managing data contracts, and ensuring accurate benchmark and instrument data across platforms.

Qualifications

• CA or equivalent accounting qualification.
• BCom or equivalent degree; honours advantageous.
• Minimum 3 years asset management experience (FS articles counted).
• Strong understanding of instrument valuation and pricing.

Responsibilities

• Ensure daily instrument valuation/pricing and exchange rates are accurate and timely.
• Coordinate data vendor relationships and data quality queries.
• Maintain benchmark data and instrument classifications for reporting.
• Monitor end-of-day price reconciliation and resolve discrepancies.
• Manage corporate actions capture, testing, and processing before deadlines.
• Handle proxy voting process end to end and related communications.
• Assist with month-end pricing and instrument data maintenance.
• Contribute to initiatives to simplify and improve processes.

Skills

Numerical ability

Attention to detail

Independence with teamwork

Problem solving

Communication

Education

CA (Chartered Accountant)

B Com or equivalent

Tools

CRIMS

IHS Markit

Fundamental Portfolio Manager (FPM)

Job description

Job Description

The candidate will be responsible for performing the day-to-day operational processes for various investment accounting, corporate actions, data management and market data activities. The candidate will work in Institutional Fund Operations, working closely with the other operational departments (NAV Pricing, Performance, Portfolio Administration) as well as Tax, Institutional Client Services, Legal & Compliance, IT, and Trading.

Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Market Data

• Ensuring that the daily instrument valuation/pricing and exchange rate processes run accurately and timeously.
• Ensuring that instrument price files are received from all local and foreign sources (exchange and vendor data).
• Liaising with data vendors (e.g., JSE/Bloomberg) on data quality and other queries (eg. valuation).
• The setting up of system parameters in Markit (MDS) for certain instruments as and when they are created by the front office team.
• Collaboration with the relevant IT domain teams to maintain, develop and enhance the market data infrastructure to keep systems up-to-date

and efficient.

• Monitoring the end-of-day price reconciliation process and investigating any identified price/valuation discrepancies.
• Managing and maintaining data contracts and vendor relationships.
• Managing the benchmark data processes, including: Creation of benchmarks as required by the Performance team.
• Sourcing and scrubbing of daily and monthly benchmark data files.
• Managing validation exceptions of benchmark data when required.
• Maintenance of benchmark static data.

Institutional Data Management

• Creation of instruments as required by the front or middle office teams.
• Portfolio creation and classifications.
• Maintenance of instrument static data for upstream and downstream usage.
• Reconciling static data to market sources to ensure accuracy and consistency in data across all internal systems.
• Investigation of instrument data inconsistencies and validation errors.
• Monitor the BOD (beginning of day) processes.
• Monitoring of communications from data vendor regarding any changes that may affect the fund pricing process and informing other business teams where necessary (eg.Corporate Actions, Trading, Fund Accounting).

• Daily monitoring and updating of instrument classifications used for reporting.

Manager Performance

• Maintain manager system and enhance processes (Cash resets, asset transfer transactions that affect manager performance and holdings)

Corporate Actions and Proxy Voting

• Capture and verify regular and complex corporate events timeously.
• Facilitate testing and analysis of complex events before processing.
• Send corporate action election requests to portfolio managers timeously.
• Send accurate instructions and elections to custodians before applicable deadlines.
• Process dividend, holdings and fractional payment adjustments.
• Facilitate and process tax reclaims for clients accurately.
• Capture and verify distributions monthly and quarterly.
• Manage the proxy voting process end to end.
• Keep track of the mailbox for event notices, meeting notices and general queries.
• instruct custodians timeously ahead of voting deadlines via various channels.
• Have regular meetings with the Investment team rep (governance analyst) to discuss proxy voting.
• Update proxy voting and corporate actions stats.
• Resolve queries diligently and identify areas for improvement

Additional Activities

• Assisting with month-end pricing across all portfolios.
• Calculating daily interest coupon accruals.
• Monitoring and answering queries from the Institutional Data Management and Investment Accounting email queue.
• Involvement in initiatives/project work that seeks to simplify and create efficiencies in existing processes.

EXPERIENCE And QUALIFICATIONS

• Chartered Accountant or
• B Com or equivalent degree - Higher Diploma or Honours will be an advantage
• A minimum of three years of experience in asset management (FS articles experience counts)
• Must have a strong technical understanding of instrument valuation and pricing
• Experience in working with the following systems would be advantageous:
• Charles River Investment Management Solution (CRIMS)
• IHS Markit
• Fundamental Portfolio Manager (FPM)
• A history of strong performance.

KEY ATTRIBUTES and COMPETENCIES

• Strong numeric ability and a questioning mind
• Accuracy and attention to detail
• A self-starter with the ability to create efficient processes and controls
• Ability to operate independently as well as in a team environment
• Interpersonal and communication skills to build and maintain strong working relationships with relevant stakeholders, both internally and externally, and to defend an opinion with rationale and logic
• Ability to accept responsibility for all tasks done
• Good time management skills, and the ability to manage heavy workloads and multiple tasks - work flexible hours
• particularly in the event of market vendor issues as well as follow a shift work schedule.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Very disciplined and methodical style of working
• Determined, engaged and persistent proactive "can-do" attitude that inspires others to do great work

Location

Cape Town

Closing Date

16 October 2025