Portfolio Services Associate

Company Profile

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide, including corporations, governments and individuals from more than 1,200 offices in 43 countries.

As a market leader, the talent and passion of our people are critical to our success. Together, we share a common set of values rooted in integrity, excellence and strong team ethic. Morgan Stanley can provide a superior foundation for building a professional career - a place for people to learn, achieve and grow. A philosophy that balances personal lifestyles, perspectives and needs is an important part of our culture.

Department Profile - IM Operations

The Investment Management (IM) Operations group supports the equity, fixed income, liquidity and alternative businesses for Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM), providing back-office services as well as middle-office services including portfolio manager support, client services, portfolio transitions, market registration, product data and performance and attribution analysis. IM Operations also provides mutual fund support, derivative processing, and counterparty and credit event management.

Background on the Team

The AIP (Alternative Investment Partners) business is the alternative investments fund of funds strategy of MSIM. AIP provides institutions, foundations, endowments and high net worth individuals with access to diversified portfolios of privately placed alternative investment products, including primary and secondary investments in hedge funds, private equity and real estate funds, and co-investments. AIP products may also offer more liquid daily-traded fund investments and securities, as well as derivative investments, such as total return swaps, options, forward currency contracts, and other alternatives derivative-based products.

This position is on the Alternative Investment Services (AIS) Operations team that supports the AIP business. Responsibilities of the AIS Operations team include back-office portfolio services responsibilities; namely, maintaining books and records of the AIP portfolios, pricing and valuation, transaction processing, client reporting, regulatory reporting and documentation management.

This position would require the individual to work closely with the local teams in India as well as the team in the US, and also liaise and interact with various fund houses and their administrators for the performance, reconciliation and investment information, which is received through different sources and in different formats, emails, websites, etc.

The team works in a very time-sensitive environment with multiple deadlines and involves an in-depth analysis of the returns, understanding of market changes in relation to the performance of funds and complexities of the funds. The financial data overseen by AIS is maintained in a platform utilized by the Investment Team to monitor the portfolios with the ultimate goal of providing superior products to our external clients.

Primary Responsibilities

• Gathering primarily hedge fund information from various fund houses, banks and administrators, and liaising with them
• Perform daily, weekly monthly and quarterly pricing with proper due diligence
• In-depth analysis, calculation of the returns and understanding of market changes in relation to the performance and valuations of the underlying hedge funds
• Reviewing and ensuring outstanding cash breaks with various custodians are resolved on a timely basis
• Reconciling the Holdings with the administrators and investigating break causation, recommending proposed solutions and finalizing the reconciliations
• Reconciling transactions, valuations, management fee, performance fee/carried interest calculations, P&L components, and other activity between the accounting system, Investran, and the third-party service providers? records on a monthly or quarterly basis to ensure accuracy through review of Net Asset Value (NAV) closing packages
• Verifying the accuracy of investor capital balances, NAV allocations, and capital activity on a monthly or quarterly basis
• Preparing or reviewing monthly performance reports for investment management and clients
• Responding to ad hoc requests from investment management, investors, and other internal and external stakeholders
• Regulatory report data input and support, including those emanating from MiFID II regulation
• Monitoring various mailboxes for notifications of documents
• Maintenance of agreements and investment documentation in the document management system
• Partnering with India and US teams
• Maintenance of integrity and secrecy of the firm
• Manage risk associated with the job profile
• Involvement in projects related to the job function and liaising with IT on automation projects
• Perform related duties as assigned
• Time management and prioritizing to meet the time-sensitive daily deadlines 

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent, in Accounting, Finance, or related business field
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Should have a keen eye for details and accuracy
• A high degree of computer literacy, knowledge of Windows-based applications such as Word and Excel
• An ability to work under pressure and an ability to cope with increased workloads at month-end
• Knowledge of hedge funds, private equity or pricing is an added advantage
• Knowledge of MiFID II financial regulation would also be an added advantage
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to analyze returns and apply the same appropriately
• An ability to think outside the box? and look for creative solutions
• Self-starter with the ability to take a proactive approach to projects and tasks in implementing solutions
• Demonstrate ability to work effectively in a team-oriented environment
• Ability to identify and escalate risk issues to stakeholders
• Organizational skills, including the ability to coordinate, prioritize, and manage multiple activities
• Ability to work effectively with minimal supervision and flexibility to adapt to changing needs and requirements