Financial Accounting & Advisory Services (FAAS) – Financial Services
1. The role
The candidate should have a strong technical background in fund accounting within the financial services industry and understand the challenges and trends, which affect this sector. This role will suit an ambitious, motivated person who is willing and interested in getting involved with helping the team grow. It involves working closely with FAAS teams and other senior personnel within Grant Thornton as well as providing work of the highest quality to assist our clients for our various engagements.

1. Key responsibilities

• Providing our clients with expertise in fund accounting on various projects and engagements. This includes, but is not exclusive to, being able to seamlessly supplement fund accounting teams in producing NAVs, supporting clients in system migration efforts and taking on new funds within our clients’ environment;
• Assisting with production and reviews of NAV calculations and related processes as the client engagement requires;
• Improving clients’ NAV production and other fund administration-related processes through reduction in timelines, or increasing the robustness of controls depending on requirements, i.e. going above and beyond client needs;
• Introducing new or improved management information through the use of new BI tools or the introduction and monitoring of appropriate KPI’s;
• Reconciliation of Prime Broker, Custodian or other Counterparty data to clients’ fund administration systems with detailed analysis and break resolution;
• Supporting and mentoring junior staff members to assist in enhancing our technical and soft skills within the team;
• Developing materials for clients’ benefit relating to engagements (process documents, project-related materials, reconciliation templates, etc);
• Acting as an SME in areas of prior experience to enhance our client delivery.

1. Key requirements

This is a technical role and a deep understanding of the fund accounting and general fund administration functions within the asset management sector would be expected.

• Strong experience in the asset management space, particularly in fund administration;
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to problem solve under pressure, often under tight time deliverable constraints;
• Ability to adapt quickly to various working environments our clients operate within;
• Strong experience in fund accounting, with the ability to converse with clients and our clients’ clients on a technical level;
• Experience in a variety of fund types / structures such as mutual funds, UCITs, ICAVs, Private equity, REITs, SPVs, Hedge Funds an advantage;
• Experience in a variety of fund administration systems an advantage, ideally including the ability to understand and execute fund setups and have a grasp of the technology landscape therein;
• End-to-end NAV calculation experience and intimate understanding around each component of the process in deriving a NAV;
• Financial Reporting knowledge and experience would be beneficial;
• Experience in reconciliations (design and implementation);
• Ability to analyse client operational environments and offer process improvement and automation solutions;
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to problem solve under pressure and adapt quickly to engagements within clients’ operating environments;
• In depth understanding in complex calculations inherent in fund administration, eg: performance fee calculations, waterfall calculations, distribution calculations, etc is an advantage;
• A passion for client service.

1. Experience, skills and attributes

• Deep knowledge of the financial services / asset management industry either directly or through practice;
• Appropriate professional qualification, which may be based in accounting or another appropriate discipline;
• Specific experience of having been part of large-scale projects in a multinational environment;
• 3 - 5 years relevant experience in fund accounting, with time spent within a consulting firm or a top-tier fund administrator / asset manager;
• Self-motivated and ability to work within and lead junior staff;
• Ability to work towards a deadline within a project framework;
• Strong communicator, highly articulate with good report writing and excel skills;
• Mature and confident person with excellent interpersonal skills, particularly communication skills with the ability to mentor junior staff and impart technical knowledge;
• A self-starter with an ability to work on their own initiative, but knowing when to seek assistance and work collaboratively;
• Energy, enthusiasm and passion for a new challenge.

2. Key responsibilities

• Providing our clients with expertise in fund accounting on various projects and engagements. This includes, but is not exclusive to, being able to seamlessly supplement fund accounting teams in producing NAVs, supporting clients in system migration efforts and taking on new funds within our clients’ environment;
• Assisting with production and reviews of NAV calculations and related processes as the client engagement requires;
• Improving clients’ NAV production and other fund administration-related processes through reduction in timelines, or increasing the robustness of controls depending on requirements, i.e. going above and beyond client needs;
• Introducing new or improved management information through the use of new BI tools or the introduction and monitoring of appropriate KPI’s;
• Reconciliation of Prime Broker, Custodian or other Counterparty data to clients’ fund administration systems with detailed analysis and break resolution;
• Supporting and mentoring junior staff members to assist in enhancing our technical and soft skills within the team;
• Developing materials for clients’ benefit relating to engagements (process documents, project-related materials, reconciliation templates, etc);
• Acting as an SME in areas of prior experience to enhance our client delivery

This is a technical role and a deep understanding of the fund accounting and general fund administration functions within the asset management sector would be expected.

• Strong experience in the asset management space, particularly in fund administration;
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to problem solve under pressure, often under tight time deliverable constraints;
• Ability to adapt quickly to various working environments our clients operate within;
• Strong experience in fund accounting, with the ability to converse with clients and our clients’ clients on a technical level;
• Experience in a variety of fund types / structures such as mutual funds, UCITs, ICAVs, Private equity, REITs, SPVs, Hedge Funds an advantage;
• Experience in a variety of fund administration systems an advantage, ideally including the ability to understand and execute fund setups and have a grasp of the technology landscape therein;
• End-to-end NAV calculation experience and intimate understanding around each component of the process in deriving a NAV;
• Financial Reporting knowledge and experience would be beneficial;
• Experience in reconciliations (design and implementation);
• Ability to analyse client operational environments and offer process improvement and automation solutions;
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to problem solve under pressure and adapt quickly to engagements within clients’ operating environments;
• In depth understanding in complex calculations inherent in fund administration, eg: performance fee calculations, waterfall calculations, distribution calculations, etc is an advantage;
• A passion for client service