Head of Structuring

at  Just Group

SKILLS:

• Excellent analytical skills, including ability to make commercial judgements in light of uncertain circumstances. Able to support judgement calls with a clear justification.
• Excellent verbal, written communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to present investment matters in a clear and concise manner
• Understanding and experience in executing research, due diligence and investment evaluation
• Strong results focus, with ability to work efficiently and grasp concepts that are not straightforward, yet seek guidance where necessary
• Excellent team-working skills and ability to maintain relationships with internal stakeholders and develop relationships with external parties
• Demonstrate strong aptitudes in:
• Risk awareness
• Investment matters and strategies, in particular credit, with the ability and interest to develop further
• Research and getting a thorough understanding of the issues being examined
• Approaches to understanding and evaluating risks
• Investing on behalf of liability driven investors

KNOWLEDGE OF:

• Long only and fundamental investing, with the ability and interest to develop further
• The issues surrounding investing on behalf of a (life) assurer (desirable, but not essential)
• Financial markets in general
• Understanding of the products and services provided by Just Group

EXPERIENCE

• Demonstrable track record of relevant experience in a bank, insurance company, asset manager or consultant
• Experience managing fixed income portfolios, asset allocation and portfolio construction
• Recognising that this is a “Head of” level hire, experience in taking ownership of activity and strong people management and collaboration is essential

PURPOSE

Just Group is a UK life assurer with over £25 billion of assets under management and is growing rapidly. As such we have significant investment needs and are looking at innovative ways to secure new asset types.
The Head of Structuring is responsible for sourcing, securitising, and managing non-traditional credit asset classes for inclusion our liability matching portfolio. This involves transforming non-eligible assets into investment-grade credit-rated notes, optimising the capital structure, and potentially selling the equity tranche. Investments need to be aligned with our balance sheet (IFRS and Solvency UK) requirements, thereby enhancing our capital efficiency and profitability.

ACCOUNTABLE FOR

• Developing and implementing the structuring strategy and vision for Just, in alignment with the business goals and market opportunities, and with a special emphasis on structuring for credit transactions and restructuring ineligible assets.
• Sourcing and evaluating non-eligible asset classes suitable for securitisation.
• Leading the structuring and securitisation of various asset classes into investment-grade notes, sensitive to the business needs, investment strategy, balance sheet requirements, risk profile and market standards.
• Securing internal and regulatory approvals for securitisation projects, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders, such as capital management, actuarial, legal, risk, the regulator to understand their requirements, expectations, and challenges, and to propose and negotiate optimal solutions.
• Portfolio management of securitisation vehicles, ensuring they meet deployment, liability matching and capital efficiency goals.
• Assessing the suitability of in specie assets transferred as part of defined benefit buy ins/outs for securitisation, and setting a securitisation strategy for those assets.
• Reviewing the scope of Solvency UK, in particular concerning asset classes that do not need to be securitised because their cashflow are highly predictable.