Associate Director, Fund Finance Controller

At Barings, we are as invested in our associates as we are in our clients. We recognize those who work diligently for us and reward them for personal and professional integrity, communication skills, distinct competencies and expertise in specific strategies, ability to collaborate as a team member and true dedication to the interests of our clients.

We thank you for your interest in joining the Barings team, and invite you to explore our current employment opportunities.

Title:  Fund Finance Controller
Business Unit: GTO - Global Private Platform Delivery

Location: London, UK

Job Summary

With the significant growth in funds under management in the Private Credit ~$5bn (NAV projecting nearly double within a year), on the Luxembourg SICAV-SIF and SICAV-RAIF platforms, comprising of co-mingled funds and dedicated segregated funds, an opportunity has arisen within the Barings GTO - Global Private Platform Delivery team based in London. The fund strategy performing exceptionally well, with lots of growth and opportunity to learn on the job.

The successful candidate will take ownership and be responsible for the monitoring and oversight of various closed ended limited partnership structures in the direct lending space, liaising with the external administrators & service providers on the daily, monthly and quarterly processes and controls as well as internal stakeholders e.g. PMs to ensure smooth delivery. The candidate will report into a director, who heads a team of 7.

Primary Responsibilities

• Review of financial statements and accounting packages for complex clients, including all supporting work papers and disclosure documents; using multi-currency at both the share class and portfolio level as well as review distribution calculations, management fees, carry interest, expenses and interest payments to the Limited Partners.
• Manage fund launch process working closely with internal teams and administrator/custodian to ensure all parties deliver on time, cover new funds prior to reallocating funds to junior team members
• Quarterly and annual investor reporting and financial modelling
• Monitor investment activity, review cash flow projections and manage liquidity requirements
• Provide support to investment teams across deal transactions and fund closing process
• Ensure fund operating expenses and budgets are in-line with documentation and perform quarterly budget reviews
• Assist with co-ordination of external audit and associated offshore entities across multiple jurisdictions
• Produce and review of board packs to attend and present at board meetings to the Directors of the funds in various jurisdictions.
• Analyse movements and trends in performance (IRRs, multiples) at asset and fund levels including the use of share class and portfolio hedging, as well as understand and apply the mechanics of multi-currency tranche level hedging gains and losses and their associated impact on returns;
• Review work and reporting produced by junior accountants, assist with developing and training new/junior accountants, identifying knowledge gaps, and provide feedback to manager - opportunity to contribute to new team build out.
• Act as main contact with both internal (Portfolio Managers, Analysts, Business Development in both UK and US for investment and operational queries) and external stakeholders (managing the relationship with third party administrators (“TPAs”), auditors including annual site visits, KPI service level meetings etc).
• Support the sales team in responding to regular client enquiries and requests
• A commitment to delivering an exceptional service to clients, with ability to work quickly and establish effective working relationships
• Experience in ad hoc project work, system implementation/upgrade and process improvements and effecting change where needed.
• Daily cash management and co-ordination of drawings on the credit facility and from investor drawdowns (including multi-currency tranche level equalisations before the Final Closes life cycle of new funds).
• Preparation of monthly information on KRIs, in order to help senior management analyse, attribute & comment on operational performance.

Leadership & Management

• As a senior member of the team, help to build out a positive culture
• Help train team members and educate internal support teams on fund knowledge and Barings operational processes

Professional Development

• Keep technical, regulatory and personal skills and knowledge up to date, maintain records to evidence how this has been achieved

Regulatory Responsibilities

• Abide by the FCA Conduct Rules and other applicable FCA rules and regulations
• Abide by Barings rules and regulations
• Complete all mandatory compliance training within the required timescales
• Complete all F&P assessments and performance appraisals within required the timescales

Qualifications

• Significant experience working in fund management on private credit and direct lending strategies, in a comparable sized organisation with similar interactions and challenges of a larger business; or a smaller size manager, with more complete ownership and looking to move to a larger, multi-asset investment manager. In all cases, the day to day responsibility and oversight of a number of funds
• Proactive and ability to work with minimum supervision with the essential skill to think outside the box and see the bigger picture focusing on not only BAU but also process enhancements from a local and global perspective;
• Ability to develop and maintain relationships with key internal Barings stakeholders including direct exposure to other business lines e.g. Portfolio Managers, Sales, Legal, Compliance, Corporate functions across the organisation, both in Europe and US, as well as supporting effective external working relationships through timely communications with a range of related third parties e.g. TPAs, auditors, investors.
• Significant experience of analysing and providing query resolutions on private credit funds e.g. performing deep dives into returns and valuation movements
• Demonstrable experience of cash management and/or treasury functions e.g. cash forecasting, FX hedging requirements etc.
• Detailed understanding and interpretation of legal documentation including prospectus, Limited Partnership Agreements, Credit and other third party agreements.
• Significant experience of managing TPA relationships with a proven track record in resolving any associated operational issues e.g. KPI client service meetings, high level interactions with relationship managers etc.
• Strong communication skills both verbally and written, to liaise with Legal/Tax/PMs/Sales and other demanding stakeholders across the firm and ability to work to tight deadlines and flexible to meet workload
• Numerate with high attention to detail, accounting experience required as well as advanced Excel skills.

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Requisite Skills

Additional Skills

Barings is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer; Minority/Female/Age/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/Individual with Disability/Protected Veteran. We welcome all persons to apply.