Investment Compliance Advisory Manager UK

Job Description

At Aberdeen, our ambition is to be the UK’s leading Wealth & Investments group.

Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry’s best talent.

Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders, and society.

We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent.

Aberdeen comprises three businesses, interactive investor (ii), Investments, and Adviser, each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients’ evolving needs:

• interactive investor, the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, enables individuals in the UK to plan, save, and invest in the way that works for them.
• Our Adviser business provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their customers.
• Our Investments business is a specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market, through either public markets or alternative asset classes.

About the Role

This is a second line role reporting to the Head of UK Investment Compliance.

The Investment Compliance Advisory Manager is primarily responsible for providing compliance advice and robust challenge to the UK Investment and associated Operations teams, with responsibilities extending across a global operating environment.

The role also supports the preparation of updates for boards and governance forums on behalf of the wider UK Compliance team, working collaboratively with other team members.

The UK Investment Compliance team provides regulatory advice and support to the Aberdeen Investment entities in the UK.

In addition to maintaining effective stakeholder relationships, the Investment Compliance Advisory Manager is accountable for the responsibilities outlined below, with oversight and support from the Head of UK Investment Compliance, who holds SMF16 for the relevant MiFID entities.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish and develop stakeholder relationships with key first line staff covering
  portfolio management, Regulatory Reporting and Client Group, to allow:

• The business to have appropriate access to source Compliance advice
  where appropriate.
• Compliance to have appropriate visibility of activities within key business
  areas to provide appropriate challenge.
• Lead Board and Governance reporting processes for all internal forums and Boards, ensuring that regulatory developments, regulatory engagement and other Compliance matters are appropriately communicated to the business. Supported by other team members.
• Take the lead on analysing new regulation in order to provide tailored advice to business stakeholders and support implementation projects.
• Provide regulatory advice to the front and middle office, on topics such as, CSDR, non- reporting EMIR requirements, MIFID Transaction Reporting, MIFID Trade Reporting, EMIR Reporting, SFTR, Major Shareholder Reporting, SDR, SFDR, SRD, Stewardship Code, Research, Derivative Trading Obligation, Securitisation, Short Selling, UCITS, NURS, MMFR and costs and charges reporting.
• Provide regulatory advice to the front and middle office, alongside the Investment Compliance Advisory Consultant and the Head of UK Investment Compliance in support. These may include, new product launches, regulatory investment limit queries, institutional client conflicts, conflicts within Private or Public Market teams, support of ESG investing, changes to research payments and all regulatory reporting regimes.
• Provide training sessions for the business on regulatory limit regulations, such as UCITS, NURS, MMFR, alongside the Investment Compliance Advisory Consultant.
• Liaise and knowledge share with the Market Conduct team and other areas of R&C.
• Work with Regulatory Developments to provide the business with effective regulatory development updates.
• Collaborate and maintain relationships with global Risk & Compliance teams.
• Maintain independence as a second line function.
• Encourage a good compliance culture amongst first line staff and adherence to apportionment of responsibilities in line with SMCR.

About the Candidate

• Extensive Asset Management/Compliance experience
• Possess and be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of:  COBS, SYSC, SMCR, Sustainability, Stewardship, MIFID Regulatory Reporting, Research, Regulatory Investment Limits (UCITS, MMFR, NURS, Securitisation, Short Selling)
• Interest in finance, and good financial knowledge, i.e. different asset classes, instrument types, the service provided by asset management firms
• Exposure to asset management front office and back-office processes.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients’ changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we’d like to hear from you.

At Aberdeen we’ve adopted a ‘blended working’ approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment.  We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance.  We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.