Senior Manager, Investment Operations

Investment Operations Manager

FWD Group (1828.HK) is a pan-Asian life and health insurance business that serves approximately 34 million customers across 10 markets. FWD's customer-led and tech-enabled approach aims to deliver innovative propositions, easy-to-understand products and a simpler insurance experience. Established in 2013, the company operates in some of the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world with a vision of changing the way people feel about insurance. FWD Group is listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code 1828.

FWD Technology and Innovation Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., known as FWD TIM, was established in late 2019. Strategically located in Kuala Lumpur, FWD TIM serves as a pivotal shared service location within FWD Group, providing services to multiple markets across the Group.

Purpose

Reporting to the Head of the ICOE this position shall be accountable for managing the Investment Operations team of the ICOE and ensure timely delivery of day-to-day Investment Operations activities to Hong Kong and Group Entities. Support the expansion of the ICOE and Group to the LBUs.

Key Accountabilities

Investment Operations:

• Approve investment portfolio reconciliations among custodian, fund manager, and Bloomberg to ensure completeness and accuracy.
• Manage day-to-day trade settlement, pre & post trade support, activities for Group Entities and Hong Kong.
• Provide trade support to the investment front office in Group Entities and Hong Kong.
• Supervise the cash and currency operations for Group Entity and Hong Kong investment teams ensuring timely execution of required funding activities.
• Work with counterparties to establish ISDA and CSA agreements in support of the derivative program.
• Manage bank and custodian KYC requests, regulatory and audit requests as required.
• Review and approve alternative asset transaction entry.

Bloomberg Subject Matter Expert:

• Responsible for external asset manager trade feeds into Bloomberg AIM and working with Asset Managers & Bloomberg to establish new feeds when necessary.
• Responsible for trade feeds from Bloomberg AIM to Clearwater and establishing new feeds as required.
• Seek Group Operations approval for required Bloomberg setups.
• Provide group-wide Bloomberg support.
• Optimize the use of various Bloomberg modules and are integrated with Funnelweb, Investment Data Repository, and Clearwater.

Data Management:

• Establish and manage a group-wide ISDA & CSA repository and ensure group-wide governance processes are adhered to.
• Ensure standards for Bloomberg setups are adhered to and managed appropriately (i.e. portfolios, securities, transactions, etc).

Key Performance Indicators

• Number of trade processing errors
• No unexplained or approved overdraft charges
• Achieve 90% automation of Bloomberg AIM and Clearwater trade feeds

External & Internal Contacts

Internal:

• Group Investment Operations Team
• Local offices' Investment Operations team
• Group Investments
• ICOE Investment Operations

External:

• Asset Managers
• Bloomberg
• Custodians
• Brokers
• Collateral manager

Decision Making

• In conjunction with the Head of the ICOE, make staffing related decisions for direct reports
• Approve cash and currency transactions.
• Approve alternative asset transaction entry.

Qualifications / Experience

• University degree in Accounting/Business/Finance or related fields.
• 10+ years of experience working in middle office operations, collateral support, trading processing.

Knowledge & Technical Skills

Business Knowledge:

• Solid knowledge of financial products
• Working level knowledge of collateral management, ISDA and CSA documentation is required. Knowledge of Private Equity and Alternative Credit products is an asset.

Technical Skills:

• Advanced knowledge of Bloomberg AIM is required.
• Investment Accounting Systems (PAM, FAM, Portia, Clearwater, etc) is an asset.
• Microsoft Office

Management Skills:

• Experience in leading small teams in an Investment Operations environment is preferred.
• Clarity in communication and being an active listener.
• Provide constructive feedback and build a high performing team.
• Being empathic with a desire to help others.

Competencies

• Able to work independently or as part of a team.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Good command of both spoken and written English.
• Understanding interdependencies and interconnections of systems; seeing the big picture rather than the parts.
• Being flexible and adaptable for change.
• Learning from mistakes and desire to improve.