Senior Quantitative Analyst

Position Title: Senior Quantitative Analyst
Reports To: Public Portfolio Management Vice President
Department: Public Investments
Term: Permanent Full-Time

Work Arrangements: This is a hybrid role. You will work in our office in Waterloo, ON a minimum of two (2) assigned, consecutive days every other week, plus a fifth (5th) assigned day per month. You are welcome to work from the office more than the minimum requirement and there may be some roles that are required to work in our office more than the minimum requirement.

The Opportunity: Equitable is growing! We are looking for a Senior Quantitative Analyst to join our Public Investments team!  

This role will be a member of the Asset Management Group responsible for investing Equitable assets. They will be responsible for spearheading a variety of researching and analysis projects to strategically guide the effective management of the investment assets. This will include theoretical, operational, and reporting topics covering an extensive list of potential categories such as risk analysis, forecasted/relative returns, portfolio analytics, and economic modelling. This will include individual security modelling, asset class modelling, trade execution and portfolio monitoring.

Now is an exciting time to join one of the Waterloo Area’s and Southwestern Ontario’s Top Employers for 2024!

What you will be doing:

• Portfolio Management
• Responsible for contributing to the economic strategy of the Asset Management Group.
• Responsible for contributing to the asset class strategy of the Asset Management Group.
• Has trading authorities as established in the Investment Guidelines
• Quantitative Research - works in conjunction with functional asset class managers to provide quantitative perspectives for the asset category
• Quantitative Analytics – design and implementation of internally developed tools to monitor exposure and compliance limits, trade reporting and performance attribution tools
• Quantitative portfolio management - development of portfolio management tools to integrate market data and portfolio positions to improve decision making with portfolio positioning and security selection.
• Relationship Management
• Lead interaction with our business users (from within Investments, Individual, S&R, Group, Actuarial, Finance, IT) to address current and future business needs
• Manage assigned work to meet deadlines, balance multiple priorities as set by senior staff.
• Provide supervisor/ project manager with status updates on progress and outstanding issues.
• Ensure effective communication within the team.
• Work closely with team members, internal IT, external service providers to develop alternative solutions to meet business needs.
• Interpret and communicate complex system support and processes to staff in a “user-friendly” manner (both written and verbal)
• Technical
• Apply statistical analysis with detailed security and/or asset class knowledge into effective solutions through programming to accomplish project objectives in a scalable, maintainable, efficient fashion.
• Provide detailed technical spec documents for proposed projects and modifications for use by other team members
• For Extraction, Transformation and Loading processes an expert level experience in development (well-organized and structured programs), maintenance, testing and documentation
• Write/maintain and SQL Queries, Calculations/Manipulations, and Views
• Unit test all changes to ensure data integrity, performance consistency, and functional acceptability.
• Provide documentation as required by the team/business users for testing and future support.
• Contribute business and technical expertise to the development and planning process in projects.
• Remain current on the rapidly changing technology as it relates to support for the investment processes and quantitative infrastructure.
• Project Management
• Lead the development of the strategy to address constraints in the most cost effective means.
• Working with the Investment business areas to identify possible technical/procedural constraints, in order to meet project objectives
• The preparation of business specifications, while adhering to procedural compliance and industry standards and legislation constraints.
• The preparation of test plan and test case documentation followed by execution of all test plans
• Contribute to the planning of a detailed time-line schedule
• The identification of potential hazards and the control of risks/expenditures
• The timely and efficient implementation of the associated process and system changes/enhancements
• Post implementation monitoring and evaluation to ensure a cost-effective transition
• Contribute to the development of procedures, training materials, and facilitate meetings with business areas for technical training
  
  
  

What you will bring:

• Completion of CFA program
• Strong knowledge of database concepts and practices
• Strong knowledge of different investments including equities, fixed income, preferred shares, derivatives, mortgages, private placements, segregated funds
• 3+ years experience building and supporting technology solutions
• 3+ years experience dealing with a portfolio management system (PAM preferred)
• 3+ years experience in Investment portfolio management
• Post secondary degree in technology or investment related field
• Demonstrated experience in Excel and Word
• Programming languages:  Python, SQL (Postgresql), VBA, HTML (extensive experience with scripting languages required, with Python preferred)
• Knowledge and experience in IIS, Windows Server, PostgreSQL
• Knowledge of insurance industry an asset
• Experience with automation of processes
• Experience utilizing open-source modules
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving and organizational skills
• Excellent communication, attention to detail and ability to be adaptable
• Interpersonal, facilitation, leadership and mentoring experience

What’s in it for you:

• A healthy work-life balance with employee wellness top of mind
• Annual bonus program, annual vacation allowance, and company-paid benefits program
• An additional paid volunteer day each year so you can spend time giving back to the community
• Immediate enrollment in the company’s pension program with employer matching
• Employee resource groups that support an inclusive work environment
• Tuition support and specialized program assistance
• An onsite, full-service cafeteria with a variety of daily options
• Discounts on company products and services, and access to exclusive employee perks
• Regular EQ Together events focused on company togetherness and collaboration
  
  

As part of the recruitment/offer process you will be required to:

• Provide two professional references (minimum one supervisor and above)