Senior Investment Officer (Asia Pacific), P-5

Position description

New York, United States

Org. Setting and Reporting

The United Nations Secretary-General is responsible for the investment of the assets of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF). The Secretary-General has delegated this responsibility to the Representative of the Secretary-General for the investment of the assets of the UNJSPF (RSG). The RSG heads the Office of Investment Management (OIM), which manages approximately $80+ billion multi-asset class, global investment portfolio, about 85% of which is actively managed in-house. Asset classes under management comprise of global equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, timber, and commodities. OIM’s staff are all based in New York and come from over 30 countries. For more information, please visit OIM’s website at https://oim.unjspf.org/. This position leads the Asia Pacific Team within the Public Equities Section of the Office of Investment Management (OIM) of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF). The incumbent will report to the Director of the Public Equities Section, who reports directly to the Chief Investment Officer (CIO).

Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the incumbent would perform the following functions:

• Invest and manage the assets of the Fund in the assigned region within the Public Equity universe to produce the optimal investment return that avoids undue risk, balancing long-term strategies effective over an investment cycle and short-term tactics to achieve results superior to the benchmarks:
  • a) Undertakes analysis of macroeconomic and sector/industry trends, political and regulatory framework, and capital market development; construct the portfolio with specific amounts in specific securities/instruments by analyzing information from various sources including the financial community, on-site visits and meetings with company managements, and ESG database as part of stock selection process;
  • b) Monitor equity portfolio vs. the respective benchmark for the assigned region (MSCI); determine and manage the tracking error risk of the portfolio within the risk budget allocated from time to time; ensure that the portfolio is in compliance with all investment guidelines and limits at all times; Take active risk positions based on clearly defined investment process with the objective of meeting or exceeding benchmark returns and using risk efficiently as demonstrated by: delivering stable, consistent alpha;
  • c) Minimizing probability of significant under performance versus the benchmark and achieving high information ratios: over calendar year, rolling 3-year and longer time periods;
  • d) Integrating Sustainable Investing principles into investment considerations.
• Contribute actively to discussions and decisions in the Internal Investment Committee (IIC) on tactical asset allocation by major asset classes as well as regional allocation within equities and prepares/implements the asset/regional allocation strategies approved by the RSG. a) Participate in Investments Committee meetings when requested and prepares the required inputs; Ensure that the Director of Public Equities, Chief Investment Officer of OIM and the Representative of the Secretary-General (RSG) for investments of UNJSPF have accurate and timely reports on investments and related matters for the UNJSPB, the ACABQ and the General Assembly;
• Manages, supervises and carries out the work programme of the unit under his/her responsibility by: Complying with the Investment Policy, investment and risk guidelines, and all of the UN rules and regulations:
  • Ensuring that the investments are in line with the OIM investment policy;
  • Promoting a high standard of transparency and accountability in all aspects of the management of the assets of the Fund through accurate record keeping;
  • Directing production of investment data that is accurate and timely;
  • Ensures the highest quality financial resource management and seeking best value for money in use of the resources including, but not limited to, advisors, research providers, database, travel and consultants; interacting effectively with internal and external auditors to ensure that assets are fully protected.
• Ensure that OIM maintains a high level of professional investment expertise and knowledge by:
  • Exploring published economic and investment material provided by investment banks, brokers, government sources and financial analysts; Participating in seminars on investment topics;
  • Carrying out administrative tasks necessary for the functioning of the unit, including budgets, conducting evaluation of staff performance (e-PAS), interviews of candidates for job openings and evaluation of candidates;
  • Effectively managing underperformance, discipline and conduct issues, as well as fostering mobility and career pathing of staff.
• Perform other duties as assigned:
  • Initiate and lead special projects designed to improve the work programme at OIM and enhance performance;
  • Leads team members efforts to collect and analyze data and provides insight to identify trends or patterns for data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting. Ensures that everyone can discover, access, integrate and share the data they need.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Professionalism: Demonstrated ability and sound knowledge of investing in European Public Equities markets; Demonstrated ability in meeting clearly defined investment objectives and risk management of portfolio; Demonstrated ability in effectively managing team of senior investment professionals and other staff; Ability to work under pressure accurately, efficiently and effectively; Having the highest level of integrity; The ability to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management; Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations;
• Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings;
• Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honors commitments; delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

Managerial Competencies:

• Leadership: Serves as a role model that other people want to follow; empowers others to translate vision into results; is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives; establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and to gain support; anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions; strives for change and improvement; does not accept the status quo; shows the courage to take unpopular stands. Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; demonstrates knowledge of strategies and commitment to the goal of gender balance in staffing;
• Judgement/Decision-making: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, often with limited or imperfect data in a changing investment environment, and comes to the source of the problem quickly; gathers relevant information before making a decision; considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them; takes decisions with an eye toward the impact on others, the Fund, and on the Organization; proposes a course of investment actions or makes recommendations based on all available information; checks assumptions against facts; determines the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; makes tough decisions when necessary.

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Business Administration (MBA), Finance, Economics or related field is required. A first level university degree in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification or equivalent is desirable.

Work Experience

• A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience and a proven track record of portfolio management and investment analysis covering the Asia Pacific markets through fundamental analysis on the individual securities and the markets is required. Experience in portfolio management in the large sized public pension funds and institutional investors is desirable. Experience in portfolio management and investment analysis covering Japanese equities through fundamental analysis on the individual securities and the markets is desirable. Experience in quantitative active approach in portfolio management is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the UN Secretariat. For this position, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is desirable.

Application instructions

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