Investments Specialist (Quantitative), Centurion

PURPOSE OF THIS ROLE

This role is the quantitative engine of the Investments unit, providing the analytical foundation for portfolio management guidelines, manager analytics, performance attribution, and investment tool development. Operating at a senior specialist level of institutional investment experience, the incumbent takes full ownership of the Corporation's quantitative framework — from model design and alpha profiling to scenario analysis and benchmark review.

In addition to the analytical mandate, the role carries direct responsibility for investment reconciliation and serves as the primary Investments unit liaison for internal and external auditors, ensuring that all quantitative processes, data flows, and controls meet audit standards and are documented to an evidence-ready standard. The role involves not only the development and maintenance of robust systems to support these critical functions but also acting as the primary liaison between the investment unit and the Corporation's back and middle offices.

The role works in close collaboration with the Investment Specialist (Research) to integrate quantitative rigour into manager selection and portfolio construction decisions, and actively contributes to building the investment capability of the junior team through deliberate, structured knowledge transfer. It involves not only the development and maintenance of robust systems to support these critical functions but also acting as the primary liaison between the investment unit and the Corporation's back and middle offices.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES, MEASURES & INTERFACES

Portfolio Management Guidelines

• Develop, maintain, and periodically review the Portfolio Management Guidelines (PMGs) for each asset class and fund manager mandate, ensuring alignment with the Investment Policy Statement (IPS), regulatory requirements, and the Corporation's portfolio construction objectives.
• Coordinate PMG updates with the Head of Investments and prepare supporting documentation and quantitative rationale for FIIC approval.
• Monitor adherence to PMGs on an ongoing basis and escalate deviations or emerging issues to the Head of Investments.

Manager Alpha Profiling & Analytics

• Develop and maintain a structured manager alpha profile for each externally appointed fund manager, covering return decomposition, factor exposures, alpha consistency, active share, and peer comparison.
• Compile and maintain comprehensive manager return and risk databases, ensuring data integrity, consistency, and timeliness across all mandates.
• Conduct quantitative due diligence on fund managers, including style analysis, factor attribution, drawdown analytics, volatility decomposition, and peer benchmarking.
• Provide the Investment Specialist (Research) with quantitative inputs to complement qualitative manager assessments, including scoring models and comparative analytics.

Performance Measurement & Attribution

• Own the performance measurement methodology for the Corporation's investment portfolios, including return calculation standards, composite construction, and attribution frameworks.
• Conduct performance attribution analysis at portfolio, asset class, and manager level, identifying key drivers of return and risk relative to benchmarks.
• Review and maintain benchmark definitions, target returns, and performance hurdles in line with IPS objectives; support any benchmark change proposals with quantitative analysis.
• Produce performance commentary and attribution reports for the Investment Committee, FIIC, EXCO, and Board, presenting findings clearly to technical and non-technical audiences alike.

Quantitative Model Development & Tool Building

• Design, develop, and maintain quantitative models and investment tools to support portfolio analytics, return attribution, risk measurement, scenario modelling, and asset allocation analysis.
• Build and maintain a suite of return calculation and analysis tools, automating data workflows to improve accuracy, efficiency, and scalability across the investment unit.
• Develop and maintain a factor model and risk analytics toolkit, including tracking error, value-at-risk (VaR), drawdown analysis, correlation matrices, and concentration metrics.
• Continuously improve the unit's quantitative toolkit, incorporating new techniques, data sources, and automation capabilities (Python, R, Excel VBA, or equivalent).

Portfolio Construction & Risk Analytics

• Support the Head of Investments in portfolio construction decisions by providing quantitative analysis of asset allocation, risk budgeting, mandate structuring, and diversification.
• Conduct scenario and stress-testing analyses to assess the impact of market events, mandate changes, or rebalancing decisions on portfolio risk and return.
• Provide quantitative input into the annual IPS review, including analysis of strategic asset allocation, return objectives, and risk tolerances.
• Monitor portfolio-level risk metrics on an ongoing basis and report material changes or threshold breaches to the Head of Investments.

Reporting & Stakeholder Engagement

• Prepare and present quantitative investment analyses, performance reports, and portfolio analytics for the Head of Investments, FIIC, EXCO, and Board.
• Deliver clear, well-structured presentations of complex quantitative findings to non-technical stakeholders, translating data into narrative and actionable insight.
• Support the preparation of Investment Day materials, Board packs, and FIIC submissions with high-quality quantitative analysis and commentary.
• Provide quantitative support to the Investment Analyst for cross-functional reporting to Finance, Risk, and Actuarial where applicable.

Knowledge Transfer & Capability Building

• Actively share quantitative methods, tools, frameworks, and institutional knowledge with the Junior Investment Analyst in a structured and deliberate manner, supporting her development toward a full Investment Analyst designation.
• Review quantitative work produced by the Junior Analyst and provide constructive, technically grounded feedback.
• Contribute to a culture of analytical rigour and continuous learning within the Investments unit.

Reconciliation & Data Integrity

• Perform monthly reconciliation of investment transactions and asset valuations across the Corporation's portfolios, liaising with the custodian and fund managers to identify and resolve discrepancies on a timely basis.
• Oversee the reconciliation of records between fund managers and the custodian, ensuring alignment in positions, valuations, and income at month-end.
• Maintain the integrity and consistency of investment data used across quantitative models, performance reports, and analytical tools, acting as the quality control layer for all investment data flows entering the unit's systems.

• Coordinate with Finance and the back office to resolve posting and valuation differences, ensuring that reconciled data is signed off and available within agreed monthly deadlines.

Audit Liaison & Governance

• Serve as the primary Investments unit liaison for both internal and external auditors during interim and year-end audits, providing documented processes, reconciliation evidence packs, model walk-throughs, and data trails as required.
• Resolve audit queries relating to investment data, reconciliation, performance measurement, and quantitative models, and track findings through to closure.
• Maintain clear, auditable documentation for all models, tools, reconciliation processes, and data workflows owned by this role, ensuring they are evidence-ready at all times.
• Proactively identify control gaps or process weaknesses in the investment unit's quantitative and operational functions and propose remediation to the Head of Investments.
• Provide documented quantitative methodologies and supporting analysis to support the Corporation's broader governance, risk, and compliance frameworks.
• Undertake any additional projects assigned by the Head of Investments.

Process Improvement & Innovation

• Lead the identification and implementation of opportunities to automate, enhance, or replace existing analytical and reconciliation processes.
• Stay current with developments in quantitative finance, factor investing, and data science techniques relevant to multi-manager investment management.
• Introduce new methodologies and frameworks that advance the unit's analytical capabilities and investment outcomes.

Data Analysis

• Statistical Analysis: Conduct rigorous statistical analysis of large datasets, utilizing cutting-edge tools and techniques to extract actionable insights.
• Innovation and Market Awareness: Stay updated on the latest quantitative methods and financial market developments, contributing to the continuous innovation of investment approaches.
• Transaction Reconciliation: Perform monthly reconciliation of investment transactions and asset valuations to ensure data integrity.
• Fund Manager Monitoring: Regularly monitor and assess fund manager performance, exposures, and associated risks within the investment portfolio.

Monitoring & Reporting

• Investment Reporting: Prepare and interpret monthly and quarterly investment reports, covering asset manager and portfolio returns, benchmark comparisons, performance attribution, portfolio composition summaries, and accompanying commentary.
• Cross-Functional Reporting: Support other units within the Corporation, such as finance, risk, and actuarial, by preparing and interpreting various monthly and quarterly reports.
• Reconciliation Management: Oversee the reconciliation of records between fund managers and custodians, ensuring alignment and accuracy.
• Ad Hoc Projects: Undertake any additional projects as assigned by the Head of Investments.
• Convene and prepare the pack for the Monthly Investment Review meeting.  
• Transaction Reconciliation: Perform monthly reconciliation of investment transactions and asset valuations to ensure data integrity.
• Fund Manager Monitoring: Regularly monitor and assess fund manager performance, exposures, and associated risks within the investment portfolio.

Key Measures

• Quality, currency, and completeness of Portfolio Management Guidelines across all mandates.
• Depth and accuracy of manager alpha profiles and the return/risk database.

• Robustness, automation, and usability of quantitative models and tools
• Quality and clarity of performance attribution reports presented to FIIC and Board.
• Completeness and timeliness of monthly reconciliations, with breaks resolved within agreed deadlines.
• Audit readiness: clean, well-documented processes with all queries resolved to closure.

• Effectiveness of collaboration with the Investment Specialist (Research).
• Demonstrated knowledge transfer outcomes for the Junior Investment Analyst.
• Timeliness and accuracy of all quantitative and operational deliverables

• Quality Reporting: Produce high-quality, accurate, and timely investment reports that meet stakeholder needs.
• System Robustness: Maintain up-to-date, robust, and automated systems that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the role.
• Effective Liaison: Foster efficient communication and collaboration between the investment unit and the Corporation's back and middle offices.
• Custodian Relationship Management: Effectively manage relationships with custodians, ensuring smooth operations and alignment with the Corporation's investment goals.

Key Interfaces

• Head: Investments - primary reporting line and strategic direction.
• Junior Investment Analyst - mentoring, collaboration, and knowledge transfer.

• Investment Specialist (Research) - cross-functional analytical collaboration.

• Internal and External Auditors - primary Investments unit liaison; evidence, walk-throughs, and query resolution.

• Custodian Bank - reconciliation of positions, valuations, and income at month-end.

• External Fund Managers - quantitative due diligence, reconciliation, and ongoing analytics.

• Finance Unit - reconciliation sign-off, IFRS investment data, and GL alignment.

• Risk Unit - portfolio risk analytics and mandate compliance reporting.

• Actuarial Unit - investment data and asset-liability analysis support.

• Investment Consultant - collaborative analysis and strategy alignment.

• FIIC, EXCO, and Board - reporting and presentations.

• Data vendors: Regularly liaise with data vendors on licensing requirements to ensure that ECIC's data needs are sufficiently catered for

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Educational Background: Bachelor's degree in Finance, Mathematics, Statistics, Actuarial Science, Economics, or a related quantitative discipline.  Honours or postgraduate qualification is strongly preferred. 

Professional Experience: Minimum of 7 years of experience in institutional investment management, with demonstrated expertise in quantitative analysis, performance measurement, and multi-manager portfolio analytics. Quantitative Tool Development:  Proven track record in building quantitative models and investment tools; proficiency in Python, R, or MATLAB is required at this level.

Technical Proficiency: Proficiency in using Bloomberg as a reporting and analysis tool is essential.

Certifications: Holding a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), CIPM (Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement), or a similar professional qualification is highly advantageous.

Multi-Manager Experience:  Demonstrated experience in a multi-manager investment environment, with exposure to manager due diligence, alpha profiling, and portfolio construction analytics, is highly advantageous.

Quantitative Tool Development:  Proven track record in building quantitative models and investment tools; proficiency in Python, R, or MATLAB is required at this level.

Financial Acumen: Strong understanding of financial markets, investment instruments, and strategies, with the ability to apply this knowledge to drive investment decisions.

Regulatory Awareness:  Familiarity with South African investment regulatory frameworks (SARB, FSCA, SAM) is advantageous.

APPLICATIONS

Closing Date: Friday, 12 June 2026

NOTE: It is ECIC's intention to promote equity through the filling of posts, according to the set Employment Equity targets.

Data Protection

Personal information collected and processed for purposes of recruitment will be protected from unauthorised access and improper use or disclosure.

Declaration and Informed Consent

By submitting your application for the advertised role, you give ECIC permission to process your personal information and you acknowledge that you understand the purpose for which it is required and for which it will be used. Furthermore, you declare that all personal information supplied to the ECIC for the purposes of recruitment is accurate, up to date, not misleading and that it is complete in all respects.