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City and County of San Francisco Associate Portfolio Manager – Absolute Return - San Francisco Employees' Retirement System (0923) (140756) in San Francisco, California

Who We Are

The San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) is dedicated to securing, protecting, and prudently investing the pension trust assets, administering mandated benefits programs, and providing promised benefits to the active and retired members of the City and County of San Francisco.

Established in 1889 as a fund for families and orphans of firefighters and police officers, today the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System serves more than 75,000 active, vested, and retired employees of the City and County of San Francisco and their survivors.

What We Do

The Investment Division serves as a resource to the Retirement Board in the development of investment policies and practices. In accordance with the annual investment plan, the investment team brings before the Board, new investment opportunities with the objectives of enhancing the structure and diversity of the investment portfolio and sustaining long-term performance. Additionally, the Investment Division’s professional staff analyzes, develops, and recommends asset allocation mixes, manages investment portfolios, and monitors the activities and performance of external investment managers.

  • Application Opening: March 15, 2024

  • Application Deadline: Open Until Filled

  • Salary:  $137,540 to $175,552 annually

  • Recruitment ID: RTF0140737- 01115111

This job announcement will not close before March 29, 2024. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Appointment Type

This permanent exempt position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service Examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer.

What We’re Looking For

SFERS seeks an experienced investment professional for the position of Associate Portfolio Manager (“APM”) for its Absolute Return portfolio. Reporting directly to the Managing Director of Absolute Return, and the CIO, the APM and the Absolute Return team are responsible for the oversight and management of SFERS’ $3.5 Billion Absolute Return portfolio.

The APM serves as the second in charge of SFERS’ Absolute Return portfolio, overseeing a large portfolio of pension plan assets; advises on manager recommendations for the pension plan; is responsible for conducting complete and thorough due diligence on prospective managers; is responsible for the ongoing evaluation of existing managers; advises on portfolio construction; assures compliance with investment policies; is responsible for the supervision and activities of one or more investment and/or administrative staff.

The APM conducts work with oversight from the Managing Director of Absolute Return. The APM is responsible for the following and will keep the Managing Director informed on the relevant issues.  

Essential Duties:

  • Conducts thorough and ongoing due diligence of existing external investment managers. The APM has a very effective awareness of a manager’s organization, management team, holdings, portfolio construction, drivers of risk and return, headline news, and all other aspects that could affect SFERS’ investments.

  • Responsible for monitoring external manager investment performance and the factors affecting performance, including material differences versus the managers’ underlying benchmarks.

  • Conducts complete and thorough due diligence on existing and prospective managers at an effective level.

  • Advises the Managing Director on the construction of a multi-manager portfolio including effective knowledge of the risk exposures within the asset class as well as for each manager’s portfolio.

  • Writes detailed investment recommendations and reports to be approved by the Managing Director.

  • Presents investment recommendations to the Retirement Board.

  • Reviews and evaluates key partnership terms and documents. Responsible for complete due diligence on a manager’s offering memorandum, subscription documents, and other materials related to an existing or prospective investment. Leads communication with internal and external counsel, as necessary.

  • Coordinates with investment managers, SFERS’ custodian, and service providers to ensure compliance with manager investment guidelines and SFERS’ investment policies.

  • Responsible for monitoring capital calls and distributions from external managers, and other functions related to managing relationships with external managers.

  • Responsible for assisting the day-to-day relationships with external managers, consultants, custodians, and service providers.

  • Represents SFERS with distinction and class to external managers and other stakeholders.

  • Takes direction from senior investment staff and completes assigned tasks accurately and on time.

  • Responsible for the supervision and development of an Investment Officer. 

Education:

Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in finance, economics, business administration, accounting, statistics, or similar field; AND

Experience:

Four (4) years of investment experience with an investment management firm, pension plan, university, endowment, foundation, corporation, family office, or consulting firm.

Substitution:

  • Possession of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, may substitute for an undergraduate degree in a different field than described above.

  • Possession of a graduate degree in Business Administration, Finance, Statistics, Investment Management, Economics, or similar field, may substitute for an undergraduate degree in a different field than described above.

  • Three (3) years of investment management experience at a position equivalent to an APM or higher with an investment management firm, pension plan, university, endowment, foundation, corporation, family office, consulting firm or other investment institution with at least $1 billion in assets, or seven years of such responsibility at a firm of any size, may substitute for an undergraduate degree in a different field than described above.

How to Stand Out

Desirable Qualifications:

The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

  • Knowledge and prior experience with alternatives, specifically absolute return and credit-oriented strategies.

  • Experience in understanding complex investment  strategies and concepts, as well as absolute return investment trends and developments.

  • Underwriting experience on co-investments and direct investments.

  • Prior experience in reviewing, evaluating, and negotiating complex partnership and contractual agreements.

  • Strong organizational and analytical skills with a demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

  • Experience with HFRI, Albourne Castle, eVestment, Caissa, Style Analytics, StyleAdvisor, and Bloomberg.

  • Strong writing and presentation skills with a genuine interest in the subject matter.

  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal).

  • Excellent attention to detail and commitment to delivering the highest quality work.

  • Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and under the pressure of tight deadlines.

  • Ability to effectively prioritize and handle multiple, time-sensitive tasks.

  • Highly self-motivated and hardworking with an ability to work and think independently as well as in a collaborative, team-oriented environment.

  • High level of professionalism and an ability to build networks and positive working relationships with key internal and external contacts.

  • Sound judgment, integrity, and moral code.

Verification

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training, and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application. 

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification, or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures 

Applications will be screened for relevant qualifying experience. Additional screening mechanisms may be implemented in order to determine candidates’ qualifications. Only those applicants who most closely meet the needs to the Agency will be invited to participate in the selection process. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement in the selection process.

  • Information About The Hiring Process (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process)

  • Conviction History

  • Employee Benefits Overview  (https://sfdhr.org/benefits-overview)  

  • Equal Employment Opportunity (https://sfdhr.org/equal-employment-opportunity)  

  • Disaster Service Worker (https://sfdhr.org/disaster-service-workers)

  • ADA Accommodation

  • Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#senioritycredit)

  • Veterans Preference

  • Right to Work (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#identification)

  • Copies of Application Documents

  • Diversity Statement (https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#diversitystatement)

How to Apply

All applicants must submit a resume and completed job application (all sections, including Experience and Education, must be completed) in order to be considered. Resumes will not be taken as a substitute for completing the application. 

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process.

Visit careers.sf.gov (file://RET08SVR/COMMON/HUMANRESOURCES/RECRUITMENT/PEX0922Investment%20OfficerAsset%20Allocation_0322/careers.sf.gov) and begin the application process.

  • Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the recruitment analyst, Michael Nettles, at michael.nettles@sfgov.org.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.

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