Senior Director, Alternatives and New Origination

Overview

Legal & General is a leader in Pension Risk Transfer with over 35 years of experience globally, servicing over a million annuitants. Building on our global success, we established our Pension Risk Transfer platform in the US in 2015.  The business has grown steadily and in 2024 we completed $2.2 billion in premium written, representing our largest year on record.

At Legal & General Retirement America, we aim to make a positive difference in the lives of our customers, partners, colleagues, and the communities in which they live.  We are passionate about what we do and how we do it. This means working with pace and energy to reach our goals and challenging ourselves to achieve more.  We strive to create a unique environment where balance between work and life is possible. 

Purpose and Objective

The Senior Director, Alternatives and New Origination will be the lead person responsible for driving the Alternatives investment strategy aimed at improving portfolio competitiveness on a risk and capital -adjusted return basis for Insurance balance sheets. This person will lead a small team responsible for developing the strategy for alternative, underwriting new credit, real estate debt and alternative investments; and overseeing / reporting on the ongoing performance of those assets.

LGA’s Investments Team is responsible for investment strategy formulation and implementation and aggregate portfolio management by working with various functions within Legal & General in the US and London. Daily asset management is handled by our internal and external asset managers.

Requirements

Roles and Responsibilities:

Alternatives Portfolio Strategy, oversight and management

• Develop a strategy for the alternatives portfolio considering overall portfolio SAA, market outlook, asset structures, and capital positions.
• Develop a route to execution and lead due diligence for the Alternative portfolio investments working closely with the wider Investments team, external parties, and our affiliate manager – L&G Asset Management.
• Lead documentation commercial review, pricing working with Legal, Risk and Commercial teams.
• Develop an ongoing oversight for all alternative assets, and portfolio reporting and analytics.

Underwriting

• Lead a small, experienced team to lead underwriting in real estate and credit, and review individual private investments from external managers.

Data and analytics development

• Responsible for leading development of insightful and timely portfolio analytics and performance for the alternatives portfolio, well presented for management information, board pack and ad-hoc analyses on portfolio.

People Management:

• Lead a team of investment professionals driving accountability, strong performance and collaborative team culture.
• Ensure that each team member has a development plan in place and receives frequent feedback on their performance and development opportunities.
• Ensure tasks are covered and team members are cross trained as appropriate.

Auxiliary Responsibilities:

• Leading or participating in various strategic investment projects as needed.
• A key responsibility for this role will be to work closely with the Senior Director, Portfolio Strategy to incorporate Alternative investments in the portfolio.
• Supporting CIO in the set-up work for the OCIO function to be delivered as part of Banner sale.
• This role will work closely with various teams in the Stamford, Frederick, Bermuda and Chicago offices as well as the London headquarters.

Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree required in a related field, e.g. finance, actuarial, economics or business. A master’s degree/ MBA in a related field is preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in portfolio management, investment strategy, or a related field, with a focus on life insurance, pension risk transfer or similar areas.
• Minimum 5 years of experience of managing and developing a team of investment professionals.
• In-depth knowledge of investment products (particularly fixed income, private credit and alternatives), financial markets, and regulatory requirements for US and Bermuda balance sheets.
• Life Insurance industry experience or other liability driven investment experience is required.
• Actuary or CFA charter holder is preferred.

Skills:

• Strong people management experience with focus on driving accountability, individual development and high performance.
• Strong sense of ownership, prioritizing multiple projects and execution while meeting deadlines.
• Excellent analytical, quantitative and presentation skills.