Over the last 20 years, Ares’ success has been driven by our people and our culture. Today, our team is guided by our core values – Collaborative, Responsible, Entrepreneurial, Self-Aware, Trustworthy – and our purpose to be a catalyst for shared prosperity and a better future. Through our recruitment, career development and employee-focused programming, we are committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive work environment where high-performance talent of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can build careers within this exciting and growing industry.

Job Description

Ares is looking for a Sr. Associate to join the Los Angeles Investment Operations team. The Investment Operations team works closely with business stakeholders in three lines of business (Credit, Private Equity and Real Estate) as well as various corporate functions. The team primarily works out of the Los Angeles office in partnership with the team in India. The ideal candidate will be responsible for assisting with the oversight of bond, equity, ABS and derivative trade settlements, as well as collateral management and researching and resolving associated cash and position reconciliation breaks. The ideal candidate would have experience working with Direct Lending and High Yield mandates for a global client base including pensions, insurance, and institutional investors. The role requires a dynamic, adaptive, experienced hands-on professional to ensure best practices in a fast-paced rapidly growing environment.

Primary functions and essential responsibilities

• Oversight of electronic and physical trade settlements (bonds/ABS/Equity/Derivatives) along with management of third-party service provider directly responsible for trade settlements

• Resolve settlement issues and position/cash reconciliation breaks

• Proactive daily review of trading activity

• Communication with Portfolio Managers, Traders, and Investment Operations for resolving trade discrepancies

• Assist with daily collateral management

• Maintain policy and procedures of the department and ensure our partnership team is trained and aware of any changes

• Make recommendations and implement efficiencies to improve the team’s processes

• Liaise between the accounting teams, offshore partners, operations and trustees for all portfolio-specific activity and issues, ensuring cross-communication of critical information between firm departments

• Assist with various ad-hoc projects

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance or other business related discipline
• MBA, CFA and/or CPA preferred but not required

Experience Required:

• Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in high quality, global capital markets or investment management firms with expertise in Investment Operations and Settlements related functions

• Experience in Investment Operations in any of middle office, back office, treasury functionals preferred

• Prior experience with an alternative asset manager preferred, broader asset management experience preferred

• Strong knowledge of various asset classes, primarily focused in credit/fixed income, derivatives, and FX with an emphasis on bank debt and high yield/alt credit

• Experience with Black Mountain (Allvue), Everest, Geneva, and/or IVP data management platforms preferred

• Understanding of basis accounting theories

• Track record in the management of operational risk from a procedural and regulatory perspective

• Experienced with a diverse set of investment vehicles such as Institutional Separate Accounts, SMA/Limited Partnerships, Open-End Mutual Funds, Closed-End Funds and UCITs, CLOs, and complex fund structures

• Hedge fund, Credit or Private Equity experience is a plus

General Requirements:

• Ability to extract important information from extensive research and analysis to effectively present facts and findings in a digestible format, a keen eye for attention to detail

• A self-directed individual with a can-do attitude, willing to work in an energetic, collaborative, and fast-paced environment, proactive in nature, and a proven ability to resolve issues with minimal supervision

• Proven outstanding communication (written and verbal), presentation, documentation, and interpersonal skills

• A hands-on approach and ability to synthesize business operations and talent needs

• Ability to successfully manage several priorities and challenging demands

• High accuracy and detail orientation

• Good judgment in terms of escalating issues vs. solving problems independently