Associate Analyst, Research Investment Grade

At Allstate, great things happen when our people work together to protect families and their belongings from life’s uncertainties. And for more than 90 years our innovative drive has kept us a step ahead of our customers’ evolving needs. From advocating for seat belts, air bags and graduated driving laws, to being an industry leader in pricing sophistication, telematics, and, more recently, device and identity protection. 

Job Description

As part of Allstate Investments’ Investment Grade (IG) exposure, we invest in investment grade bonds for Allstate general accounts. Our people, process, and the broader Allstate enterprise have been key ingredients to our collective success. We win with a collaborative team effort anchored by our proprietary credit process, which has led to a strong performance track record through investment cycles across all mandates.

Allstate Investments’ Public Asset Group is seeking an associate analyst to join our credit research team as a generalist that supports our investment grade mandates.

The associate analyst role involves underwriting credit investments and making recommendations based on a thorough understanding of industry and company fundamentals, as well as valuation. Our process is very team-oriented, so the ability to work well within the group is critical. The goal of the research team is to help deliver the best possible results for our clients. This job involves working closely with portfolio managers, developing investment themes, credit analysis and relative value recommendations.

Responsibilities

• The Associate Analyst will be expected to focus on the following:
  • Support senior analysts with quantitative and qualitative analysis in the underwriting of potential investment opportunities through our proprietary credit process, which is anchored around bottoms up detailed company specific financial models and forecasts in addition to understanding business and industry drivers, competitive positioning, and management strength; this is often on an accelerated time frame.
  • Consistent monitoring for current holdings leads to opining on quarterly operating results, writing credit reviews, updating financial models, reviewing fundamental and secular outlooks, and monitoring changes in prices and spreads.
  • Contribute to the improvement of the overall investment process by continually exploring new ideas, processes and technologies that will benefit the group.
  • Provide support for internal and external communications on an as-needed basis.

Challenges within the first 12 months:

The most significant challenges for the Associate Analyst for the first 12 months include:

• Learning our proprietary credit process
• Integrating into our organization and culture
• Establishing credibility with the Portfolio Managers and other asset teams within Allstate
• Developing sufficient knowledge of current portfolio holdings to preserve strong financial performance and seek attractive investment opportunities for the portfolios.

Professional background:

Experience

• 0 to 3 years of investment experience with a focus on credit

Skills Required

• Strong financial modeling skills coupled with a solid understanding of finance, economics, and market cycles,
• Strong interpersonal skills and willingness to be a reliable team player, build trust and confidence through collaboration with a wide range of internal and external colleagues,
• Ability to work independently; efficiently prioritize workstreams,
• Strong work ethic and communication skills
• Advanced Excel skills, Bloomberg
• Formal credit training a plus

Educational background:

• A bachelor’s degree with strong academic performance

Leadership requirements and personal traits:

The successful candidate will be a change leader and manager. This individual must also have the following personal and professional attributes which are consistent with the Company’s stated values:

• Thrive on change and continuous improvement;
• Demonstrate and foster a sense of urgency, strong commitment, and accountability while making sound decisions and achieving goals;
• Focus on exceptional customer service and drive innovation to create an atmosphere that supports new ideas and initiative;
• Strive for effective c