With the Investment Management Division (IMD) you will be joining a diverse group of achievers who celebrate the unique value individuals bring to support our shared cause: earning trust and contributing to the financial future of 1.9 million public education employees and retirees throughout Texas.
Navigating the current market environment takes innovation and we’re passionate about stewarding the right investments to make an impact both in the lives of our members and all Texans. We invite you to partner with the best financial minds in the business to manage a global portfolio of over $200 billion in public and private investments. Our success starts with you.
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas is seeking a motivated and dynamic investor to join its Special Opportunities (SO) team in Austin, TX. This portfolio represents over $5.5 billion of TRS's $190 billion Trust and can increase in size significantly during periods of enhanced opportunity. SO invests across public equity, private equity, private credit, structured finance, and special situations.
The individual selected for this position will work with the SO team in sourcing, underwriting, investing, and managing new and existing funds, platforms and principal investments. The majority of investments will be executed alongside TRS external managers which provides the opportunity to work alongside leading global investors across a wide variety of strategies, industries and regions.
The ideal candidate for this role is intellectually curious; values significant engagement and meaningful connections with external partners; is able to analyze complex data to identify risks and opportunities; seeks a fast-paced, collaborative team environment; and is driven to help improve and innovate the team's approach to investing. In addition, the ideal candidate will assist in identifying new and emerging areas for investment and will serve as a point of contact for TRS relationships with external partners.
Work involves performing due diligence of potential SO investment opportunities and assisting with day-to-day monitoring and reporting of the investment portfolio. In addition, responsibilities may also include assisting the Investment Management Division with fundamental and statistical research and analysis. This position reports to the Head of Special Opportunities Group.
This position will be filled at one of two levels (Associate or Senior Associate) depending upon the qualifications of the individual selected and the discretion of the hiring manager. Salary is commensurate with experience.
Compensation: The TRS Investment Management Division offers an attractive compensation package consisting of base salary, annual performance incentive bonus, a defined-benefit pension plan as well as 401(k) and 457 retirement plans, and comprehensive benefits. A hybrid schedule with a minimum of 3 days in the office will be available to IMD employees after 6 months of service. Candidate must agree to conduct all remote work from Texas.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
Due Diligence and Analysis
• Performs or assists with performing sourcing, due diligence, management, and day-to-day oversight of fund commitments and principal investments to achieve long-term performance targets of 8-%+ within acceptable risk parameters, while also considering funding/liquidity sources.
• Performs (or assists in conducting) due diligence processes for fund or platform investment opportunities, including a thorough review of Private Placement Memorandum (PPM), financial modeling of various analytics, analysis of track records via various benchmarking tools, conducting detailed onsite due diligence sessions and evaluating the overall merits and risks of a potential fund or platform investment across sectors and geographies.
• Performs due diligence of investment opportunities for principal investments including reviewing company diligence materials, conducting reference checks, and developing an independent thesis and investment framework to evaluate merits and risks, valuation, return profiles, terms, and comparable transactions/companies across sectors and geographies. Work includes coordinating or participating in due diligence efforts with external investment managers, managing or collaborating with internal Associates and Analysts, working with members of other TRS investment teams, and facilitating internal procedures relating to the evaluation and closing of principal transactions.
• Assists or leads evaluation on areas of investment research, including assessing attractiveness of strategy, market opportunity, historical and current return attribution, manager options for the identified space, key drivers and risks of the opportunity, and competitive environment including conducting research calls and reference checks.
• Communicates or assists with the communication of analysis of investment opportunities, results, and recommendations with the relevant portfolio managers(s) and/or Investment Committees via verbal and written reports and presentations, including preparing qualitative and quantitative reports, memoranda, and spreadsheets.
• Negotiates or assists in the negotiation of investment management partnerships.
• Documents and organizes the record of the due diligence process.
• Performs related work as assigned.
Portfolio Monitoring
• Monitors and assists with the development of a diverse portfolio of special opportunities investments, which includes recurring reviews and ad-hoc analysis of both portfolio, partner, and company-level performance.
• Monitors selected investments post-closing through observation of publicly available filings, board meetings/calls, and analysis of investment level financial and operational reports.
• Consults with investment managers, analysts, investment accounting, legal counsel, custodian, and third-party advisors and consultants.
• Prepares reports related to performance, risk, and other ad hoc topics related to the SO portfolio.
• Develops and maintains professional relationships and contacts within the investment industry in order to conduct searches and gain knowledge of appropriate investment opportunities.
• Works as part of a team to implement best operational and risk management practices.
• Works with TRS portfolio management systems such as PowerBI and DealCloud.
• Ensures that the agency Ethics Policy is adhered to in relationships with general partners, external managers, brokers, research suppliers, and other vendors.
• Performs related work as assigned.
WHAT YOU WILL BRING
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education:
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university with major coursework in business administration, finance, accounting, economics, math, liberal arts or a related area.
• A Master's degree in a related area may substitute for one (1) year of required experience.
Experience:
Associate
• Three (3) years of full-time professional institutional investment experience or other relevant experience involving a high degree of skill in data analysis, financial modeling, and investment evaluation with a credit, equity or multi-asset focus or other relevant transactional experience at a hedge fund, credit fund, private equity fund, or in transaction services, or consulting.
Senior Associate
• Six (6) year(s) of full-time professional institutional investment experience or other relevant experience involving a high degree of skill in data analysis, financial modeling, and investment evaluation with a credit, equity or multi-asset focus or other relevant transactional experience at a hedge fund, credit fund, private equity fund, or in transaction services, or consulting.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience at a large allocator (over $5B under management) or with multiple asset classes
• Master’s degree related to finance, accounting, economics, or a related field.
• Familiarity with legal terminology and fund documents.
• Experience working with external partners, boards of directors and/or senior management teams (CEO, CFO) of companies to evaluate operational, financial, and strategic decisions.
• Certification as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), or Chartered Alternative Investments Analyst (CAIA), significant progress toward obtaining such certification, or willingness to immediately begin study.
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Knowledge of:
• Advanced investment concepts, terminology, styles, models, strategies, and fundamental investment factors.
• Institutional portfolio management.
• Corporate valuation metrics and techniques including relative valuation methodologies.
• Process for completing diligence on a variety of transaction types or deep skills in one of the following: public equity, high yield and levered loans, structured credit, buyouts, and distressed/event driven situations.
Skill in:
• Financial modeling and valuation analysis.
• Conducting data searches and evaluations of large amounts of information, performing complex statistical analysis of the data, and preparing concise and accurate reports and written/oral recommendations.
• Planning, organizing, and prioritizing work assignments to manage a high-volume workload in a fast-paced and changing environment, and in completing detailed work with a high degree of accuracy.
• Verbal and written communication of complex information that is accurate, timely, and based on sound judgment.
• Making presentations to groups with varied levels of investment knowledge.
Ability to:
• Establish and maintain harmonious working relationships with co-workers, IMD and TRS colleagues, and external contacts.
• Work effectively in a professional team environment.
About TRS
??????Our members are our mission—the reason nearly 1000 of us are here. We are the largest public retirement system in Texas, serving nearly 1.9 million people. We strive to continue earning your trust every day.
TRS improves the retirement security of our Texas public education employees through our “best in class” investment management and diligent delivery of pension and health care benefits.
We are known as a "destination employer." The agency has been named a "Top Workplace 2023 in the USA" for the third time. We are proud to share this as the awards are based on employee feedback. More than that, we are honored to serve our members.
