The posting
Job Description
This is an opportunity to join Ascot Group - one of the world’s preeminent specialty risk underwriting organizations.
Designed as a modern-era company operating through an ecosystem of interconnected global operating platforms, we’re bound by a common mission and purpose. Our greatest strength is our talented colleagues, who flourish in a collaborative and entrepreneurial culture steeped in excellence, integrity, and a passion to find a better way., The Ascot Way.
The Ascot Way guides our people and our organization. Our underwriting platforms collaborate to find creative ways to deploy our capital in a true cross-product and cross-platform approach. These platforms work as one, deploying our capital creatively through our Client Centric, Risk Centric, and Technology Centric strategies.
Built to be resilient, Ascot offers clients leading financial security while delivering bespoke products and world class service — both pre- and post-claims. Ascot exists to solve our clients’ brightest tomorrow, through agility, collaboration, resilience, and discipline.
Ascot is embedding artificial intelligence (AI) and automation across the organization to enhance decision making, efficiency, and quality of outcomes. In this role, you will be expected to work confidently alongside AI-enabled tools, apply sound judgment when interpreting insights, and adapt as technology continues to evolve. We value curiosity, critical thinking, and a willingness to embrace change as part of how we work.
Position Overview:
Reporting to the Deputy Chief Investment Officer, the Senior Associate, Alternative Investments will serve as a senior contributor to Ascot’s alternatives investment activities. The role will provide analytical, diligence and execution support across strategy research, manager and fund diligence, portfolio fit analysis, commitment pacing, monitoring and reporting.
The Senior Associate will help bring rigor, consistency and capacity to Ascot’s alternatives process across private markets, hedge funds and other externally managed or partnership-driven strategies, including co-investment or direct opportunities where alternatives expertise is relevant.
Responsibilities:
Sourcing and Screening:
- Conduct market mapping and thematic research to identify and screen attractive alternative strategies, sectors, managers, funds and partnership opportunities against Ascot's objectives, risk appetite, return expectations and investment constraints.
- Maintain a prioritized alternatives pipeline covering strategy rationale, manager status, timing, diligence items, pacing and next steps.
- Support manager and sponsor relationships to improve access, transparency, knowledge transfer and potential co-investment flow.
Manager and Fund Diligence:
- Conduct diligence on alternative managers, funds and strategies, including investment process, team depth, track record, portfolio construction, risk management, operations and alignment.
- Review manager materials, data rooms, performance, exposures, governance, liquidity and risk controls.
- Assess each opportunity’s return potential, downside protection, liquidity, valuation, capital efficiency, accounting and regulatory considerations, and portfolio fit.
- Support review of fund terms, fees, side letters and investor protections in coordination with Legal, Tax, Accounting, and external advisers.
- Coordinate with external advisers where appropriate while preserving Ascot's ownership of investment judgment, pacing and portfolio construction.
- Support diligence on co-investment or direct opportunities when alternatives expertise, manager context or sponsor insight is relevant.
Investment Analysis and Recommendations:
- Prepare concise investment recommendations covering strategy, manager edge, return profile, risks, liquidity, fees, terms, portfolio role, sizing, assumptions, open items and monitoring expectations.
- Build analytical tools for alternatives pacing, exposures, cash flows, performance comparison, scenario analysis and manager benchmarking.
- Present analysis and draft recommendations, including recommendations to decline, to investment leadership and relevant governance partners.
Monitoring, Reporting, and Portfolio Support:
- Monitor approved alternative investments and manager relationships against underwriting expectations, portfolio role, risk limits, liquidity assumptions, performance objectives and look-through exposures.
- Contribute alternatives content to portfolio reviews, investment reporting and governance materials.
- Track commitments, capital calls, distributions, manager changes and material developments with Investment Operations, Accounting, Tax, Legal and Risk.
- Identify and evaluate potential follow-up actions, including additional diligence, pacing changes, hold/sell decisions, redemptions or manager replacement, when circumstances materially change.
Strategy and Continuous Improvement:
- Contribute alternatives analysis to asset-allocation reviews, portfolio construction, manager overlap analysis, fee reviews and tactical initiatives.
- Help codify Ascot’s alternatives process across sourcing, diligence, approval, monitoring, documentation and recurring review standards.
- Use data, automation and AI-enabled tools to improve research, workflow efficiency, transparency and analytical insight.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Business, Mathematics or a related field; progress toward the CFA, CAIA or another relevant designation is a positive.
- At least 5 years of relevant experience in alternative investment research, private markets, private credit, hedge funds, manager research, institutional consulting, insurance asset management or comparable diligence.
- Experience evaluating investment managers, funds or private-market strategies, including investment process, team, track record, portfolio construction, liquidity, valuation, downside risk, fees, terms and alignment.
- Strong analytical capability across performance, risk, exposures, liquidity, commitment pacing, cash flows, scenario analysis and manager benchmarking, with advanced Microsoft Excel proficiency.
- Ability to synthesize diligence findings into clear, balanced written recommendations that identify the investment case, key risks, open issues and decision rationale, including recommendations to decline.
- Experience with private-market data platforms, portfolio analytics tools and AI-enabled workflow tools preferred.
- Insurance general-account investment experience, including familiarity with capital, accounting and regulatory considerations relevant to alternative investments, preferred.
- High standards of judgment, integrity, discretion and follow-through, with a collaborative, low-ego style consistent with The Ascot Way.
**This role can be filled at a different level, depending on experience.**
Compensation:
Actual base pay could vary and may be above or below the listed range based on factors including but not limited to experience, subject matter expertise, and skills. The base pay is just one component of Ascot’s total compensation package for employees. Other rewards may include an annual cash bonus and other forms of discretionary compensation awarded by the Company.
The annualized base pay range for this role is: $140,000 - $170,000
Company Benefits:
The Company provides a competitive benefits package that includes the following (eligibility requirements apply):
- Health and Welfare Benefits: Medical (including prescription coverage), Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account, Commuter Account, Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Life Insurance, AD&D, Work/Life Resources (including Employee Assistance Program), and more
- Leave Benefits: Paid holidays, annual Paid Time Off (includes paid state /local paid leave where required), Short-term Disability, Long-term Disability, Other leaves (e.g., Bereavement, FMLA, Adoption, Maternity, Military, Primary & Non-Primary Caregiver)
- Retirement Benefits: Contributory Savings Plan (401k)
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