Fixed Income Credit Analyst (Research team, Internal Investment Group)

At this time, we are unable to offer sponsorship for UK work visas. Therefore, applicants must have the right to work permanently in the UK without the need for visa sponsorship.

Hybrid, Full time (we welcome flexible working discussions)

An opportunity to make a difference

At Border to Coast our purpose is to make a difference and we re looking for keen Fixed Income Credit Analysts to join our award-winning team.

As a customer-owned and customer-focused organisation, integrity is one of our values, as is our collaborative and sustainable approach. Our focus is to secure the pensions of over a million people who have provided valuable service to their communities and society. We re the largest UK asset manager outside London or Edinburgh, and we provide innovative investments that deliver sustainable returns over the long term.

Our range of fixed income funds is growing and that s why we are seeking Fixed Income Credit Analysts to join our Leeds-based investment team. If you are curious and self-motivated with the desire to generate fundamental research and fixed income investment recommendations across a variety of sectors and countries this is an exciting opportunity.

Our Credit Analysts are focused on conducting fundamental analysis of issuers, recommending attractive relative value investment ideas and closely monitoring existing portfolio holdings. They work alongside internal Fixed Income Portfolio Managers, to fully integrate Responsible Investment principles and achieve long term outperformance for our portfolios. Ultimately Border to Coast is an investment business and its success is determined by the investment performance we generate for our Partner Funds

The role what you ll be doing

This role offers the opportunity to collaborate on security selection, portfolio construction, and investment strategy. You ll work closely with key stakeholders including Fixed Income Portfolio Managers, Portfolio Risk, the Responsible Investment team and Equity Research colleagues to:

• Conduct fundamental credit research and on-going monitoring of portfolio exposures in sectors under your coverage. Issuers are predominantly investment grade developed market entities although there may be a small number of high yield and/or emerging market exposures.
• Assess the relative value of new investment opportunities and effectively communicate recommendations for inclusion in relevant portfolios.
• Contribute your sector expertise to the overall investment strategy:
  - Monitor industry conditions and trends assessing their impact on the credit quality of issuers under coverage
  - Share insight and subject matter expertise to enhance the capability of others and develop our investment culture.
  - Collaborate with Research and Portfolio Management colleagues to highlight macro factors and market dynamics that may impact investment strategy across other sectors and portfolios.
  - Play an active role in constructively and respectfully challenging the information, analysis and logic supporting the recommendations of research team colleagues and investment approach of PMs.
• Actively participate in investment team meetings, company meetings, and conferences.
• Work closely with Responsible Investment colleagues to implement the Border to Coast Responsible Investment policies e.g. confirming that labelled bond s use of proceeds aligns with ICMA principles, evaluating second party opinions, assessing project impact and supporting engagement where appropriate.

About you - and the value you ll bring to our team

We are seeking investment professionals with curiosity and a passion for financial markets. The ideal candidate will have relevant credit research experience (banking, private credit, sell-side, buy-side or rating agency). In addition, you will be able to demonstrate:

• Strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills to share ideas and influence portfolio outcomes.
• Willingness to collaborate with and learn from others to develop investment ideas, refine processes, and share constructive feedback.
• Ability to distil a wide range of often conflicting information in a concise and cohesive manner.
• Willingness to take risk when making recommendations and to have your investment thesis respectfully challenged.
• The ability to recognise when unexpected developments require your recommendation to change.
• Sound knowledge of Responsible Investment principles and of the characteristics of labelled bonds, use-of-proceeds verification and impact reporting.
• Effective in IT skills required for the job role, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Bloomberg
• Planning, organisation, time and data management and administrative capabilities.
• You re a pro-active, self-motivated team player with the ability to manage an interesting and variable workload and be willing to assist and support other team members when required.

A relevant degree-level qualification is required, and candidates who are either CFA-qualified or working towards the designation will be preferred.

As a customer-owned business, we are deeply committed to sustainability, collaboration, and integrity values that shape everything we do and drive our long-term investment approach.