Associate Director - Regulatory Finance - Cost of Capital (WACC) in London

Our client, a large, global advisory and consulting firm is recruiting for its Energy & Utilities team, a team that provides advisory services for many major clients in the sector, including all UK utilities as well as some of the largest energy and water companies in Europe. They provide in-depth strategic and technical advice on strategy and business planning and analysis, regulatory finance, corporate finance and corporate financial management, regulatory policy as well as in other areas to help their clients create value for both shareholders and customers.

Energy & utilities experience is not required for this application. Our client is happy for the successful candidate to develop this knowledge on the job.

Their Energy & Utilities team is continuously expanding and they are looking for high quality candidates to support their growth with a particular focus on financial and economic analysis, including cost of capital estimation, financeability assessments, risk and scenario analysis, financial modelling, investment appraisal & valuation.

For this role no prior experience in energy & utilities is required and our client will consider applications from candidates with any sector coverage. Candidates must be strong on cost of capital estimation and have experience in WACC cost of equity.

Responsibilities:

• While you will have specific responsibilities for contributing towards the team’s regulatory finance business in utilities, there will also be opportunities to work in other sectors.
• Working closely with the director for finance in the utilities sector, you will help lead and further develop the team, increasing their presence in the sector.
• This will include identifying new opportunities, contributing towards winning work, and coaching junior members of staff.
• You will build relationships with key clients across the sector, as well as with other advisors (e.g. legal and engineering).
• The projects that you will advise on will be high profile and varied. For example, in recent years they have advised on cost of capital, financeability, risk analysis, financing strategy, financial modelling, state aid, Competition and Markets Authority re-determinations, major transactions and more.
• You will need to apply a structured strategic approach to problem solving, drawing on established economic and corporate finance principles, while having the capacity to think creatively.
• You will be leading the delivery of key projects. This will include delegating tasks to team members, constructing project plans, managing client interactions, tracking budgets, and complying with the company’s risk processes.
• You will need to be comfortable managing, coaching, and mentoring junior staff on specific projects.
• You will maintain a good understanding of regulatory finance issues in the regulated sectors e.g. on setting the cost of capital or assessing financeability, as well as how regulatory mechanisms interact with or impact the actual financing of regulated businesses.

Person requirements:

• Educated to a degree level in a quantitative field such as Finance, Economics, Mathematics or similar will be preferred, although candidates with highly relevant, equivalent experience, will also be considered.
• Have significant experience in the utilities sector, either as a regulatory policy maker (gained at a regulatory office or industry) or as a consultant specialising in regulatory or corporate finance, with specific expertise in WACC estimation and the application of the Capital Asset Pricing Model.
• Have a detailed knowledge of the current UK regulatory regimes and regulatory finance mechanics for utilities, their application and impact on notional and actual capital structures and business performance, including the role of the WACC in allowed revenue estimation.
• Demonstrate strong working knowledge of economic and financial theory and its application – for example risk-return trade-offs, fixed income pricing and valuation, capital structure, asset pricing, and beta estimation – preferably with experience in applying corporate finance concepts in the regulated networks space.
• Be highly skilled in quantitative economic and financial analysis. The ideal candidate will have experience leading projects with extensive WACC analysis elements, and/or have detailed knowledge and experience of financial econometrics and statistics, ideally applied in the utilities sectors.
• Have a sound knowledge of finances and financial structures of regulated utilities and their treatment within the regulatory WACC framework (we will consider candidates with deep expertise in financial analysis even if they do not have econometrics experience).
• Provide compelling and well-thought out solutions to complex economic and financial problems, being able to provide persuasive and self-assured responses in a credible manner.
• Bring excellent quantitative analysis (Stata or equivalent), Excel and Powerpoint skills.
• Bring exceptional written communication skills, with a proven ability to produce high-quality, technically rigorous reports for expert audiences, including regulators, investors, and legal advisors.
• Be an independent thinker with the ability to identify problems and contribute to the development of solutions, helping us to remain at the cutting edge of innovative thinking in the sector.
• Relish the opportunity for interaction and dialogue with companies, investors, regulators and other stakeholders, and with a host of functions across the Firm.
• Have experience of managing medium size project teams, with a focus on mentoring and coaching junior staff (with or without a finance background).
• Be a proven team player who can demonstrate a clear desire to manage teams, who can gain the trust and support of internal colleagues.

All UK staff who have not passed a Financial Services Authority (FSA) approved exam will be required to do so.

Our client is an equal opportunities employer, is committed to diversity and welcomes applications from a range of diverse backgrounds. They also have opportunities for role sharing / part time work, flexible working hours, work from home and more flexible working arrangements. They provide a workplace where everyone can thrive, whatever their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and socio-economic background.

We look forward to your application!