Credit Research Analyst in Slough

Credit Research Analyst

Location: London – hybrid 50%

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time – 35 hours

Purpose

Just is in the process of increasing the proportion of public bonds that are managed internally, including fundamental credit coverage. As such, the Credit Team is expected to grow and play a major role in making internal management successful. The majority of the credit analyst’s time will be dedicated to internally managed assets. As a member of the Investments Team, the credit analyst (the analyst) will be part of the team responsible for:

• monitoring existing bond exposure (internally and externally managed),
• performing fundamental credit analysis on new investment opportunities (sourced internally and externally) and
• articulating executable investment recommendations for all public bonds and private loans. The analyst is expected to cover about 40 investment grade issuers across several sectors.

Who are Just?

We help people achieve a better later life. That’s our purpose and it’s the reason we exist. We are a fast-growing company helping customers enjoy the retirement they deserve. We do this through a variety of market leading, award-winning products and services, delivered by a diverse team of over 1,400 purpose-led colleagues who genuinely put the customer at the heart of everything we do.

This is a brilliant time to join our business. We are on an exciting growth journey to become the UK’s most loved retirement expert.

Key responsibilities

Internally managed assets – public corporate bonds

• Formulating fundamental credit recommendations for each existing exposure and new bond investment
• Maintaining updated and standardised 1-pagers for each asset within the portfolio
• Keeping financial models live and updating the team after each earnings release
• Maintaining an up-to-date buy list, including fundamental credit recommendation (internal rating view), relative value assessment, preferred tenors and positioning within the capital and corporate structure
• Maintaining an updated watchlist and informing the team of any news that may change an investment recommendation
• Writing sector and issuer reports to be presented to relevant committees, including the Credit Committee
• Liaising with Finance to respond to corporate actions in a timely manner
• Assisting other members of the Investment Team or any other team in matters related to bond exposure

Externally managed assets

• Public bonds – the analyst is expected to form, most often under tight deadlines, a credit view on issuers, with a focus on assessing attractiveness of the sector and credit rating stability (the analyst will be encouraged to engage with external asset managers)
• Private loans – although the fundamental credit work will be done by external asset managers, the more flexible timeframe means that the analyst is expected to have a deeper involvement and engage more extensively with them. The analyst will form a view in terms of current and expected credit rating, issuers’ business plans, and structure of transactions (e.g. security and covenant packages)
• All those assets will be monitored through a monthly credit watchlist the analyst will produce for credit committee and regular credit updates during weekly investment team meetings

What we’re looking for

• CFA (or progression towards).
• Several years in a credit research position (publishing ideally) in a sell- or buy-side institution, such as investment banks, commercial banks, asset managers, rating agencies
• Strong focus on fundamental credit research
• A generalist profile would be preferable; past coverage of any of the following sectors will also be seen as a positive: utilities, consumer non-cyclical and financials
• Good knowledge of Bloomberg functions, including bond pricing, ratings, news alerts, portfolio set up and issuances
• Good knowledge of rating agencies’ rating approaches and ability to use their rating methodologies to perform internal ratings
• Understanding of bond prospectuses and ability to capture relevant information
• Accuracy, autonomy, attention to details, intellectual curiosity, strong verbal and writing skills and deliverability under tight deadlines are very valuable attributes to have in order to be successful in this function
• Team spirit and collaboration are essential
• Basic knowledge of the SII framework for insurers would be seen as a strong positive, although not essential

What’s in it for you

• A competitive salary, pension scheme and life assurance
• 25 days annual leave plus an additional day on us for your birthday
• Private medical cover and income protection, just in case
• A generous and highly achievable bonus scheme
• Opportunities to progress your career in-role and within the company
• Free access to the Headspace app, 24/7 employee assistance helpline and trained physical and mental health first aiders
• A variety of employee funded benefits available via our online benefits portal
• Plus, several additional purchase options available for you and your loved ones

Explore our full range of benefits on our dedicated benefits page.

Be Bold. Be Brilliant. Be Just.