This job is with St. James's Place, an inclusive employer and a member of myGwork – the largest global platform for the LGBTQ+ business community. Please do not contact the recruiter directly.
About the role:
At SJP, our book spans three distinct delivery channels, and we manage £225 billion of client assets across a complex investment universe. We are on a growth trajectory that makes the quality of our implementation as important as the quality of our investment decisions. We have an exciting cross-suite mandate to lead the end-to-end implementation agenda at one of the UK's most significant wealth managers - and to shape it for the next phase of our growth.
The Portfolio and Trade Implementation Specialist is a newly created role within our Investment Solutions function. Reporting to the Director of Investment Solutions, you'll lead the pre-trade decision framework and execution governance across all three delivery channels, and will lead the evaluation of the systems, platforms, and counterparty arrangements that underpin how SJP implements at scale. In this role, you'll be the specialist through whom investment intent is translated into portfolio reality, with minimum friction and cost.
What you'll be doing:
Proprietary Fund Range Implementation
- Lead the end-to-end implementation of portfolio changes across the UK's largest proprietary fund range
- Oversee fund dealing, subscriptions/redemptions, and in-specie transfers, ensuring optimal sequencing and minimal market impact
- Lead manager and SMA transitions, including transition risk, liquidity planning, and execution timing
- Drive cost awareness, incorporating swing pricing, dilution levies, and transaction costs into implementation decisions
- Identify and execute internal netting opportunities to reduce external trading costs
- Maintain a liquidity framework to support accurate implementation timelines
Model Portfolio Service Implementation
- Own implementation of model portfolio changes across large client populations
- Lead execution sequencing across funds and single securities, optimising dealing timelines and cash deployment
- Establish robust governance processes
- Define and oversee rebalancing policy, balancing tracking accuracy with cost efficiency
Bespoke Portfolio Execution
- Lead multi-asset execution strategy across bespoke client portfolios (equities, fixed income, FX, derivatives, structured products, and private markets)
- Define pre-trade execution strategy, including order sequencing, sizing, timing, and urgency
- Build a cross-portfolio order crossing framework to optimise internal liquidity
- Coordinate execution with FX exposure management and hedging requirements
Counterparty Governance & Execution Quality
- Develop post-trade cost analysis capability across all asset classes and delivery channels
- Own relationships with fund managers, brokers, platforms, and FX providers, ensuring best-in-class commercial terms and service
- Establish a transition management framework to govern complex portfolio events
Systems, Platforms & Operating Model
- Lead evaluation and selection of OMS / PMS and execution platforms
- Assess EMS and direct market access capability for growing bespoke portfolios
- Define and deliver a target operating model and implementation roadmap
- Provide strategic recommendations to senior leadership
About you:
Essential Criteria:
- Extensive experience in investment implementation, fund management operations, or execution within a large-scale asset or wealth management environment
- Strong knowledge of fund-of-funds, manager-of-managers, and multi-vehicle structures, including underlying funds and SMAs
- Deep understanding of fund dealing mechanics, including subscriptions/redemptions, in-specie transfers, dealing timelines, NAV pricing, swing pricing, and dilution levies
- Proven experience leading portfolio changes and transitions, including sequencing, multi-vehicle coordination, and tracking error control
- Experience with model portfolio implementation and rebalancing governance across large client account populations
- Broad multi-asset knowledge spanning funds, equities, fixed income, FX, and derivatives
- Strong stakeholder management and ability to operate within a complex, cross-functional environment
Desirable Criteria:
- Experience in transition management, including multi-asset and multi-vehicle transitions
- Knowledge of FX overlay management and hedging frameworks
- Experience negotiating with fund managers, administrators, or platform providers
- Experience supporting private markets implementation (e.g. capital calls, liquidity planning)
- Relevant professional qualification (e.g. CFA, CAIA, FRM, IMC)
