Finance Business Partner - Commercial Finance

Stonehage Fleming is adviser to many of the world’s leading families and wealth creators. We manage and protect their wealth, often across several geographies and generations. We have been privileged to support our clients including the Fleming Family over several decades, in the process bringing together talented professionals to offer a range of skills and capabilities rarely found in one firm. Acting as a full-service Family Office, or working in conjunction with other trusted advisers, we are able to draw on over 40 years of practical experience helping discerning clients address the challenges of creating and preserving wealth. Our clients have entrusted us with the management, fiduciary oversight and administration of in excess of US$170bn. We offer our services from 20 offices in 14 geographies. Independently owned by management, staff and a publicly quoted family investment trust with a patient capital philosophy, our goals are precisely aligned with those of the clients we serve.

OVERALL OBJECTIVES

The Finance Business Partner (FBP) is responsible for supporting multiple business units across the group, including the 4 main divisions of Family Office, Investment Management, Financial Services and Corporate Services, as well as groupwide central functions including IT, Facilities, Risk and Compliance among others. The mix of business units and stakeholders may change over time according to the needs of the business and the GCF team. The FBP works closely with the management of each of these areas to help them achieve their financial and strategic objectives. This is accomplished through the provision of value-add management information and insight into the financial performance of the division, identification of potential areas for improvement, and analysis that increases the understanding of the profitability of clients, teams, and strategic initiatives.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

This FBP role will be based in London and report to the Senior Finance Business Partner based in Cape Town. The role requires close engagement with division heads and heads of group central functions, as well as team leaders and client relationship managers in each office. Strong working relationships will also be developed with each area of Group Finance including the Group CFO, Financial Control, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Finance Systems and MI (FSMI) and Accounts Receivable.

Principal Responsibilities

• Prepare monthly financial and operational MI for each business unit and local office where applicable including information on financial performance, revenues and expenses, front office productivity, new business etc., adding commentary on performance and explanation of material variances to budget, forecast, and prior year.
• Present these results each month to the heads of each business unit and to individual department heads and regional executive committees as needed.
• Prepare additional periodic and ad-hoc reporting and projects as required by each business area.
• Provide commentary on business unit financial performance for inclusion in monthly reporting to the Group Exco and Board.
• Continuously increase knowledge and understanding of the business and leverage this to identify opportunities to improve operating processes, increase revenue, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and/or reduce risk.
• Work together with the business and with the Finance Systems and MI (FSMI) team to further develop MI to measure the performance of business units and profitability of clients, the latter encompassing the total revenue and contribution earned from all of the group’s services.
• Prepare the annual budgets and business plan for each area, ensuring that all revenue, cost, and new business targets and investment spend are backed by a sound business case and adequate challenge.
• Work with FP&A and FSMI teams to create efficient processes for periodic re-forecasting and longer-term projections as required by management.

Skills, Behaviours And Competencies

• Self-starter with high level of energy and ability to multi-task and meet multiple deadlines.
• Honesty and integrity.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Commercially minded with ability to interpret data and present conclusions clearly.
• Strong communication skills both verbal and written.
• Advanced PowerPoint and Excel skills.
• Experience using FP&A tools such as Anaplan, Workday Adaptive Planning, Power BI, Power Pivot or comparable reporting tools.
• Keen interest in investment management, family office, and wealth management industries.

Qualifications And Experience

• Professional accounting qualification (ACA, CIMA, ACCA or equivalent) or currently working towards qualification is strongly preferred.
• 3+ years progressive experience in a similar role, including management reporting, analysis of business performance and budgeting and forecasting.
• Previous experience within the financial services, trust & fiduciary, or investment management sectors is highly desirable.

Education Level

Master's Degree or Equivalent

Experience Level

Senior

Seniority level

Mid-Senior level

Employment type

Full-time

Job function

Finance and Sales