Director, Private Markets Investment Risk

Director, Private Markets Investment Risk

Why you’ll love working here:

• high-performance, people-focused culture
• our commitment that equity, diversity, and inclusion are fundamental to our work environment and business success, which helps employees feel valued and empowered to be their authentic selves
• learning and development initiatives, including workshops, Speaker Series events and access to LinkedIn Learning, that support employees’ career growth
• membership in HOOPP’s world class defined benefit pension plan, which can serve as an important part of your retirement security
• competitive, 100% company-paid extended health and dental benefits for permanent employees, including coverage supporting our team's diversity and mental health (e.g., gender affirmation, fertility and drug treatment, psychological support benefits of $2,500 per year, and newly extended maternity/parental leave top of 26 weeks)
• optional post-retirement health and dental benefits subsidized at 50%
• yoga classes, meditation workshops, nutritional consultations, and wellness seminars
• access to an annual wellness reimbursement program for health and wellness-related expenses for permanent and temporary employees
• the opportunity to make a difference and help take care of those who care for us, by providing a financially secure retirement for Ontario healthcare workers

Job Summary

The Director, Private Markets Investment Risk, will report to the Senior Director, Private Markets Investment Risk. The incumbent will assist the Senior Director in designing and implementing the investment risk framework, covering private markets, focusing on transaction and strategy support. The Director will also assist the Senior Director in designing and implementing processes and systems that can identify, measure, analyze, monitor, report on and mitigate all investment-related risks. Assist the Senior Director to build strong relationships with Investment Management, Finance, IT and other areas of the HOOPP organization. Build strong relationships with peers in the industry, regulators, external investment managers and other relevant external parties.

What you will do:

• Ensure the appropriate foundation is in place, including organization structure, people, and technology to deliver critical support and oversight to investment risk activities for all major private asset classes such as Private Equity, Real Estate and Infrastructure.
• Provide insight and oversight over the identification, measurement, monitoring, reporting and mitigation of investment risks, focusing on new strategies, transactions and idiosyncratic risk.
• Risk review new private markets transactions and strategies before IRC approval. Enable new investment strategies and opportunities by acting as a trusted advisor to Investment Management in assessing the investment risk impact and viability of new strategies.
• Actively participate in Investment Committee meetings, discussing transactions with consideration of how the transaction fits into the total portfolio.
• Periodically review existing strategies and transactions ("post mortem") to assess risk and performance versus assumptions.
• Contribute to HOOPP-wide Emerging risk process, through knowledge of and experience with developments in global markets and international financial markets regulation.
• Contribute to the design, implementation and maintenance of a risk budgeting/risk limit system, by suggesting alternative risk metrics and limits and obtaining agreement with the portfolio managers.
• Contribute to the draft and coordinate the design, implementation and maintenance of Policies/Guidelines for portfolios, in collaboration with Investment Management.
• Contribute to design, implement and maintain investment risk reports for portfolios/asset classes, focusing on relevant metrics (e.g leverage, EBITDA trends, as well as statistical measures such as VaR) for senior management and Board.
• Contribute to design and implement risk attribution (marginal, incremental risk, contribution to risk, across exposures and risk factors).
• Contribute to review, draft all internal policies as they pertain to Investment Risk Management, such as but not limited to: SIP&P, IP&G.
• Monitor industry trends and standards for Investment Risk Management. Assess the impact on HOOPP and implement changes in processes, staffing and technology, to ensure HOOPP is in compliance with regulatory requirements and meeting industry best practices.
• Contribute to risk research aimed at improving HOOPP's ability to pro-actively respond to changes in risk factors/economic regimes.
• Drive change and adopt best practices; Continuously drive innovation.
• Participate in a leadership capacity in various committees (steering and project control committees) to provide guidance and oversight to various initiatives.
• Seek opportunities to leverage technology to streamline processes, reduce operational and trade execution risk, create real-time reporting that allows Investment Management to identify and capitalize on market opportunities.
• Continuous scan vendor landscape to identify opportunities to increase operational efficiencies and effectiveness.
• Champion the evolution of workflow redesign, reengineering and automation to continuously improve efficiency and reduce operational risk.
• Research and apply Artificial Intelligence in investment risk processes where beneficial to HOOPP.

What you bring:

• University education with a minimum post-graduate degree in business, mathematics, science, engineering, or other quantitative discipline.
• Holder of appropriate professional designates, such as CFA and FRM preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of working experience with strong knowledge of financial risk modeling and associated technology utilization in the financial industry.
• Minimum 5 years of working experience in pension industry with strong knowledge of private markets valuation and risk modeling and other quantitative methodologies a must.
• Expert in capital markets risk management; Experience in capital markets front office nice to have.
• Experience in private market transactions highly preferred.
• Strategic and forward-looking understanding of emerging technology, such as the application of Artificial Intelligence in risk management. Demonstrated strong research and innovation skills.
• Previous experience in designing, implementing and/or managing a cross-asset risk system and/or asset simulation system an asset.
• Exceptional attention to detail with highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, and excellent English - written and verbal.
• Strong time management, organizational skills and the ability to meet tight deadlines.
• Alignment with HOOPP's values of Professional, Accountable, Compassionate, Trustworthy and Collaborative.
• A conceptual and critical thinker who is adept at large scale problems.
• Excellent at building and maintaining strong working relationships across the HOOPP organization.
• Available for travel as required.

About Us

About HOOPP

The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) is one of the strongest and most stable defined benefit (DB) pension plans in Canada. Since 1960, HOOPP has been helping Ontario's healthcare workers build the foundation for a financially secure retirement.

We take pride in being the pension plan for Ontario’s healthcare community and serve more than 460,000 members at more than 670 employers across the province. At HOOPP, we are committed to providing our members with a stable and reliable pension that starts in retirement and is paid for life.

With offices in Toronto and London, we manage a global, multi-asset class investment portfolio. At the end of 2023 our net assets reached $112.6 billion and our funded status remained strong and stable at 115%.

HOOPP's core values - professional, accountable, collaborative, compassionate and trustworthy - guide every interaction with our members, employers and employees. We've become one of Canada's leading pension plans by consistently challenging ourselves and embracing innovation. From our unique investment management approach to our innovative technology and thought-provoking research, we constantly seek to push the boundaries, and we do this by hiring passionate, forward-thinking people.

Our high-performance culture is founded on collaboration, respect and belonging. HOOPP is an equal opportunity employer and we're proud of our diversity. We select applicants for employment solely on the basis of their qualifications. Should you require accommodation because of a disability during the recruitment and selection process, please contact our Human Resources team. We will be happy to consult with you so that arrangements can be made for reasonable accommodation.