Portfolio Accounting Analyst

PORTFOLIO ACCOUNTING ANALYST

Fully Remote (Ontario or Quebec)

CONTRIBUTING TO THE CMPA

The Finance department supports the CMPA’s mission and goals by safeguarding the Association’s assets through accurate and timely recording and stewardship of financial transactions. The Portfolio Accounting & Reporting team acts as the back office bridging the Association’s internal Investment department with the Finance department. The CMPA manages a $6 billion portfolio deployed across traditional and alternative strategies including a significant allocation to private assets and hedge funds.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Reporting to the Manager, Portfolio Accounting & Reporting, the incumbent is responsible for the investment accounting functions relating to the public portfolio of assets which include publicly traded securities, public loans, hedge funds and derivative instruments. This involves preparing both valuation and payable/receivable entries, as well as ensuring the accuracy of any automated entry processes. The incumbent identifies any deviations from manager valuations and is responsible for the monthly reconciliation process. The individual performs quarterly fee accrual analysis for public funds and assists in the production of annual audit reports.

POSITION ACTIVITIES

• Oversees the preparation of all entries for the public assets including subscriptions, redemptions, and transfers
• Monitors all collateral and securities sold under agreement to repurchase with counterparties and ensures that they are compliant within the established guidelines
• Monitors cash flows forecasts for future investment activity, highlighting potential cash shortfalls; purchases and sells foreign currency and enters short term note purchases
• Liaises with third-party custodian and counterparties, including resolving settlement issues and reconciling monthly custodian accounts
• Updates the market values weekly for hedge funds, swaps and forward currency contracts
• Reconciles swap and forward currency contracts with counterparties on a monthly basis and follows up on variances
• Reconciles cost and market values for all public assets against the values provided by brokers/fund managers
• Prepares aggregate monthly Public Asset entries for the database loads into the financial accounting system
• Verifies accuracy of automated upload of custodian public mandate values as well as any ad hoc entries
• Compares monthly manager-reported values and custodian values for fixed income securities and public loans and follows up/resolves any significant discrepancy in market value between the manager and the custodian
• Completes monthly reconciliation of all Investment trial balance accounts in the financial accounting system with the investment accounting system
• Reconciles, prepares, and processes quarterly investment management fee accruals for Public Assets
• Reconciles all profit and loss accounts in the financial accounting system against the custodian and investment accounting systems and explains/corrects any variances
• Updates and continuously improves the public asset policies and procedures
• Assists with the preparation of the financial statement note disclosures for the year-end corporate financial statements and audit work papers for interim and final audits

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Minimum 4 year Bachelor’s Degree required, preferably with a concentration in Finance, Accounting, or an equivalent field of study
• Successful completion of an accounting designation (CPA) and/or CFA (Certified Financial Analyst) designation is required
• Minimum of 4-6 years of relevant experience in the brokerage, banking, or investment-related industry, with direct experience in the “back-office” function for at least part of that time period
• Experience in accounting for investments, including knowledge of portfolio reconciliations, pricing of swaps and forward contracts
• Familiarity with the custodian function and reconciliation of their accounts to the external manager
• Good insight into the investment sector, with an understanding of fixed income, public loans, hedge funds, swaps, forward contracts and private equity funds
• A desire to maintain a current knowledge of investment research, trends, and directions as they pertain to public and private assets
• Experience working with accounting system applications (Workday Financials would be an asset)
• Experience working with high volumes of transactions within tight deadlines

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Ability to meet established deadlines and prioritize work accordingly
• Strong interpersonal communication skills with an ability to deal with internal or external contacts on a regular b