Director - Retirement Plan Investments, Portfolio Manager

Job Description:

This investment management role is part of the Retirement Plans Investments (RPI) team which is predominately focused on managing the assets/investments of the Bank of America retirement plans that include defined benefit plans, 401(k) plans and deferred comp plans.   

The scale of the task of managing these asset pools is evidenced by Pensions & Investments annual ranking of the 1,000 largest U.S. retirement plans by fund sponsor.   Within this listing, Bank of America’s U.S. retirement plans rank as the 36th largest pool of retirement assets (inclusive of public plans) and 9th largest for private/corporate employers.  The $18 billion of pension assets and $60 billion 401(k) plan assets place these plans in the “mega” plan category. 

RPI team’s role:

Manage the investment related matters of the company’s retirement plans. RPI is responsible for:

• Researching, analyzing, developing, recommending and implementing investment strategies for the pension plan, 401(k) plan, and assets held in trust for the NQDC plans
• Analyze, evaluate, select, and monitor investment strategies and investment firms covering the major asset classes
• Allocate assets among asset classes and investment strategies within the guidelines of each plan’s adopted investment policy
• Develop and implement efficient asset transition plans
• Manage each plan’s trust assets in accordance with ERISA and as an ERISA plan fiduciary

Support the administration of the plans.  Plan administrators manage the day-to-day operations of the plan (plan design, preparation of summary plan description, plan distributions, compliance of plan rules and regulations, compliance filing, participant accounts, day to day employee communications).  As a SME, RPI supports plan administration through:

• Financial reporting
  • Provide summary and detailed reporting of the investment related matters to the fiduciary committee responsible for oversight of the plans.
  • Plan sponsor and plan disclosure documents
  • Financial forecasting – Future plan impacts under different economic environments (Plan sponsor impacts for EST, CCAR, Plan corporate forecasts).
• Legal/regulatory/litigation research, analysis, and execution
• Stakeholder activities – includes working on plan communications and participant inquiries
• Corporate actions and benefit obligations – provide investment expertise in plan sponsor decisions (risk transfers) through analysis of actions, determination of impacts and development of execution strategies (examples include; evaluation of annuity providers, plan terminations and meeting liquidity needs)

In performing these responsibilities, the RPI team interacts and partners with the Global Human Resources Benefits team, record-keepers (Fidelity & ML RPWS), trustees, custodians, finance, accounting, treasury, consultants (investment consultants & actuaries), legal (internal/external), audit (internal/external), regulators and external money management firms. 

Responsibilities:

• Acting in the capacity of an ERISA plan fiduciary
• Research, develop, evaluate, recommend and implement investment strategies primarily covering alternatives (hedge funds) with input on other asset classes, including equities, fixed income, stable value and real estate.
• Conduct thorough due diligence reviews of both prospective and incumbent investment strategies/managers.
• Monitor and asses all aspects of an investment strategy, including performance attribution, portfolio management team and the investment management company.
• Oversee assigned investment strategies and relationship with external money managers
• Develop and monitor portfolio transition strategies.
• Maintaining current market knowledge of assigned asset classes.
• Perform research & analysis on different aspects of institutional asset management (e.g., asset class fees, trading costs, expected performance, correlations)
• Serve as Subject Matter Expert (SME) on investment strategies.  Effort includes developing investment strategy descriptions, responding to inquiries (e.g., participant/mgmt/legal/regulatory), and maintaining disclosure documentation.
• Forecasting the behaviors of pension assets and liabilities under various economic scenarios
• Performing other duties/research projects as assigned.  

Through these responsibilities, the incumbent will interact with leading institutional investment management firms, investment consultants, actuarial services firms, finance teams and legal groups.   The role offers an opportunity to develop an in-depth understanding of investment strategies, portfolio management, institutional asset management products and the responsibilities associated with investment administration of ERISA plans (defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans).

Required Knowledge, Skills & Experience:

• Graduation from an accredited four year college or university with a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent years of experience
• Knowledge of, and experience in institutional asset management (7+ years of experience)
• Broad understanding of the capital markets
• Knowledge of Investment concepts, terminology, styles, asset allocation, and performance measurement
• Demonstrated ability to efficiently learn and apply financial concepts
• Inquisitive, willing to challenge the status quo and strive to improve processes
• Effective at working collaboratively and business partnering
• Ability to work with a high level of autonomy, make well-reasoned decisions and in an ethical manner
• Ability to establish and maintain professional relationships with portfolio managers, actuaries, trustees, auditors, etc.
• Possess analytical abilities/financial acumen/problem solving skills
• Strong communication/interpersonal skills
• Proficient in MS Office tools (Excel – advanced user)

Desired Skills & Experience:

• CFA / MBA  – or working towards or relevant experience
• 10+ years Institutional Asset Management experience 
• Multi-asset class knowledge across public and private markets
• Principles and practices of institutional investment management and modern portfolio theory
• Forecast/Planning/Management Accounting/Project Management Experience
• Knowledge of ERISA Retirement Plans

Shift:

Hours Per Week: