Portfolio Strategist

Job Description

Job Description

Sequoia Financial Group is a growing Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), headquartered in Northeast Ohio, offering financial planning and wealth management services. At Sequoia, we exist with a singular purpose: to enrich lives. Our values define how we behave and guide us through the pursuit of our purpose to enrich lives. At Sequoia, our core values are:

• Integrity. We act in the best interests of others by providing an honest, consistent experience for our clients and team. 
• Passion . We pursue our full potential, seeking to continually enhance and evolve our ability to serve our clients and team.
• Teamwork.  We subordinate our egos to work together for the benefit of our clients. 

Our promise to team members is that you will grow with us. From experienced advisors to new college grads to transitioning principals, every team member will find Sequoia a place to refine their professional mission, move into new opportunities, go deeper, and lead further. We are built to help you build a career here as a long-term contributor in our work to enrich lives for generations.

Position Summary The Portfolio Strategist serves as the investment resource for an assigned regional advisor base, partnering with advisors to win new business and deepen existing client relationships. In a business development capacity, the Portfolio Strategist supports advisors in prospect meetings and delivers presentations to channels across the region. They also join advisors in client review meetings where a complex investment discussion is warranted or where a significant life event has changed the client's circumstances and portfolio needs.
The role carries primary responsibility for advisor education, building fluency in Sequoia's investment platform, communicating enhancements to it, and helping advisors understand how the platform and client portfolios are operated and executed. Ultimately, the Portfolio Strategist is accountable for appropriate adoption of Sequoia's investment platform across their advisor base.

Responsibilities

• Portfolio and Investment Consultation
  • Assess prospect investment needs, including existing holdings, objectives, constraints, risk tolerance, tax posture, and liquidity requirements.
  • Determine where Sequoia's specialized and complex solutions are appropriate for a given prospect or client situation, and articulate the rationale to advisors and prospects.
  • Develop a high-level plan for target allocation and the transition approach required to reach it.
  • Document the approved plan and hand it off to the Investment Implementation team for proposal construction.
  • If the business is won, remain available to Investment Implementation as the strategy owner during portfolio implementation and onboarding.
  • Serve as the investment subject matter expert for advisors, translating complex strategy into clear, decision-ready terms.
• Business Development and Client Engagement
  • Support advisors in prospect meetings as the investment specialist, addressing strategy, implementation and management questions.
  • Deliver presentations to channels across the assigned region to build awareness of Sequoia's investment capabilities, including on-site presentations and webinars for medium and large groups of centers of influence (COIs).
  • Join advisors in client review meetings where a complex investment discussion is warranted or where a significant event has materially changed the client's circumstances.
  • Partner with advisors and leadership teams to prepare for channel, prospect and client meetings.
• Advisor Education and Platform Adoption
  • Own advisor education on Sequoia's investment platform, including its construction philosophy, available solutions, and operational mechanics.
  • Communicate platform enhancements and changes to the assigned advisor base and ensure advisors understand the practical implications.
  • Build advisor fluency in how the platform and client portfolios are operated and executed day to day.
  • Drive appropriate adoption of Sequoia's investment platform across the assigned advisor base, identifying and addressing gaps in usage.
• Team Handoffs
  • Hand off target allocation and transition plans to the Investment Implementation team, which owns proposal construction, portfolio analysis, and implementation of newly onboarded business.
  • Transition onboarded relationships to the Investment Operations team, which owns ongoing portfolio management, trading, rebalancing, and execution.
  • Maintain documented communication with both teams so strategy intent is preserved through implementation and ongoing management.
• Field Insight and Influence
  • Carry field intelligence back to Investment Research, sharing advisor and client perspectives, solution gaps, and competitive observations with the CIO and asset class sub-committees.
  • Participate in asset class sub-committee meetings, contributing a practitioner's view of how strategies are received and applied in client situations.
  • Advise marketing, advisor leadership, and channel leadership on the materials, messaging, and capabilities needed to support business development through an investment lens.

Required Skills/Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree Required
• 10 years of experience in the investment management field.
• Demonstrated ability to design investment strategy within a fiduciary framework.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex investment concepts to advisors, clients, and prospects.
• Strong presentation skills and executive presence in client-facing and group settings.
• Ability to influence without authority and build credibility with an advisor base.
• Strong team orientation and interpersonal skills.
• Willingness and ability to travel to Sequoia offices, channel locations, and client meetings approximately 6 to 12 times per year.

Preferred Skills/Experience

• Experience working with high net-worth clients
• Advanced Degree or Certification, CFP, CFA, CAIA
• Experience with alternative investments and complex portfolio structures. 

Competencies

• Strong verbal and written communications skills
• Strong team orientation and interpersonal skills
• Ability to travel to multiple offices
• Strong presentation skills 

Work Authorization & Sponsorship:
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without requiring employer sponsorship to commence or continue employment at any point in time. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide sponsorship.

EEO Statement:
At Sequoia, we value and respect differences in our workforce. We actively encourage everyone to apply. Sequoia is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Working Conditions:
Frequent minimal physical effort such as sitting, prolonged periods working on a computer, standing and walking is required for this role. Depending on location, occasional moving and lifting light equipment and/or furniture may be required. This role may require occasional travel, including travel to client sites, company offices, or industry events, as needed.

Employer Rights:
This job description does not list all of the job duties of the job. You may be asked by your supervisors or managers to perform other duties. You may be evaluated in part based upon your performance of the tasks listed in this job description. The employer has the right to revise this job description at any time. This job description is not a contract for employment and either you or the employer may terminate your employment at any time for any reason.