Portfolio Operations Associate

Job Description

Job Description

Company Profile

Founded in 1977, GMO is a global investment manager committed to delivering superior long-term investment performance and advice to our clients. We offer investment strategies and solutions where we believe we are positioned to add the greatest value for our investors. These include multi-asset class, equity, fixed income and alternative offerings.

We manage approximately $80bn for a client base that includes many of the world’s most sophisticated institutions, financial intermediaries, and private clients. Industry-wide, we are well known for our focus on valuation-based investing, willingness to take bold positions when conditions warrant, and candid and academically rigorous thought leadership. Jeremy Grantham, GMO’s Co-Founder and Long-Term Investment Strategist, is renowned as an expert in identifying speculative investment bubbles and also as a leading climate investor and advocate.

GMO is privately owned and employs over 430 people worldwide. We are headquartered in Boston, with additional offices in Europe, Asia and Australia. Our company-wide culture emphasizes commitment to clients, intellectual curiosity, and open debate. We celebrate and respect our differences, while embracing and valuing what each of us brings to work, as we know that diverse teams in an inclusive, caring environment achieve higher engagement and better client results.

Please follow the prompts included in this job posting to apply. The application window for this role is anticipated to remain open until the job is filled, or as otherwise determined by GMO.

Position Overview

The Portfolio Operations Associate is responsible for ensuring the integrity of data provided by custodian banks, prime brokers, and administrators. You will perform various controls, audit, analytical, accounting and reporting responsibilities for a number of GMO’s mutual funds, hedge funds, ETFs, and separately managed accounts. “Ownership” is the key. You will take ownership of each account for which you are assigned. You will support the investment process (portfolio managers, traders, and analysts) by identifying, researching, and resolving any and all discrepancies discovered through the review and validation of all investment activity. You will work with a variety of teams at GMO including the front and middle office as well as our technology, and client relationship teams.

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of all assigned accounts and their underlying activity
• Perform end-to-end reconciliation of holdings, cash, and security transactions against custodian banks; proactively investigate and resolve complex accounting and custody discrepancies while communicating effectively with investment teams
• Conduct daily and monthly NAV validation by comparing GMO-calculated net assets with those reported by fund administrators
• Monitor and report cash availability and overdraft positions to GMO’s Cash Desk and FX teams in a timely manner
• Partner with the Pricing team and fund administrators to research, escalate, and resolve security valuation issues
• Produce accurate and timely client-specific and ad hoc reporting, ensuring all outputs meet quality assurance standards
• Proactively track and follow up on all outstanding issues with custodians; maintain full ownership through resolution and identify opportunities to prevent recurrence
• Communicate clearly with internal stakeholders to highlight and escalate discrepancies that may impact investment decisions
• Collaborate with the Data Management team to investigate and resolve data integrity issues
• Work closely with all teams across Operations at GMO to ensure reconciliation items are resolved timely
• Contribute to cross-functional initiatives and ad hoc projects at the firm

• Supporting data integrity initiatives, including system and database reviews
• Assisting with onboarding and implementation of new systems
• Contributing to process improvement efforts across the team and broader organization
• Participating in SOC1 audit activities

• Bachelor’s degree
• 1-4 years of relevant experience; fund accounting a plus
• Derivatives and other asset class experience preferred
• Experience with BlackRock Aladdin a plus
• Experience with FIS’s Data Integrity Manager a plus
• Strong analytical skills
• Self-motivated with proven ability to work effectively on a team
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word and Excel is required, Microsoft Office programming skills are a plus

This salary range is estimated for this role and actual pay may be different based on a candidate’s qualifications and/or years of experience. In addition, this position is eligible for a discretionary annual bonus award, which award may be determined by individual, team, department and firm performance, and is subject to the terms of GMO’s compensation plan. This position is also benefits eligible. GMO’s comprehensive benefits program includes medical insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, long-term disability coverage, a 401(k)/profit-sharing retirement plan, open paid time off, leaves of absences, dependent care resources, tuition reimbursement, charitable gifts matching, flexible spending accounts, and commuter benefits.

GMO is currently operating in a hybrid work model with the current expectation that the candidate will be in the office three to four days per week.

GMO is committed to the recruitment, employment, and promotion of all candidates equally, regardless of an individual's gender, race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, genetic information, physical or mental disability (except where such disability is a bona fide occupational disqualification) or any other classification protected under federal, state or local law.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.