Application deadline: 24th November 2024
Programme start date: 15 September 2025
Eligibility: Students graduating in summer 2024 and 2025
Who we are:
Rothesay is the UK’s largest pensions insurance specialist, purpose-built to protect pension schemes and their members’ pensions. With over £68 billion of assets under management, we secure the pensions of more than one million people and pay out, on average, approximately £200 million in pension payments each month.
Rothesay is dedicated to providing excellence in customer service alongside prudent underwriting, a conservative investment strategy and the careful management of risk. We are trusted by the pension schemes of some of the UK’s best known companies to provide pension solutions, including British Airways, Cadbury, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Co-Operative, Morrisons, Smiths Industries and Telent. At Rothesay, we are striving to transform our industry. We believe deeply in creating real security for the future and our leadership in finding new and better ways to do that is the key to our success. To do that, we need the very brightest original thinkers to bring creativity as well as rigour. Rothesay is a rewarding place to work, where quality people can thrive and prosper. We pride ourselves on the connections our people build, many of whom have been with us for over ten years.
Graduate Programme:
Our UK graduate programme is designed to kick-start careers for ambitious and analytical graduates who want to make an impact. Rothesay is built on a multi-talented, multi-disciplined model, collaborating directly and with singular focus to shape the future. Rothesay’s inclusive and collaborative working environment allows our graduates to build a broad skill-set and shape a strong internal network. We support your development journey, growth in your career, in addition to offering a competitive salary and tailored benefits.
Our 2 year* programme starts with a fundamentals week for the entire graduate cohort, where you will have in depth networking and insight sessions on Rothesay as a whole. From week two, you will join your team for professional integrated learning and start to make meaningful contributions. Throughout your first year, alongside your permanent role, you will be part of an on-site graduate development programme with both technical and business skills training. Our teams run lean, giving you excellent visibility and exposure throughout the business, and we will provide continuous training and upskilling for your future. Rothesay is a rewarding place to work, where quality people can thrive and prosper. Regular reviews will take place to support your learning and development with a formal assessment towards the end of the programme.
This opportunity is open to summer 2024 and 2025 graduates who are looking to launch into their career within an entrepreneurial environment where talent can thrive and excel.
The Role
The Quantitative Risk trading team sits within Rothesay’s wider trading team, working closely with our asset origination, quant, liquidity, and risk teams, with the objective of managing risk across Rothesay . We work on individual new idiosyncratic trade proposals as well as embedding an overarching framework of risk management and deployment targets across the entire suite of asset classes.
The Quantitative risk trading function was created as a response to the increase in size and complexity of our asset pool and is continuing to evolve; it offers a great growth-opportunity for strong, highly motivated candidates.
In general, we are looking for smart, commercial applicants with an excellent academic record, strong quantitative and problem-solving abilities and a high degree of adaptability, with a genuine intellectual appetite to expand their existing skillset.
The focus of the role will be a combination of commercial Trading views / risk-taking on the one hand, and quantitative analysis / problem-solving on the other hand, helping drive Rothesay’s strategy for underwriting and managing credit and a variety of illiquid risks across its investment book (rather than, for example, acting as execution trader for hedging credit exposure).
The wide scope of the role, combined with Rothesay’s dynamic and nimble culture, offers a prospective graduate an unrivalled opportunity to take ownership over their role and career path at an early stage. An offering which traditional graduate schemes cannot match.
Responsibilities:
The quantitative risk trading role will expose you to risk on a wide range of exotic and vanilla fixed income investments across Rothesay’s business. These asset classes may range from illiquid products such as Commercial Real Estate lending, bilaterally negotiated secured financing trades, Residential Mortgages and other esoteric asset classes, to more liquid products such as vanilla corporate bonds. Familiarity with these products is not expected, but an ability to grasp new concepts quickly is fundamental to our work.
The role will involve pricing and managing these exposures, for which a good balance of strong quantitative abilities and commercial mind-set will be required. This work will be an important aspect of Rothesay’s business strategy, both in helping to manage the existing asset back-book and contributing to the process for originating and structuring new investments.
The on-the-desk training will be demanding and will require you to undertake challenging project and day-to-day work that will extend your skills, and give you direct access to other members of the multi-disciplined Rothesay trading and asset origination teams.
Required:
- We recruit from all academic disciplines, although a high degree of numeracy is essential.
- Impeccable academic credentials.
- You will need to demonstrate a clear interest in a career in Financial Services and in particular, in trading and/or structured finance.
- Fluency in English is a prerequisite.
What we offer
- A meritocratic, driven and stimulating environment where success and achievement are rewarded
- Work with support from leaders in the industry and excellent on-the-job training supplemented with class-based business training where best applied
- A competitive starting salary with a performance related bonus
- A full study support package (including a study budget and up to 40 study days per year) will be provided as you work towards your IFoA fellowship qualification
What we are looking for
- We recruit from all academic disciplines; although a high degree of numeracy and logical approach to problem-solving are required.
- Excellent academic credentials are essential. You must have a minimum of a 2:1 or equivalent degree from a leading university.
- Internships & work experience in the financial services is highly desired but not essential.
- You will need to demonstrate a clear interest and intellectual curiosity in the financial markets.
- Coding proficiency a distinct plus.
- Fluency in English is a pre-requisite.
Disclaimer This position description is intended to describe the duties most frequently performed by an individual in this position. It is not intended to be a complete list of assigned duties, but to describe a position level. The role shall be performed within a professional office environment. Rothesay has health and safety polices that are available for all workers upon request. There are no specific health risks associated with the role.
Inclusion Rothesay actively promotes diversity and inclusivity. We know that our success depends on our people and that by nurturing a culture that values difference, we create a stronger, more dynamic business. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability or age.
The collection of applicant diversity data allows Rothesay to map and gain insights into the impact of our DEI strategy for talent attraction. This data is anonymised and is not analysed against individual applications. By requesting mapping our applicants’ demographic profiles, we can identify the under-represented groups. This enables us to identify any barriers to increasing our diversity and take action.
