Associate, Investment Strategy

Position: Associate, Investment Strategy

Status: Full-time, Indefinite

Reports to: Vice President, Investment Strategy

Language(s): English

Location: Remote, within Canada

Salary range: $87,000 - 116,000

Deadline for Applications: 28 April 2024, 11:59pm EDT

ABOUT THE EQUALITY FUNDThe Equality Fund is transforming the way that resources—and power—flow into the hands of girls, women, and trans people worldwide. Designed by feminists for feminists, it is a model for sustainably resourcing feminist movements everywhere, through global grantmaking, gender-lens investing, policy advocacy, and feminist philanthropy. Launched in 2019, the Equality Fund has committed $85 million as of 2023 and is supporting over 800 organizations working in 90 countries globally.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Vice President, Investment Strategy, the Associate will support delivering upon key investment activities including the execution of Equality Fund’s Investment Strategy, portfolio management of the EF Government Investment Pool, promotion of EF’s Gender Lens Investment Criteria, financial and impact reporting, stewardship of external investment relationships, and investment governance.

SCOPE & RESPONSIBILITIES    

Investment strategy development, product research, discovery and execution

• Contributes to short, medium and long-term planning for EF’s  investment activities and supports the execution of EF’s investment strategy
• Contributes to the development and launch of new investment products alongside asset management partners, across asset classes including public equities, fixed income, private equity and private credit
• Performs market analysis and research on investment strategies and gender lens investment products 
• Supports screening of investment pipeline proposed by Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) for adherence to EF Gender Lens Investment (GLI) criteria

Relationship and field building

• Stewards external relationships and key investment partners including investment managers, EF Board of Directors, Investment Committees and external parties
• Contributes to field building in gender lens investing and promotion of EF’s GLI Criteria through participation in external events, webinars and communities of practice
• Supports VP Investment Strategy with capital mobilization and investment fundraising by engaging with external investors and funders 
• Support in analysis and preparation of EF GLI knowledge products
• Shares insights, knowledge and information internally and across teams, collaborating with EF staff to co-create processes and procedures and form new partnerships
• Facilitates meetings with external partners and internal teams
• Act in accordance with our policies around building a culture of safety, respect, and care; never engage in harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation or abuse of any form, or anything else contrary to our code of conduct.

Impact measurement and analysis

• Measures, monitors and tracks key performance indicators and impact
• Researches and develops impact measurement methodologies to communicate the impact and results of EF’s investment activities
• Synthesizes information from multiple inputs, maps and analyzes alternatives and future paths as EF builds out its investment processes, portfolio, products,  services and activities
• Measures, manages and mitigates risk associated with investment strategy and portfolio
• Contributes to EF’s measurement, evaluation, and learning framework and provides research and data to inform decisions
• Contributes to the development of GLI guidelines & benchmarks

Planning and reporting

• Leads the investment team’s annual planning and reporting process 
• Lead the Global Affairs Canada annual reporting process for the investment team
• Leads the performance management framework annual reporting process on behalf of the Investment team
• Produces investment reports and data as required
• Provides input into various organization-wide and investment team policies, procedures and documents including the annual plan, annual report, etc.

Governance

• Develops activity summaries to support quarterly Board meeting investment related agenda items
• Assists in the preparation of Investment Committee reports and documents for Board of director meetings and materials packages
• Manages the Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) agenda, planning, preparation and dissemination of supporting materials
• Manages the committee member recruitment process for the IAC
• Identifies, tracks and manages various action items associated with the operations of the IAC and Investment Committee
• 
  

QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES 

• Undergraduate degree in business and/or finance, or related field
• 3+ years work experience in asset management, fund/investment management, or endowment management
• Strong understanding of public and private securities/investments
• Knowledge of impact investing and/or gender-lens investing
• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in financial modelling and impact analysis 
• Experience stewarding senior level external stakeholder relationships
• Strategic thinker with the ability to identify and maximize strategic openings and opportunities
• Excellent communication (written, verbal, and presentation) and interpersonal skills; ability to translate technical investment language into simplified language
• Ability to thrive in a complex and dynamic environment and to visualize business operations and activities that don't exist yet  
• Demonstrated high ethical standards and ability to work with sensitive information in a confidential manner
• Ability and willingness to conduct oneself at work with high standards of ethics, integrity, and honesty
• Commitment to the work and values of the Equality Fund, which include Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression, and Intersectionality; Feminist Leadership; Accountability; and Radical Love
• Bilingual French/English is an asset but not required
• Advanced working proficiency in MS Excel and/or Google Sheets
• Working knowledge of Salesforce considered an asset

REQUIREMENTS

• Willing and able to work remotely with a global team
• Willing and able to work on mostly computer-based work
• Ability to travel internationally about 10-20%

OUR ENVIRONMENT OF CARE

• We trust our talented team and are pleased to offer an extremely flexible and virtual work environment.
• We are driven by our values: anti-racism, anti-oppression, and intersectionality; feminist leadership; accountability; and radical love. We believe our values are realized through collaboration, a growth and learning mindset, emotional intelligence, diversity, authenticity, a global perspective, care, and building networks. We work to share power and create space for everyone to lead. 
• Equality Fund is proud to offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package which has no waiting period and includes 4 weeks paid vacation, paid sick time, parental leave top up, medical benefits, life insurance, Group RRSP, paid birthday off, and more!
• Equality Fund is committed to providing and maintaining a safe and respectful workplace. We do not tolerate harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation, or abuse of any form. We recognize that those behaviors are often rooted in abuse of power, which is contrary to EF's mission to make a more equitable world for women, trans, and non-binary people. 
• Equality Fund is an equal opportunity employer.  We believe deeply in equality and value diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin, disability, and all other protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and positionalities, and are committed to providing an accessible candidate experience. To let us know how we can make an accommodation or adjustment to facilitate the selection process and beyond, please reach out to people@equalityfund.ca.

SELECTION PROCESS 

• Equality Fund’s People, Equity, and Culture team will work with the hiring manager to do an initial screening of applicants. Please make sure to detail your experience in your resume/cover letter to ensure the committee has the information they need to assess your qualifications for the role. This process takes about 1 week from the application deadline.
• When there are many candidates who pass the initial screening, the People, Equity, and Culture team may conduct 15-30 minute phone screening calls.
• The hiring committee will conduct first round interviews with selected candidates. These interviews usually occur 1-2 weeks after the application deadline. 
• The hiring committee may conduct a second round of interviews, which may include an assignment.
• The People, Equity, and Culture team will conduct reference checks for the candidate to whom they intend to extend an offer. This process usually takes about 1 week. 
• The People, Equity, and Culture team will initiate a background check. This is intended to safeguard Equality Fund employees, grantees, and the organization. We recognize that some communities experience systemic over-policing. As such, only findings related to harassment, exploitation, coercion, sexual exploitation, fraud, abuse, or other findings specifically relevant to the duties of the role will be considered in relation to one’s eligibility for employment.
• The People, Equity, and Culture team will send the selected candidate an Employment Agreement, which the candidate will have time to review and return.

JOIN US!

Though we work to respond to all applicants, at times we may only be able to follow-up with those selected for an interview.