Fund Accountant

Fund Accountant – Secondment Opportunity into a new business POC

(CIB Digital) is offering new ‘Fund Services’ to asset management clients, supported by a fund accounting software; as well as fund accounting capability (resources). CIB Digital would like to trial the operating model through a closed / limited proof of concept, with the aim of understanding if we can run this business in a cost-effective business model.

The ideal resource would provide fund accounting expertise; while fulfilling the role of business development – identifying mandates; onboarding asset manager clients and their mandates to the solution; and providing that manager with fund services.

Job Description

Fund Accountant primarily responsible for the day-to-day accounting for various investment portfolios. These portfolios may include segregated mandates, hedge funds, institutional funds, or mutual funds. Aside from the day-to-day accounting of these portfolios, a Fund Accountant is also responsible for both calculating and reporting the NAV (Net Asset Value) daily and monthly (as stipulated by the fund). This role entails the accurate end-to-end processing required to support NAV calculation, which includes price sourcing, trade support and daily cash reconciliation processes and the verification and release of NAVs.

Key roles and responsibilities

• Deliver accurate, timely production and delivery of reporting to clients, ensuring efficient accurate trade processing, NAV review, Corporate Actions processing, security valuation, financial statements production, query handling and ad hoc reporting for funds
• Onboarding new clients, unpack and define new client delivery, participate in the implementation of fund structures onto the accounting system
• Prepare and perform weekly/daily cash and stock reconciliations including proper investigation of all outstanding issues ensuring timely resolution of any reconciling differences and no valuation errors occur.
• Monitor daily/monthly asset prices and their pricing sources for corporate actions to ensure securities are updated and valued correctly on the accounting system and no asset pricing errors occur within the valuation.
• Facilitate weekly/daily expense and accrual calculations ensuring they are reflected correctly in the NAV calculation.
• Prepare and produce an accurate NAV to ensure Reviewers discover no errors on work reviewed resulting in the timely delivery of the NAVs.
• Prepare, monitor, and capture cash movements (cash management), investment trades and update transactions in the accounting system to ensure an accurate and timely delivery of the NAV.
• Preparation of trial balances
• Responsible for (fund) accounting and analysis, maintaining and controlling the general ledger and various sub-ledgers, processing of transactions, rebalances, waterfalls, fee calculations, hedging, loans, recording calls and distributions
• Fund payments
• Performance and Management Fee calculations
• Preparation of limited partner and general partner allocations
• Preparation of (annual) financial statements, footnotes, and partner capital statements, assist in client audit procedures
• Perform month end reconciliations and account closings
• Perform daily accounting of assigned fund
• Perform fund analysis and reporting for critical decision-making purposes
• Monitor and manage cash flows and expenses.
• Analyze fund requests and manage fund distributions.
• Maintain accounting system to record all fund transactions.
• Generate routine and ad-hoc financial statements for management.
• Management Reporting and Statutory Reporting of corporate entities to ensure Compliance of accounting and regulatory obligations and requirements including listing requirements and client reporting
• Liaising with fund managers, brokers, and custodians to communicate information and resolve issues on a timely basis
• Ensure that client responsibilities are managed effectively and to agreed client, best practice, regulatory and statutory deadlines
• Assisting the external auditors to ensure the audit function is executed on a timely and efficient basis
• Resolve accounting variances and estimate monthly closing accruals
• Tax filing activities
• Maintaining primary book of records

In addition to the actual subject matter expertise of the fund accountant, we’d need this resource to help design, set up and build this business:

1. Analyze and review existing reporting, inform enhancements 
2. Identify client reporting requirements and design client reports
3. Superior knowledge of regulation governing Asset Management Industry
4. Guide and provide expertise in the process design for the Fund Services
5. Business Development- identify and onboard new clients
6. Supported by Fund Accounting software- assist in shaping and implementing new software

Qualifications and Experience

• A relevant tertiary qualification including Accounting; Finance; Investments
• Completed 3-year SAICA/ SAIPA articles
• Excellent numeracy skills