Investment Specialist Director Job Listing at Prudential in Hartford, CT

Insurance, Finance

The position leads a team of product specialists that manage and provide investment product expertise to Prudential Retirements Total Retirement Solutions (TRS) full service Defined Contribution (DC), Defined Benefit (DB) and Nonqualified (NQ) businesses.  Investment products include, but are not limited to; retail mutual funds, registered and unregistered insurance company separate accounts, stable value, collective investment trusts, exchange traded funds, asset allocation (risk based) funds, target date funds, and retirement income products.  The position reports to the Vice President of TRS Investment Product.  In this capacity, the individual and team serves as lead technical expert to TRS regarding; product availability, product features/capabilities, functionality, operational & regulatory limitations, positioning, performance, economics, business acceptance policies, communications and competing products in the market.  The individual's team is the primary TRS intermediaries/liaisons to investment product manufacturers including;  Institutional Investment Solutions (IIS), Prudential Investment Management (PIM) and non-proprietary fund companies.  In this regard the individual will lead the team managing relationships and coordinating investment agreement activity between the Fund Companies and Prudential Retirement (with exception to IIS products).  As team manager, the individual is responsible for all best in class management techniques to develop team members, efficiently deploy resources and meet business needs in support of TRS business objectives.
 
The role is also responsible for actively identifying compelling investment solutions, aligned to Prudential Retirement's overall business objectives for individual client solutions, including project management for jumbo clients as necessary.  This will require working closely with the Support desk and product manufacturers such as IIS and PIM.  A primary objective of this position is to fulfill client needs enabling Prudential to retain valued clients and increase new business.
 
Key responsibilities and activities include:

• Team management/leadership of investment product experts


• Liaison/partner to IIS, PIM affiliates and other 3rd party manufacturers (as applicable)


• Oversight, management and coordination of TRS operational/legal/communication (internal & external) related activities in support of seamless delivery of investment solutions to TRS clients and intermediaries


• Team resource deployment and management including cross training, backup and contingency planning


• Source for general and specific investment theory/product expertise


• Identification of investment product gaps/industry trends and the on-boarding of new investment products for TRS distribution


• Development, maintenance and promotion of investment product/platform positioning within TRS, with an emphasis on proprietary product


• End -to-end understanding of (and ability to speak to) Prudential's investment product delivery processes/inter-dependencies including: legal, operations and communications


• Product level support to the investment service team, promoting effective and profitable (available) investment solutions to meet new business and existing client needs


• Trafficking and management of support requests meeting established turnaround commitments


• Management of efficient self-help tools (such as the RS Communications Database) including their consistent application and relevance


• Maintenance of standardized and consistent RFI/RFP responses


• Ideation of effective non-standard product solutions for individual clients and intermediaries deserving of non-traditional solutions


• Internal investment product training to TRS


• Fund exception process involvement including manager contact and Service Offering Underwriting Process(SOUP) participation


• Jumbo client investment support and solution implementation including project management


• Market intelligence (collection and dissemination of market intelligence to internal constituents)


• Understanding of regulatory requirements and their impact on investment product delivery including the SEC, FINRA, Insurance Commissioners, DOL (ERISA), IRS (401, 457, 4038, etc) and Banking authority


• Fund company relationship management, negotiations and legal agreement execution

 Key characteristics include:

• Demonstrated effective management expertise


• Proficient  investment (modern portfolio theory, etc), and investment product (RMF, CIT, Insurance Company SA) expertise/proficiency


• Ability to problem solve, and multi-task, meeting client needs using available capabilities in a timely fashion


• Articulate communication and  presentation skills including the ability to be persuasive and motivational


• Sound intuition to think quickly and and/communicate critical information in a positive manner with the audience's perspective in mind


• Ability to organize, prioritize and time manage to meet deadlines


• Effective matrix management skills


• Confidence and leadership skills, to gain and maintain respect as an investment expert and problem solver

• Bachelors degree, MBA preferred
  
• 5-7 years of investment, financial/retirement services and/or product management/development experience in a financial services setting, with a proven track record.
  
• Exposure to one or more of the following investment products; retail mutual funds, registered and unregistered insurance company separate accounts, stable value, collective investment trusts, exchange traded funds, asset allocation (risk based) funds, target date funds, and retirement income products
  
• Sound understanding of investment concepts and products, particularly in the application and operational aspects related to retirement programs
  
• Regulatory and SRO familiarity across industries
  
• Strong written, verbal and motivational skills
  
• Excellent decision making and problem solving skills
  
• Ability to partner across all areas of Prudential Retirement to develop and execute strategies that result in increased adoption of products, features and services
  
• Ability to work in a fast-paced and evolving environment within a team as well as being an independent contributor
  
• Drive to Learn: Ability to ascend steep learning curve required to develop deep understanding about the investment products offered by Prudential Retirement including income-oriented products
  
• 3 years staff management experience preferred.
  
• CFA desirable but not required