Director, Portfolio Construction

Mackenzie Financial Corporation•Toronto, ON

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

IGM Financial Inc. is a leading wealth and asset management company in Canada, managing approximately $271 billion in assets. It offers financial planning and investment services to over two million Canadians through IG Wealth Management and Mackenzie Investments. Mackenzie Investments, founded in 1967, is a key part of IGM's business model, serving as a comprehensive asset-management partner for Canadian financial advisors and their clients. At Mackenzie Investments You Can Build Your Career with Confidence. We are proud to be recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for the fourth consecutive years and one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers. Our vision and strategy aim to innovate the industry and support Canadians in achieving their financial goals. Join our team to engage in continuous learning and skill development in a supportive environment. Experience the best of both worlds with our hybrid work environment, where you spend three days a week in the office, connecting, collaborating, and enjoying quality time with your amazing colleagues! Our Values: Be better; we strive for improvement in everything we do. Be accountable; we foster clarity and are empowered to act responsibly. Be a team; we are united to drive collective impact to achieve our goals.

Requirements

A university degree in a business or finance-related discipline.
7+ years relevant experience in the investment industry.
5+ years of experience of relevant experience as a sell-side or buy side research associate or equivalent in the investment management industry.
Exceptional written communication skills with a demonstrated ability to share compelling stories.

Nice To Haves

Combination of CFA, CAIA or MBA a plus.

Responsibilities

Act as the builder of the next-generation portfolio construction capability. Work with the VP, Portfolio Construction and internal partners to design and define the portfolio construction framework end-to-end, including inputs (returns, volatility, correlations, proxies), model design (objective function, constraints, guardrails), and outputs (efficient frontier, portfolio positioning, and recommendations). Work directly with external vendors or internal developers to translate this logic into a functioning platform. Step through model calculations, validate outputs, and challenge results to ensure the system reflects sound portfolio construction principles and produces usable, advisor-ready insights.
Bridge portfolio construction expertise with technology execution. Bring sufficient technical fluency to engage meaningfully in the build process, including familiarity with Python or similar data workflows. While not required to code full-time, the successful candidate must be able to code where needed or manage and direct those who do. Evaluate and select technology partners, define requirements clearly, and ensure the resulting platform can operate in real-world conditions, including imperfect data, proxy-based exposures, and product shelf constraints.
Serve as owner of existing portfolio construction franchise. The successful candidate will own all elements of the current portfolio construction franchise. This includes guided portfolios that reflect our approach to asset allocation and fulfillment solutions that are utilized by investment advisors focused on high-net-worth investors in Canada. The successful candidate will work with internal partners responsible for capital market assumptions to ensure these portfolios remain up to date and aligned with the firm’s views. The candidate will also oversee the existing portfolio construction service used to review advisor portfolios, with responsibility for optimizing workflows and improving how portfolios are assessed in the current state. Contribute to and help shape portfolio construction perspectives, ensuring key concepts are clearly articulated and consistently reflected across models, diagnostics, and advisor-facing materials.
People management. There is a people management responsibility of a small team where the successful candidate will be able to lead, mentor and help develop talent and foster a culture of excellence, and intellectual curiosity.