Global Chief Compliance Officer and Managing Director —Manulife Investment Management Private Markets Timberland, Agriculture, Private Equity Infrastructure

Manulife•Boston, MA

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Based in Boston, the role of Global Chief Compliance Officer— Manulife Investment Management Private Markets Timberland, Agriculture, and Private Equity Infrastructure has the following three principal responsibilities: Investment Management Compliance. Responsible for the design and execution of a SEC 206(4)-7 compliance program for Manulife Investment Management Timberland and Agriculture Inc (“MIMTA”). MIMTA investments (managed through various subsidiaries in a variety of jurisdictions) consist primarily of approximately 16 billion of U.S. and non-U.S. farmland and timberland, as well as certain related investments, such as carbon sequestration for timberland and “Plus” assets for farmland. “Plus” assets include investments in operating companies that add value to farmland investments. MIMTA’s clients and investors include U.S. and non-U.S. institutional investors, such as pension plans, corporations, insurance companies, foundations, endowments, and family offices, through separately managed accounts, as well as MIMTA-managed pooled vehicles. MIMTA’s investment management and property management operations and supported by approximately 650 employees operating in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Chile, and New Zealand. Based on assets and acres under management, MIMTA is one of the largest natural capital investment managers in the world. MIMTA Real Asset Operational Compliance. Responsible for oversight of MIMTA’s property management compliance program (health and safety, environmental compliance, farm labor contractors and land-use compliance). MIMTA utilizes affiliated and third-party property management firms to provide day-to-day property management services to its managed investments (close to 6 million acres of timberland and farmland assets). MIMTA’s global subsidiary property management companies and their regional offices are used to oversee field operations to ensure that client objectives are carried out. Private Equity Infrastructure Compliance. Responsible for the design and execution of the Manulife Investment Management Private Equity Infrastructure Group’s (“PE Infrastructure Group”) compliance program. The program consists of a series of private investment funds investing principally in US infrastructure assets on behalf of external investors and Manulife’s General Investment Account. This program is managed through a SEC-registered investment adviser that is separate from MIMTA (the registered investment adviser described above). This portion of the overall role’s responsibility is to be the global lead compliance officer for the PE Infrastructure Group. In this role, the employee will report to the 206(4)-7 Chief Compliance Officer of a separate SEC-registered investment adviser legal entity (and solely as it relates to the day-to-day regulated compliance activities of the PE Infrastructure Group).

Requirements

A senior compliance leader with investment management experience, practical commercial instincts, and a demonstrable track record of working successfully with investment, operations, finance, legal, and compliance professionals as well as executive leadership and boards of directors.
Must be comfortable working in a collegial environment.
Substantial experience providing compliance and/or legal support to private markets investment programs.
Strong US Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory experience and an understanding of interplay of US investment management requirements with foreign regulatory regimes in order to deliver practical cross-border regulatory compliance solutions.
Experience interacting with regulators and auditors (including experience with regulatory examinations).
Comfortable managing highly complex compliance matters with minimal supervision and ability to anticipate, monitor, and manage compliance risks resulting from various investment activities.
A minimum of 10 years of substantial experience developing, executing, or supporting an US Investment Advisers Act 206(4)-7 compliance program.
Familiarity with cross-border distribution issues.
Experience in handling real asset property management regulatory/compliance matters is also a plus.

Responsibilities

Provide compliance and ethical leadership and manage a sound Rule 206(4)-7 compliance program for MIMTA, including development and maintenance of policies and procedures, testing, management of regulatory examinations, regulatory change management, training, conflict of interest management, management and oversight committee reporting, and regulatory filings. This role is the Rule 206(4)-7 CCO of MIMTA.
Develop, document, and administer policies and procedures to assure they are (and continue to be) reasonably designed to prevent, detect, and promptly correct violations of the federal securities laws as well as other applicable legal regimes.
Administer written policies and procedures adopted under Rule 206(4)-7 of the Advisers Act, designed to prevent the violation of federal securities laws, as well as all other applicable laws, rules and regulations.
Lead compliance and operational risk alignment through organizational integration, including policy standardization, controls assessment, testing coordination, regulatory change management, escalation protocols and board governance.
Collaborate with the General Counsel and senior investment leadership as a core member of the Conflicts Committee and other related governance committees, shaping firm-wide standards for conflict governance, disclosure, and mitigation across timberland, agriculture, and related infrastructure strategies.
Serve as the central decision maker in conflict determination, with delegated authority to independently approve or escalate potentially conflicted transactions, including principal, agency, allocation and valuation concerns.
Engage frequently with clients and prospects through in-person back-office due diligence meetings addressing compliance framework, risk management, controls and regulatory oversight.
Provided matrix reporting compliance oversight of the Chief Compliance Officer of Manulife Investment Management Timberland and Agriculture (Australasia) Pty Limited (“MIMTA AU”), a wholly owned subsidiary of MIMTA, to ensure MIMTA AU’s compliance with the registration, internal governance requirements, and compliance obligations consistent with its financial service license issued by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.
Provide compliance and ethical leadership and oversee a sound property management compliance and risk framework. for MIMTA, including its relevant subsidiaries, including development and maintenance of policies and procedures related to the firms operations of timberland and farmland, testing, regulatory change management, training, conflict of interest management, and regulatory filings.
Oversee compliance management processes to identify, monitor, escalate, remediate and report compliance issues, operational incidents, regulatory developments and control enhancements.
Supervise global licensing, registration and marketing review for more than 50 separately managed accounts and15 private funds and feeder funds domiciled in the U.S., Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands.
Lead the Manulife Investment Management Private Equity Infrastructure Group’s compliance function, including development of the Group’s strategic compliance program strategies and the ongoing continuous improvement and execution of the firm’s compliance program consistent with regulatory requirements, and Manulife standards.
Works closely with senior management to embed a strong compliance culture and set the tone from the top for all entity officers and employees.
Provide compliance leadership and support for ad hoc and regular Manulife corporate and compliance initiatives, including policy development, oversight committee management, reporting, regulatory change management, internal investigations, and training development.
Develop training and compliance disclosure reporting protocols designed to reinforce a culture of accountability across geographically dispersed business and operations teams.
Bridge communication between operating-company management and Manulife stakeholders, maintaining trust, transparency and appropriate independence while aligning with broader enterprise expectations.