Lead Associate, Listed Equities

Willis Towers Watson • Chicago, IL

16d • $95,000 - $130,000

About The Position

We currently have a unique opportunity for a Lead Associate to join our Listed Equities team. The role is based in Chicago or New York. Key responsibilities include: Collaborate with the team to enhance our systematic Equity investing insights: work closely with colleagues globally to advance our collective understanding of systematic equity investing, encompassing manager assessment, portfolio construction, and strategy design. Insight Generation: Analyze and interpret quantitative and qualitative data, providing regular updates and valuable insights on strategy performance and market trends. Manager Evaluation: Collaboratively assess fund managers' competitive advantages, team structures, and investment processes to help identify top performers. Project Collaboration: Participate in and support multiple research initiatives, partnering with global team members to enrich our intellectual capital and deepen market expertise. Collaborate with our Portfolio Managers to share the best market practices and new insights to improve current and future strategy offerings. Communication: Clearly document and share findings, both formally and informally, to support informed decision-making throughout the team. In the future, this role offers the potential to take on greater leadership responsibilities by assuming ownership of our systematic equity investment framework, specifically in manager research for quantitative strategies. As you gain experience and demonstrate expertise, you could play a pivotal role in guiding the team's approach to evaluating and implementing quantitative investment managers, helping to define best practices and drive innovation within the framework. Note that visa employment-based non-immigrant visa sponsorship and/or assistance is not offered for this specific job opportunity.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required (finance, economics, statistics, math, physics, chemistry, or biology preferred)
• 4-5 years of experience researching quantitative asset managers and their investment strategies, either on sell-side or buy-side or as manager researcher within an advisory or OCIO fiduciary
• Strong analytical mindset, creative problem-solving skills, and openness to new perspectives
• Experience using, or demonstrated commitment to learning, coding languages (R, python, SQL or similar) for data analysis is preferred
• Deep curiosity about financial markets and a drive to stay ahead of industry developments
• Proven ability to communicate complex ideas clearly and collaborate as part of a high-performing team, consistently demonstrating intellectual rigor and strong technical expertise while fostering a supportive and collegial working environment

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the team to enhance our systematic Equity investing insights
• Insight Generation
• Manager Evaluation
• Project Collaboration
• Collaborate with our Portfolio Managers to share the best market practices and new insights to improve current and future strategy offerings
• Communication

Benefits

• Health and Welfare Benefits: Medical (including prescription coverage), Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account, Commuter Account, Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Group Accident, Group Critical Illness, Life Insurance, AD&D, Group Legal, Identify Theft Protection, Wellbeing Program and Work/Life Resources (including Employee Assistance Program)
• Leave Benefits: Paid Holidays, Annual Paid Time Off (includes paid state/local paid leave where required), Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, Other Leaves (e.g., Bereavement, FMLA, ADA, Jury Duty, Military Leave, and Parental and Adoption Leave), Paid Time Off
• Retirement Benefits: Contributory Pension Plan and Savings Plan (401k). Certain senior level roles may also be eligible for non-qualified Deferred Compensation and Deferred Savings Plans.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees