About the position
State Farm Investment Planning Services (IPS) team is expanding and is seeking a Portfolio Manager/Associate Portfolio Manager in its State Farm Investment Management unit (SFIM). Reporting to the head of State Farm Investment Management (SFIM), you will lead quantitative research and asset allocation analysis for State Farm's Advisory model portfolios. You will employ a proactive data-focused approach to investment research, capital markets analysis and portfolio management to help the team formulate investment themes and asset allocation positioning (i.e. strategic and tactical), during the entire lifecycle of model portfolio management. In this position, you will also lead in the formation of investment outlook, content and advisor/agent education; participating the due diligence and fiduciary oversight responsibilities of various IPS investment/product platforms; creating and establishing State Farm's footprint and point-of-view on investing for State Farm agents and retail customers. Additionally, you will collaborate with other SFIM colleagues, as well as members of IPS teams across the organization in the execution of various research projects. Some travel to SF Agent offices/customer mandates and conferences nationwide may be required for this role. When not traveling, this person will work a hybrid schedule from State Farm's Dallas/Richardson, TX office.
Responsibilities
- Lead the work of modeling and forecasting of Capital Market Assumptions (CMAs), including literature review of current academic and practitioner whitepapers.
- Lead the development and maintenance of the Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) for State Farm Advisory Model Portfolios, including research on portfolio optimization, Monte Carlo simulation, factor modeling, return/risk attribution, and current market conditions.
- Lead the team's proprietary Manager Research and Selection (MR&S) process for Exchange-Traded Funds and Mutual Fund Investment strategies.
- Manage fund external relationships, attend and summarize quarterly manager calls.
- Direct the ongoing Portfolio Management by using State Farms investment models, systems and software (i.e. proprietary and 3rd party).
- Participate in the management of State Farm Model Portfolios.
- Lead in the generation and maintenance of SFIM investment reports, data sets, performance reporting (i.e. SF models) and broader analytical infrastructure.
- Develop and execute model portfolio trading and rebalancing rules across State Farm's suite of Advisory model portfolios and provide on-going oversight of the process/execution.
- Formulates investment outlook, content and advisor/agent education; creating and establishing State Farm's footprint and point-of-view on investing for SF agents and retail customers.
- Collaborates with team members and internal IPS departments to execute SFIM & IPS publications and collaterals on a periodic (i.e. weekly, monthly, quarterly).
- Serves as the team's subject matter resource on investment models, systems and software (i.e. proprietary and 3rd party).
- Ability to manage a team of investment professionals (if assigned).
- Providing general guidance to junior team members on various projects.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree or higher, with a completed Bachelor's degree preferred.
- 8+ years of experience in asset management and/or wealth management, focusing on asset allocation, portfolio management, or research.
- 6+ years of direct experience in multi-asset portfolio management, asset allocation, and/or quantitative investment research.
- 6+ years of experience in investment strategy/manager due diligence, open architecture, and oversight of traditional and alternative investment strategies.
- Proficient knowledge and direct experience in at least three of the following areas: strategic/tactical asset allocation formation, capital market assumption development, portfolio optimization methods, factor risk/return modeling, and Monte Carlo simulation.
- Strong understanding of multi-asset class investing, with hands-on experience and expertise in both top-down and bottom-up investment analysis, including primary research and assessment of third-party analysis.
- Detailed knowledge of securities, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, SMAs, alternative investments, and options strategies.
- Solid understanding of the investment advisory business, including different advisory program types.
- Previous experience working directly with clients, with strong presentation and writing skills.
- Self-motivated individual who takes ownership of initiatives and thrives in a dynamic team environment.
- Progress towards or completion of the CFA charter or a comparable designation.
- May need to obtain FINRA Series 7 and Series 66, post-hire or in the future.
Nice-to-haves
- Master's degree in finance, economics, mathematics, financial engineering or a related quantitative field is preferred.
- 5+ years of direct experience with third-party investment and risk management systems/tools (i.e. MSCI Barra, Bloomberg, Morningstar Direct, etc).
- Programming skills desirable: C++, Python, Matlab, etc.
- Proven ability to develop complex data models in Excel preferred.
Benefits
- 401k Plan
- Health Insurance
- Dental/Vision plans
- Life Insurance
- Paid Time Off
- Annual Merit Increases
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Health Initiatives
