CIO Associate, CDC

Job Title	CIO Associate
Employer	CDC
Job Type	Full Time
Location	London, UK
Industry	Private Equity
Experience	0-3 Years
Languages	English
Deadline	Thursday 10th March 2016

Section One:  Background to CDC
CDC is the UK’s Development Finance Institution (DFI) tasked with the inspiring mission to invest in businesses in Africa and South Asia to create jobs and make a lasting difference to people’s lives in some of the world’s poorest places.
Established in 1948, CDC is the world’s oldest DFI and has a proud heritage supporting the building of successful businesses across emerging and frontier markets.
CDC is currently going through an exciting transformation, which has seen it extend the range of its activities to include direct equity investing and direct lending alongside its fund selection business.  Between 2004 and 2011 CDC operated as a funds investor only.
Wholly owned by the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), CDC plays a key role in DFID’s strategy to reduce poverty in the developing world by supporting economic growth and creating jobs.
In recognition of CDC’s high quality and developmental approach to investing, DFID recently announced a significant new capital injection of £735 million into CDC.  Prior to this, since 1948 the UK Government had invested a net £144 million into CDC, which had been turned into net assets of £3.4 billion.  The new investment will allow CDC to invest on a greater scale in job-creating sectors such as agribusiness, infrastructure, financial institutions and construction.
CDC takes a wholly commercial approach to its investing and lending activities, but, as a DFI, each investment is motivated by the development impact it will achieve.  As it invests from its own balance sheet, CDC has considerable flexibility in how it structures investments and in the risk-return profiles it can consider.  It is also able to take a longer view – up to and beyond ten years if necessary.  CDC is currently invested in over 1,300 companies in 74 countries.
CDC invests in a number of ways:
- placing capital with expert fund managers (GPs) who then use their local knowledge and expertise to find promising businesses in which to invest;
- making direct investments or co-investing in specific businesses, alongside local GPs or like-minded investors; and
- making loans, guarantees and offering micro-finance support.
To achieve its vision and mandate, CDC is looking to build its team and, in particular, attract high quality investment professionals who are motivated to use their skills to develop the private sector in Africa and South Asia.
For further information, see

Section Two:  Role Requirements
Role Purpose
The office of the Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) is responsible for oversight of the investment process, including development and maintenance of portfolio analytics relevant to investment decision-making.

Key Responsibilities
Activities include:
Investment Portfolio Analysis
·      Modelling of portfolio risk and return profiles, with sensitivity testing over extended time periods
·      Carrying out product by product analysis of returns, liaising with investment teams and the Finance department
·      Applying the principles of portfolio construction to a complex and changing investment strategy; testing assumptions, challenging decision-makers
·      Generating reports using in-house portfolio management software, Frameworks
·      Generating bench-marking analysis of portfolio construction in the Private Equity industry and among other Development Finance Institutions.
·      Analysing investment proposals coming before the Investment Committee and other decision-making bodies
·      Developing tools for applying market cyclicality analysis to the investment process
Investment Committee /Meeting Management
·      Preparing for investment committee meetings, including risk analysis in the context of the overall portfolio
·      Drafting studies and papers covering broad sector topics for the use of investment teams and senior management, including market cyclicality studies
·      Keeping records of committee meetings, particularly action/follow-up points
Additional Responsibilities
·      Supporting analysis of alternative portfolio management software tools and their implementation
·      Sharing ownership of monthly management reports with Finance, preparing documents and ensuring appropriate distribution on-time and on-budget
·      Managing various projects led by the OCIO, such as consultants preparing research papers
·      Supporting the CIO in various tasks as assigned

Section Three:  Background, Skills & Attributes
Background
·      Strong academic credentials, preferably including a post-graduate qualification such as CFA, ACA, IMC, MBA or equivalent.
·      At least 2 years relevant business experience.
·      Exposure to emerging market finance, especially in Asia and Africa, is desirable
·      Experience within a private equity or investment risk management function is desirable
·      An active interest in investing in developing countries
·      Demonstrable alignment with CDC mandate, mission and values

Personal Skills
·      Strong analytical skills
·      Strong team working skills
·      Focus on achievement of objectives
·      Willingness to learn and flexibility
·      Ability to build effective working relationships
·      Ability to work to deadlines and manage time effectively
·      Ability to work independently on defined assignments

Required competencies
·      Good understanding of statistical analysis methods, including regression and time series analysis
·      A demonstrable ability to work with analytics, to apply data validation tests, and to identify key patterns and conclusions from data
·      Good knowledge of Excel
·      Understanding of emerging market environments
·      Experience of risk analysis, including stress testing / Monte Carlo simulation, highly desirable
·      Understanding of Private Equity and the challenges inherent in this type of investment    
·      Knowledge of the investment process is highly desirable
·      Ability to present data in formats designed to meet specific needs highly desirable
Familiarity with specific data needs of investment organizations highly desirable

CDC Identities
We look for candidates that share our culture and reflect our identity, the CDC identities are described as follows:
Compassion is central to everything we do
We owe our clients and prospective clients a fast and thoughtful process
We accept the tough challenges inherent in our mission
We are quick and non-defensive when things go wrong
We oppose bureaucracy
We never forget that we are investing and spending taxpayers’ money
We promote a fulfilling work environment
For further information please see our website ()

Salary package: competitive salary

Application deadline: 17 March, 2016

About CDC

CDC is the world’s oldest development finance institution and has a proud heritage in supporting the building of successful businesses across poor and emerging markets.  Having had a focused strategy over the past 8 years as an investor (LP) in private equity funds (GPs) in emerging markets, it is going through an exciting transformation that will extend the range of its activities to include direct equity investing and direct lending alongside its fund selection business.  The mission of CDC is to:-

To support the building of businesses and creation of jobs in the world’s poorest countries across Africa and South Asia, making a lasting difference to people’s lives.

CDC takes a wholly commercial approach to its investing and lending activities, but, as a DFI, is ultimately motivated by the development impact of its investing activities. As it invests from its own balance sheet, it has considerable flexibility in how it structures investments and in the risk – return profiles it can consider.   It is also able to take a longer view – up to and beyond 10 years if that is necessary.

CDC is wholly owned by the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID) and plays a key role in DFID’s strategy to help build a thriving private sector in the developing world.  It is a measure of CDC’s high quality investment processes that despite investing in regions of the world that are typically considered very high risk,  it has received no fresh investment from government since 1995 and has returned a profit (which has been reinvested) of £1.8bn since 2004. 

CDC invests in a number of ways:

- placing capital with expert fund managers (GPs) who then use their local knowledge and expertise to find promising businesses in which to invest;

- making direct investments or co-investing in specific businesses, alongside local GPs or like-minded investors; and

- making loans, guarantees and offering micro-finance support