Job: Quantitative Analyst

Quantitative Analyst

Harris Alternatives LLC

THE COMPANY

Location Chicago, IL

Nature of Business

Harris Alternatives LLC is a preeminent hedge fund of funds manager with an outstanding record of achieving superior risk-adjusted returns that dates back to 1988. With approximately $11 billion AUM, Harris Alternatives is registered as an Investment Adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and currently employs 53 professionals. From their office in Chicago, Harris Alternatives manages and/or sub-advises domestic partnerships and offshore funds allocated to 69 underlying hedge fund managers. The Firm’s 1,150 investors come from over 20 countries.

Harris Alternatives offers a variety of fund of hedge fund investment products to meet their investors’ diversification needs. They manage both multi-strategy and strategy-specific hedge funds of funds. These distinct styles accommodate the needs and desired risk/reward characteristics of a broad range of investors.

The Firm’s reputation as one of the preeminent hedge fund of funds along with the overall growth in the asset class has resulted in significant growth of assets under management and continues to present many opportunities for future growth. With this in mind, we seek an exceptional, team-oriented Quantitative Analyst with the skills and experiences necessary to develop and refine the tools, analysis, and processes the Firm uses to assess and monitor risk and to construct and manage portfolios.

THE POSITION

Title Quantitative Analyst

Responsibilities

The Quantitative Analyst is responsible for ensuring the Firm has the optimal quantitative tools and analytical processes to augment manager due diligence, risk management, portfolio construction, and performance attribution calculations. He or she will proactively lead initiatives to increase the Firm’s analytical capabilities including efforts to integrate new, meaningful manager statistical analysis into the entire investment process. This will require following professional publications to track state-of the-art developments in statistical analyses and risk monitoring. In addition to ensuring the Firm has leading edge analytical capabilities, the Analyst will work closely with the research and portfolio management teams on manager due-diligence, portfolio construction, risk and performance analysis, and overall reporting. Beyond adopting new industry methodologies, the Analyst will be responsible for the design of new tools and processes as well as for the refinement of the existing analytical took kit. The Quantitative Analyst will work with the technology group in the development of research systems, including SQL, and Excel/VBA-based systems.

THE PERSON

Minimum

Experience It is expected that the most highly qualified candidates will have at least four years of quantitative analytical experience in another sophisticated and highly respected institutional investment firm focused on hedge fund manager investments.

Education Undergraduate degree required, Master's degree and/or CFA designation is strongly desired.

Qualifications/Competencies

We seek a highly professional and successful Quantitative Analyst who has demonstrated significant quantitative leadership and contribution to the quantitative investment processes in another alternatives investment shop, institutional money manager, or investment consultancy. The Analyst must possess expert knowledge of statistical analysis including multiple regression, VaR calculations, and performance attribution analysis. A high degree of proficiency in Excel, SQL, and MS Access is required, as is the ability to write intermediate-level macros. Broad product and hedge fund strategies knowledge is essential.

In addition to outstanding quantitative skills the successful candidate must also demonstrate superb communications and interpersonal skills, an attention to detail, and the ability to function in a hands-on, collaborative and collegial environment. He or she must be comfortable working in a lead as well as support capacity and must be able to work fluidly across the functional groups within the Firm. While confidence and presence are absolutely essential to the role, the Analyst must possess the maturity and diplomacy to understand and succeed in a partnership where the priorities of the Firm and its clients are more important than the opinions and priorities of any individual. The nature of the role, the internal and external constituency, and the Firm’s culture all demand intelligence, flexibility, organization, self-sufficiency, and a comfort with ambiguity. The Quantitative Analyst must be a thoroughly honest, respectful, and forthright individual, one who is up-front and direct with subordinates, peers, and colleagues to whom he/she reports. Finally, this person must be passionate about quantitative analysis, tools, and methodologies and creative in his/her thinking about the application of quantitative techniques to the way the Firm does business.

Contact: Rick Hypes, rhypes@LanternPartners.com