Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments and individuals from more than 1,200 offices in 43 countries. 

The talent and passion of our people is critical to our continued success as a firm. Together, we share four core values rooted in integrity, excellence and strong team ethic:

1.      Putting Clients First

2.      Doing the Right Thing

3.      Leading with Exceptional Ideas

4.      Giving Back

5.      Committing to Diversity and Inclusion 

Morgan Stanley is committed to helping its employees build meaningful careers and we strive to be a place for people to learn, achieve and grow. 

Firm Risk Management

Firm Risk Management (FRM) enables Morgan Stanley to achieve its business goals by partnering with business units across the Firm to realize efficient risk-adjusted returns, acting as a strategic advisor to the Board and protecting the Firm from exposure to losses as a result of credit, market, liquidity, operational, model and other risks. 

You will collaborate with colleagues across FRM and the Firm to protect the Firm’s capital base and franchise, advise businesses and clients on risk mitigating strategies, develop tools and methodologies to analyze and monitor risk, contribute to key regulatory initiatives and report on risk exposures and metrics to enable informed and strategic decision-making. Through thoughtful analysis and clear communication, we are best able to bring our ideas to the table and improve the Firm.

Firm Risk Management values diversity and is committed to providing a supportive and inclusive workplace for all employees.

Firm Risk Management’s unique franchise promotes:

ü  Flat, flexible and integrated global organization

ü  Collaboration and teamwork

ü  Credible, independent decision-making

ü  Organizational influence

ü  Creative and practical solutions

ü  Meritocratic and diverse culture

Background on the Position:  

This role will reside within Firm Risk Management’s Model Risk Management team responsible for the Firm’s management of model risks related to the implementation and use of Morgan Stanley’s Investment Management model.  This position requires strong risk management mindset and excellent technical, leadership, and organizational skills.  

Primary Responsibilities 

·        Identify and escalate thematic and idiosyncratic risk themes related to portfolio construction, direct indexing, tax loss harvesting, ESG in portfolio construction, and other asset management principles.  Engage with relevant stakeholders in identifying effective approaches to managing such risks. 

·        Analyze model risks associated with new product requests and drive efforts to manage model risks related to new products. 

·        Perform independent reviews compliant with Model Risk Management policies and procedures, regulatory guidance and industry leading practices, including evaluating conceptual soundness, quality of modeling methodology, model limitations, data quality, and on-going monitoring of models used for the Firm’s Investment Management business. 

·        Communicate model validation conclusions to relevant stakeholders and work with stakeholders to develop appropriate remedial actions to resolved identified model issues.  Track progress against model issue remediation actions and take appropriate review actions to resolve.

·        Write comprehensive and high-quality review reports for models validated and peer review reports written by members of the model validation team.  

·        Produce model risk materials for committee and management meetings.

Experience Required 

7 or more years in building, using or validating models in asset management / investment management businesses including portfolio/fund construction, portfolio optimization, direct indexing / asset allocation, and portfolio risk management models. 

·        Working knowledge with investment products, strategies, and markets including equities, fixed income, derivatives, and alternative investments, preferably derived from experience at an asset management firm.

·        The follow experiences are a plus:

o   understanding of asset management business risks including investment risk, credit risk, and liquidity risk

o   experience with MSCI Barra and Blackrock Aladdin is a plus

o   familiarity with ESG fund construction and risk management

o   prior 2nd line of defense model validation experience

Skills Required 

·        Strong ability to analyze large financial datasets, with familiarity in managing structured and unstructured data relevant to investment models. 

·        Risk management-oriented mindset including effective risk prioritization, critical and analytical questioning, and ability and willingness to speak up. 

·        Strong interpersonal relationship skills 

·        Strong written and verbal communication skills. Must be comfortable leading meetings and making formal presentations. 

·        Advanced degree in a technical business area such as Finance and Business Administration, and the following certifications are a plus:

o   Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

o   Financial Risk Manager (FRM) 

·        Quantitative programming and data analysis skills working with tools such as Python, R, MATLAB or SQL 

·        Desire to work in a dynamic, team-oriented environment focusing on challenging tasks mixing fundamental, quantitative and market-oriented knowledge and skills.    

Expected base pay rates for the role will be between $120,000 and $200,000 year at the commencement of employment.  However, base pay if hired will be determined on an individualized basis and is only part of the total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, incentive compensation, discretionary bonuses, other short and long-term incentive packages, and other Morgan Stanley sponsored benefit programs.

Morgan Stanley's goal is to build and maintain a workforce that is diverse in experience and background but uniform in reflecting our standards of integrity and excellence. Consequently, our recruiting efforts reflect our desire to attract and retain the best and brightest from all talent pools. We want to be the first choice for prospective employees.

It is the policy of the Firm to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, sex stereotype, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, disability, marital and civil partnership/union status, pregnancy, veteran or military service status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversifying its workforce (M/F/Disability/Vet).