Quantitative Risk Junior Trader

Rothesay is the UK’s largest pensions insurance specialist, purpose-built to protect pension schemes and their members’ pensions. With over £73 billion of assets under management, we secure the pensions of nearly one million people and pay out, on average, approximately £360 million in pension payments each month.

Rothesay is dedicated to providing excellence in customer service alongside prudent underwriting, a conservative investment strategy, and careful management of risk. We are trusted by the pension schemes of some of the UK’s best-known companies to provide pension solutions, including British Airways, Cadbury’s, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Co-Operative Group, National Grid, NatWest, Morrisons, and Telent.

At Rothesay, we are striving to transform our industry by creating real security for the future. We are looking for the brightest original thinkers who can bring creativity and rigour, and we pride ourselves on the connections our people build—many of whom have been with us for over ten years.

Job Details

Job title: Quantitative Risk Junior Trader
Role type: Permanent

Position Overview

The Quantitative Risk Trading team sits within Rothesay’s wider trading team and works closely with asset origination, liquid trading, quant, liquidity, and risk teams. The objective is to manage deal flow and risk across Rothesay. We underwrite individual new asset deals and oversee hedging and derivative strategy, as well as overall deployment strategy across all asset classes.

This function was created in response to the increase in the size and complexity of our balance sheet and continues to evolve. It offers a strong growth opportunity for highly motivated candidates.

We are looking for a smart, commercial individual with an excellent academic record, strong quantitative and problem-solving abilities, and high adaptability, with a genuine intellectual appetite to expand their existing skill set.

This role blends commercial insight with quantitative analysis and strategic problem-solving to drive Rothesay’s strategy for underwriting and managing credit and various illiquid risks across its investment book. (It is not, for example, an execution-trader role for hedging credit exposure.)

Key Responsibilities

The Quantitative Risk Trading role will expose you to a wide range of exotic and vanilla fixed income investments across Rothesay’s business. Asset classes may include illiquid products such as commercial real estate lending, bilaterally negotiated secured financing trades, infrastructure lending, and residential mortgages, as well as more liquid products such as vanilla corporate bonds. The role also includes topics involving rates, credit, and inflation derivatives. Familiarity with these products is not required, but an ability to grasp new concepts quickly is fundamental to the work.

You will price and manage these exposures, requiring a strong combination of quantitative ability and a commercial mind-set. This work supports the business strategy by helping to manage the existing asset back-book and contributing to the process for originating and structuring new investments.

On-the-desk training will be demanding and will require challenging project and day-to-day work that extends your skills and provides direct access to other members of the multi-disciplined Rothesay trading and asset origination teams.

Requirements

• Strong education background: advanced degree in quantitative disciplines such as Mathematics, Economics, Engineering, or Computer Science
• 1–2 years of relevant work experience; ideal candidates will have experience in fixed income and/or structured products
• Familiarity with fixed income products, credit products, and derivatives
• Extensive experience in financial modelling, combined with quantitative/statistical techniques
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively
• Competitive compensation and incentive bonuses
• Collaborative, entrepreneurial environment with significant growth opportunities

Rothesay Competencies

• Technical Skills: Demonstrates strong technical skills required for the role, pays attention to detail, takes initiative to broaden knowledge, and demonstrates appropriate analytical skills
• Drive and Motivation: Self-starter who successfully handles multiple tasks, takes initiative to improve performance, works intensely towards extremely challenging goals, and persists in the face of obstacles or setbacks
• Teamwork: Evidence of being a strong team player; collaborates with others within and across teams; encourages others to participate and contribute; acknowledges others’ contributions
• Communication Skills: Communicates what is relevant and important in a clear and concise manner; shares information and new ideas with others
• Judgement and Problem Solving: Thinks ahead, anticipates questions, plans for contingencies, finds alternative solutions, identifies clear objectives, sees the big picture, and effectively analyses complex issues
• Creativity/Innovation: Looks for new ways to improve current processes and develop creative solutions grounded in reality and with practical value
• Influencing Outcomes: Presents sound, persuasive rationale for ideas or opinions; takes a position on issues; influences others’ opinions; presents persuasive recommendations