Job Description

At Just we encourage a flexible and agile working environment for the majority of our opportunities. Get in touch with us to discuss in more detail.

Associate Credit Research Analyst

Just Group

Fulltime (35 hours per week)

Hybrid, 2/3 days in the office (London)

Who are Just?

We\xe2\x80\x99re a FTSE 250 Financial Services company who specialise in retirement solutions and right now, our world is moving pretty quickly. With the defined benefit buy in / buy out space growing each year, Just continues to annually grow its business by over \xc2\xa32bn of assets.

We are a purpose driven company with compelling and credible goals. Quite simply, we help people achieve a better later life. We achieve this by providing competitive and innovative products, services, financial advice and guidance to help our customers achieve security, certainty and provide them with peace of mind in retirement.

That\xe2\x80\x99s who we are. We\xe2\x80\x99re a company on a mission: to become a beacon for the entire retirement industry. Because we believe everyone deserves a fair, secure, and fulfilling retirement.

About the role

Along with the Investment Team (Team), the Credit Research Function (CRF) has grown significantly in order to help deliver Just\xe2\x80\x99s strategic and operational objectives. The Team is managing internally an increasing amount of public bonds, on-boarding more external asset managers, and working towards internalising private investments. The CRF is quite critical for asset deployment as it provides, inter alia, credit fundamental expertise for most assets in our portfolio, either internally- or externally managed.

The CRF has reached a size which requires more structure to make sure it continues to operate in a smooth and efficient manner. The introduction of an Associate Credit Analyst, who would sit between our Graduate and the Credit Research Analysts is seen as key to take the CRF to the next step of its development and ensure it continues to make an impact in the Team and in the company.

Key Accountabilities

• Under the supervision of the Credit Research Analyst, taking ownership of a group of mostly public issuers, with responsibility for ongoing monitoring, including (among others) production of investment recommendations, credit notes and earnings updates
• Identifying and initiating coverage on issuers that are new to the portfolio, from an initial short-term recommendation through to a more comprehensive review within a defined time period
• Assisting the Credit Research Analysts in suggesting trading opportunities whether they be focused around return enhancement, portfolio optimisation or credit mitigation
• Assisting the Credit Research Analysts in maintaining close relationships with mostly public external managers through regular mandate calls and engagement on emerging credit issues
• Participate in projects across the business that require credit team involvement, whether originated from credit or requiring our input for other purposes (e.g. regulatory actions, investor relations, ALM)
• Being a point of contact within the investment team for other departments (e.g. risk, DB, actuarial) by maintaining relationships with other verticals and building a reputation for reliability and quality
• Supporting the writing and presentation of papers on projects to relevant committees on updates, requests for approvals and general discussion, ensuring that materials produced are of high quality and in line with expectations of those committees
• Upgrading existing and creating new tools in order to enhance the credit research function ways of working
• Support and sometimes lead the production of regular MI and other resources used by the credit research team, including comprehensively understanding the process by which they are created/updated/refreshed
• Take steps to improve processes where possible to ensure that outputs are robust, automated where possible, and of maximum use to end users
• Ensure that the quality of resources is in line with the expectations of the wider business (EUC, TAS etc)

About You

The experience, skills, and knowledge we are looking for:

• 2 to 4 years in a full-time credit research position in a credit rating agency or in a sell- or buy-side institution, such as a bank, an asset manager
• Either a publishing or non-publishing role, primary and secondary markets
• Strong focus on fundamental analysis
• A generalist profile would be preferable; past coverage of any of the following sectors will also be seen as a strong positive: financials (banks, insurance and non-banking financial institutions), utilities (focus on UK-regulated electricity and gas and water), telecommunication, industrial, consumer non-cyclical
• Good knowledge of Bloomberg functions, including bond pricing, ratings, news alerts, portfolio set up and issuances
• Good knowledge of rating agencies\xe2\x80\x99 approaches and ability to use their rating methodologies to perform internal ratings
• Understanding of bond prospectuses\xe2\x80\x99 structures and ability to capture relevant information
• Accuracy, autonomy, attention to details, intellectual curiosity, strong verbal and writing skills and deliverability under tight deadlines are very valuable attributes to have in order to be successful in this function

Company Benefits

• A Competitive Salary, Pension Scheme and Life Assurance
• Along with 25 Days Annual Leave plus an Additional Day on us for your Birthday
• Private Medical Cover and Income Protection, just in case
• A generous and highly achievable bonus scheme \xe2\x80\x93 paid annually based on individual and company performance against targets
• Opportunity to progress within your career both in-role and within the company
• FREE access to the Headspace App, a 24/7 Employee Assistance Helpline and Trained Physical & Mental Health First Aiders (On-Site)
• A variety of Employee Funded Benefits available to you via our Online Benefits Portal
• Plus, several additional purchase options available for you and your loved ones

Why Just?

We are committed to building a more sustainable business and have publicly committed to reduce our scope 3 emissions to Net Zero by 2050 and our scope 1 and 2 emissions to Net Zero by 2025. We\xe2\x80\x99ve made good progress so far and encourage our people to make small and meaningful changes in their everyday lives, so that we can protect our planet for future generations.

Diversity, Equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a key priority for Just as part of our overall strategy and ensuring all of our people feel proud to work at Just. We have joined a number of initiatives including the Race at Work Charter, designed to improve outcomes for employees from underrepresented backgrounds. We also run a Reciprocal Mentoring scheme for employees from a BAME background, those with a disability and those who identify as LGBTQ+. There are multiple employee network groups, which champion issues including race, gender, social mobility and neurodiversity.

What\xe2\x80\x99s clear about working at Just is that we care. We care about our customers, our purpose, our environment, inclusivity, wellbeing and most importantly - each other.

About Us

We\xe2\x80\x99re a FTSE 250 Financial Services company who specialise in retirement solutions and right now, our world is moving pretty quickly.

How people work, save, and plan for the future is all changing. A new generation of retirees needs a new kind of retirement company. A company who will look for new ways of doing things \xe2\x80\x93 and will always put the customer first.

That\xe2\x80\x99s who we are. We\xe2\x80\x99re a company on a mission: to become a beacon for the entire retirement industry. Because we believe everyone deserves a fair, secure, and fulfilling retirement. And with you on our team, we\xe2\x80\x99re going to make sure they get it.

Just