Investment Graduate London 2025

We’re a FTSE 250 Financial Services company who specialise in retirement solutions and right now, our world is moving pretty quickly. Just is currently growing rapidly in the UK retirement space. Our assets under management are £25bn; growing £4bn a year.

This growth rate is expected to pick up over the next couple of years as we take aim at larger bulk annuity schemes and a greater market share in the defined benefit space.

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’s who we are. We’re 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.

Purpose

At Just we are recruiting for our future and we currently have a great opportunity available to join our expanding Investment function as an Graduate Investment Analyst on a permanent basis in our London office.

As part of our Graduate Scheme you will join Just Group on a rotational basis, spending time working across key teams within our Investment function, developing an in depth knowledge of their operations and an extensive skills base. Following the rotations, you will progress to joining one of these teams on a permanent basis.

The teams within our Investment function offering rotations include:

1. Investment Strategy,
2. Credit Research,
3. Public Credit,
4. Responsible Investment
5. Reporting & Controls.

This is an exciting role that carries a high degree of responsibility and independence as you will provide technical support to the Chief Investment Officer and wider Investment function and facilitate delivery on a variety of investment initiatives.

What you can expect

We are a purpose driven company with a compelling and credible purpose. 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.

We’re passionate about providing a platform for people to grow and that’s why we provide industry leading study support to all our investment employees. You’ll have an opportunity to join a fast moving, growing and ambitious company, all whilst being supported to gain a relevant qualification (e.g. CFA or Actuarial or Accounting).

You’ll also have the flexibility of working in a hybrid model - we believe that there are real benefits to office working, giving us all an opportunity to connect, collaborate and network with colleagues across the organisation, maintaining our Just culture. We ask our colleagues to spend at least 3 days of their week working from our offices in London and many really enjoy this time to connect and collaborate face to face.

We place great importance on building connections and maintaining our culture at Just – it’s one of the things that stands out about us – people genuinely enjoy working here. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in a wide range of initiatives e.g. volunteering, company-wide socials, and more!

What we’re looking for

We are looking for driven and enthusiastic individuals with the following skills

• Degree with at least a 2:1 with 1st being preferable (Accounting, Mathematics, Economics, Environmental, or Social disciplines preferred)
• Minimum grade A in A-level maths
• Commercial acumen
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• A results focus, with ability to work efficiently and grasp concepts that are not straightforward, yet seek guidance where necessary
• Excellent team-working skills
• Dynamic, collaborative and adaptable individual with a customer-centric mindset who is proactive and curious

Desirable

• Python & Excel skills

You will be

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Dynamic and adaptable – an individual with a customer-centric mindset who is proactive and curious
• Collaborative and team working skills – be comfortable forming relationships with internal and external stakeholder
• Time management – be able to manage competing priorities and deliver projects in a timely manner
• Thinking outside of the box – share ideas, challenge others, and identify new ways of working
• Manage ambiguity – be flexible and able to manage/adapt work in a fast-moving environment
• Results focus -ability to work efficiently and grasp concepts that are not straightforward, yet seek guidance where necessary

The rotations in more detail

Investment Strategy

• Reports to senior members of the Investment Strategy team, who are responsible for ensuring that the strategic asset allocation is appropriate, individual investments are evaluated carefully and the overall portfolio is optimally invested.
• Support senior members in maintaining and evolving the medium-long term investment strategy for both the matching and growth portfolios.
• Support the research and evaluation of new asset classes and funds, including manager selection and investment due diligence.
• Working closely with our external asset managers to maximise our capital deployment towards appropriate illiquid investments.
• Contribute to the preparation of internal papers & investment proposals to the Investment Committee, all whilst working closely with external asset managers and internal stakeholders across Capital Management, Finance, Legal and Risk.
• Draft and support with preparation of materials for various internal committees, including the Investment Committee.
• Support with manager monitoring and due diligence, across a wide range of private asset classes.
• Support on communicating and drafting responses to external initiatives and consultations
• Support Technical Actuarial team in delivering BAU and project based actuarial work.

Credit Research

During this rotation you will work with senior members of the credit research function, which is responsible for overseeing the team in assessing and reviewing all new investment opportunities (public and private, internally- and externally-managed) while monitoring existing holdings via engagement with internal (including Credit Committee) and external stakeholders (including external asset managers and, rating agencies). You will:

• Support the Credit Research Analysts with some of the research that goes into a credit/sector note, including financial analysis, investment recommendations, sector dynamics and regulatory frameworks.
• Work in conjunction with the Credit Research Analysts in looking at new investment opportunities, engaging with external asset managers, and rating agencies
• Support the collation of financial information during earnings season, provide high level earnings summary and give verbal updates at team calls.
• Attend macro related investor calls with banks/managers and then update team members with any interesting news.
• Take on regular credit-related tasks, including weekly rating actions emails and manager’s private ratings.
• Work with credit analysts to perform fundamental analysis on investment opportunities across both Private and Public credit
• Gain experience across the entire credit spectrum, looking at the existing mandates of corporate bonds, emerging market debt, municipal bonds on the liquid side, and infrastructure debt, commercial real estate debt and private placements on the illiquid side.
• There will also be the opportunity to work on new credit asset classes as the portfolio grows.
• Draft and support with preparation of committee-related papers
• Support on communicating and drafting responses to external initiatives/consultations
• Support with manager monitoring and due diligence, across asset classes
• Work with Public Credit PM & Trader to determine relative value in Investment Grade credit universe as well as monitoring and analysing macro as well credit demand / supply trends to determine impact on investment attractiveness
• Support Technical Actuarial team in delivering BAU and project based actuarial work

Public Credit

The role reports to the Head of the Public Credit team and incorporates both Portfolio Management and Trading activities.

With approximately £13 billion in assets under management, the public credit portfolio's objective is to invest in Investment Grade Debt in both Developed and Emerging markets, including structured credit products.

This position requires collaboration with Credit Research Analysts to evaluate new investment opportunities in public credit, providing a top-down perspective on the portfolio to enhance the research team’s fundamental analysis and contribute to the Public Credit team's assessment of relative value in potential investments.

The role involves aiding in profit and revenue generation through optimizing existing trades, conducting relative value analysis across different bonds, and evaluating these against the company's internal standards.

Additionally, the role supports the team in maintaining productive relationships with banks and brokers to ensure high-quality transaction execution as well as insights into market trends and macroeconomic factors. The role will encompass four core areas:

1. Trading,
2. Portfolio Management,
3. Macro and Markets Insight, and
4. Investment Projects.

As a graduate, engaging with each of these areas will refine your competencies in:

• Financial modelling
• Comprehension of financial markets
• Insurance-based investment strategy
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python
• Assist the Public Credit team with assessing investment value in Investment Grade credit markets and track demand/supply trends for investment impact
• As part of our Public credit team, your role will involve reporting to higher-level team members, offering a chance to immerse in a variety of tasks within the Public Credit mandate. This includes: analysing corporate bonds, emerging market debt, municipal bonds within liquid markets, as well as scrutinizing private placements and structured credit within illiquid markets.
• Manage Public Credit investment Management Information to aid investment choices and understand the portfolio's risk attributes
• Assist in the creation and preparation of documents for committees
• Aid in liaison with banking and brokerage entities
• Help maintain a risk-managed approach to trading activities

Responsible Investment

Reports to Responsible Investment Lead, who is responsible for the delivery of responsible investment projects and initiatives and overseeing implementation across the investment team. In this rotation you will:

• Develop an understanding of the investment process and specifically how responsible investment forms part of that.
• Support in the implementation of our Responsible Investment activities. Responsible investment priorities at Just include:
• Integration of environmental, social, and corporate governance (‘ESG’) risks: support investment analysts and credit analysts in ensuring ESG risks are appropriately factored into investment decisions.
• Stewardship: support in engaging with relevant stakeholders e.g. investment managers to understand their ESG proposition and monitor over time.
• Monitoring and reporting: work with other teams to analyse, monitor and report on ESG and climate-related activities.
• Regulation: remain aware of current and emerging ESG-related regulation.
• Policies and framework: support with reviewing and enhancing existing/new policies and frameworks on responsible investing e.g., the existing Responsible Investment Framework.
• Green/Sustainability bonds: support with monitoring the achievement of our sustainability targets in relation to our bond issues, and other associated targets.
• Generally, become a subject matter expert on responsible investment, and support with providing advice and guidance to internal stakeholders.

Activities will include:

• Maintain awareness of, and research into responsible investment regulatory and market developments.
• Support with developing internal quantitative models and tools. Lead on the development and maintenance and enhancement of at least one responsible investment model.
• Generate views and information on individual sectors/issuers relating to responsible investment themes.
• Support in the production of management information to monitor responsible investment metrics and progress towards achieving targets.
• Support with responsible investment manager monitoring and due diligence, across asset classes.
• Work with all other teams to enable full integration of responsible investment.
• Draft and support with preparation of committee-related papers.
• Support on communicating and drafting responses to external initiatives/consultations.
• Generally become a subject matter expert in the field of responsible investment, support other teams and the wider business through knowledge sharing.

Reporting & controls

Reports to the Investment Controls and Technology lead, who is responsible for implementing software tools available to the Investment function to enhance workflow, support the delivery of key Investment projects, maintain the investment framework and support the Investment Controls aspects of the Investment Management Process. In this rotation you will be working on periodic and ad hoc tasks within the Investment function that benefit the efficient functioning of:

• Investment controls and reporting
• Investment team governance and processes
• Reflection and maintenance of new private deals into the Treasury Management System, in addition to carrying out related support processes for new private assets.
• Reconciliation and governance checks on public bond trades.
• Management, development and maintenance of the private deal information Sharepoint site.
• Updating and reconciling bond information in the Quantum system such as sectors, ratings and ESG scores.
• Provide analytical and technical input for new and ongoing initiatives and projects.
• Support the maintenance of the governance framework and related Investment team process and procedure documentation.
• Continually broaden knowledge of the business with regard to technical, regulatory and commercial aspects.
• Look to continuously improve the efficiency and effectiveness of given tasks where possible.
• Production of management information using Excel, PowerPoint and Power BI for the Investment Committee and wider Investment team.
• Working with Investment team members and process specialists to map out the processes and procedures of the investment team using specifically designed software (iServer).
• Reflect private deals into the Treasury Management System (Quantum), using information gained from communication with external managers, other Investment team members and actuaries involved with the valuation of assets.
• Adding information to new bond purchases in the Quantum system such as sectors, ratings and ESG scores, and reconciling this on a periodic basis.
• Updating and managing the private deal Sharepoint site, adding information from new deals and checking accuracy of deal information.
• Undertaking a wide range of initiatives and projects for the wider Investment team or business.
• Reconciliation of internal public bond trades using data from Bloomberg and internal spreadsheets which track completed investments.

Why Just?

In 2021 we were named as one of the UK's 100 Best Large Companies to Work For and accredited as a 2 star organisation, representing outstanding levels of engagement. We were also recognised as one of Financial Services’ 30 Best Companies to Work For. We’re extremely proud to have achieved this recognition against the backdrop of the pandemic and the many challenges it posed to our colleagues and customers.

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’ve 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 initiative including the Race at Work Charter, designed to improve outcomes for employees from underrepresented background.

What’s 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. We look forward to welcoming you to the team soon.