We are looking for an Investment Analyst to join a long-term contract opportunity based in Chicago, Illinois. This role supports investment reporting, account analysis, and financial reconciliation activities across multiple data sources and portfolio platforms. The ideal candidate brings strong analytical judgment, comfort working with large datasets in Excel, and the ability to investigate issues thoroughly while contributing to critical year-end reporting deliverables.
Responsibilities:
- Analyze investment holdings at the security level to identify trends, validate data accuracy, and support financial decision-making.
- Review and reconcile outstanding payables and receivables, resolving discrepancies through detailed research and follow-up.
- Compile, interpret, and validate reporting data received from external investment managers, custodians, and related financial partners.
- Support the preparation of annual reporting packages, including Blue Book materials, MD&A content, audited financial statements, and other required disclosures.
- Work across multiple investment management platforms, including BlackRock and similar systems, to monitor data consistency and reporting completeness.
- Use Excel extensively to organize large volumes of financial information, perform comparisons, and create meaningful reporting outputs.
- Apply research and problem-solving skills to investigate exceptions, answer ad hoc questions, and improve reporting accuracy.
- Participate in knowledge transfer and cross-training activities to ensure continuity during leave coverage and key reporting periods.
- Experience in investment analysis, financial analysis, or a closely related analytical finance role.
- Strong background in account reconciliations, variance review, and financial data reporting.
- Ability to work with large datasets in Microsoft Excel and produce accurate, well-organized analysis.
- Familiarity with annual financial reporting requirements, including MD&A and audited financial statement support.
- Knowledge of investment management environments and exposure to platforms such as BlackRock or comparable tools.
- Research-oriented mindset with the ability to resolve issues independently and manage ad hoc analytical requests.
- Exposure to AI-enabled productivity tools such as Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, or similar platforms.
- Understanding of accounting and reporting concepts, including IAS or related financial reporting standards.