Portfolio Manager

The Portfolio Manager is allocated a defined amount of Master Fund trading capital and is individually accountable for the profit and loss generated on it. The role holder owns the complete investment process, from research and idea generation through portfolio construction, execution, risk management and performance attribution. The specific markets and style vary by individual; the expectations below apply to every Portfolio Manager in the Master Fund. It is a principal risk-taking position, not an analytical, advisory or support function: the Portfolio Manager makes the final investment decisions and bears direct responsibility for their outcome.

Investment Management
Generate profits for the clients of the Brevan Howard Master Fund by trading the allocated capital on their behalf, within the pre-agreed trading mandate.
Originate, research and develop macro investment ideas, building each thesis on fundamental, quantitative and technical analysis, with particular attention to central bank policy, growth and inflation dynamics and their transmission into global rates, FX, inflation, volatility and equity index markets.
Construct a portfolio sized to conviction, liquidity and correlation, selecting the instruments and structures (cash securities, futures, swaps, options and other OTC derivatives) that give the most asymmetric expression of each view.
Deploy capital through directional and relative value expressions as the market regime warrants, including balance-sheet-intensive trades where the opportunity justifies it. Flexibility of style and the ability to scale risk into a strong theme are expected of a Master Fund Portfolio Manager.
Regularly reassess that the portfolio reflects the intended market view, and restructure or exit positions when a thesis is invalidated.
Take hands-on responsibility for execution, counterparty relationships and liquidity sourcing, and ensure that any execution delegated to a trade analyst or execution trader is correctly implemented.

Risk Management
Operate at all times within the risk framework agreed with the Chief Investment Officer and Risk Management: capital allocation, VaR and stress limits, leverage and balance-sheet limits, concentration and liquidity constraints, and the fund’s drawdown limits.
Manage live portfolio risk daily and intraday, for the role holder’s own book and for any allocation run by team members, actively managing drawdowns and demonstrating strict discipline in loss management.
Liaise with the risk management team who deliver risk reports, articulating positions, rationale and sensitivities clearly and responding to challenge.
Liaise with Treasury to ensure positions are properly funded and that collateral is placed effectively.
Improve and scale risk-taking over time as the investment process is proven, in agreement with the Chief Investment Officer and Risk Management.

Performance, Monitoring and Reporting
Monitor, attribute and explain daily, monthly and annual P&L and risk, and articulate performance drivers clearly to the Chief Investment Officer, Risk Management and senior management.
Deliver a return commensurate with the capital allocated, at a quality of returns (information ratio, drawdown profile, consistency across market regimes) consistent with the Master Fund’s expectations.
Prepare periodic performance reports on a timely basis, monitor adherence to exchange and counterparty limits, ensure that all trading activity is appropriately allocated and accounted for, and maintain accurate records of the investment rationale for positions and decisions.

Contribution to the Fund and the Firm
Contribute to the Master Fund’s investment dialogue, sharing views, data and expertise with the Chief Investment Officer, other Portfolio Managers and senior management in a collaborative manner.
Where leading a team, take full responsibility for the hiring, development, output and conduct of analysts, traders and sub-portfolio managers, and maintain an ongoing commitment to their development.
Present periodically to the investment management committee and, where required, support the Client Partnership Group with current and prospective investors.

Governance, Compliance and Conduct
Operate at all times within the firm’s compliance policies, applicable regulatory requirements (including market abuse, conflicts of interest, best execution and personal account dealing rules) and the firm’s Code of Conduct; hold any regulatory certification the role requires in the relevant jurisdiction (for example the FCA Certification Regime in the UK); and act with integrity at all times.

WORK EXPERIENCE/BACKGROUND:
Essential
A minimum of 7–10 years’ experience in a principal risk-taking capacity, as a trader at a sell-side institution and/or as a Portfolio Manager, Sub-Portfolio Manager or Pod Portfolio Manager at a hedge fund or asset manager, trading global macro markets.
A minimum of 3 years’ attributable, verifiable track record of managing risk capital, evidenced through audited or employer-confirmed P&L and risk reports, with the candidate’s own contribution clearly separable from that of any wider team.
P&L of a scale that justifies a substantial allocation of institutional capital, together with evidence of having run a large book and of the ability to scale risk as capital grows.
A high quality of returns, assessed through information ratio, maximum drawdown and recovery, hit rate and consistency across market regimes, with limited reliance on a small number of outsized trades. Returns generated through excessive leverage, concentration or tail-risk selling are not regarded as evidence of skill.
Experience of running directional macro risk through periods of market stress and drawdown within a formal institutional risk framework, and of operating comfortably at the scale and volatility of a flagship global macro fund.
A clearly articulated, proven and repeatable investment process that can be explained from first principles: the source of edge, how ideas are generated, how positions are sized and risk-managed, and how the process has adapted to changing market conditions.
A strategy and return stream that would be diversifying within a global macro portfolio.

Desirable
Experience as a lead Portfolio Manager at a global macro hedge fund with a multi-asset mandate spanning developed and emerging markets.
Experience of managing balance-sheet-intensive strategies and large gross exposures, including funding, repo and collateral management.
Experience of building and leading a team of analysts, traders or sub-portfolio managers.
Experience of expressing macro views across more than one asset class, for example rates and FX together with inflation, volatility, equity indices, credit or commodities.
A postgraduate qualification (Master’s, PhD or MBA) and/or a relevant professional designation such as the CFA or FRM.

TECHNICAL/BUSINESS SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE:
Essential
Expert understanding of the pricing, mechanics, risk characteristics and regulatory treatment of global rates, FX, inflation and volatility instruments: government bonds, interest rate and cross-currency swaps, futures, options and swaptions, other OTC derivatives and financing instruments.
A sophisticated understanding of global macroeconomics, monetary and fiscal policy, central bank reaction functions and their transmission into financial markets.
Fluency in portfolio risk measures (VaR, expected shortfall, stress and scenario analysis, DV01, Greeks, factor exposures, liquidity and correlation risk) and in interpreting and challenging risk system output.
Strong quantitative skills, including statistics, time-series analysis and derivatives pricing; technical data analysis skills, with Python or a comparable language and Bloomberg proficiency expected.
Detailed knowledge of market microstructure, liquidity dynamics, execution venues and transaction cost management in the relevant markets.
Working knowledge of the trade lifecycle, operational controls, counterparty and collateral arrangements, and the regulatory environment governing trading in the relevant jurisdictions.
The ability to articulate complex investment views, risks and performance clearly and concisely to the Chief Investment Officer, Risk Management and peers, verbally and in writing.
Judgement under uncertainty, intellectual honesty, discipline under pressure and resilience through drawdowns; self-motivated and accountable, and able to operate in a collaborative organisation with unimpeachable integrity.
A strong undergraduate degree from a respected academic institution in a rigorous discipline such as economics, finance, mathematics, statistics, physics, engineering or computer science.

Desirable
Experience of building proprietary models, datasets and analytical tools, or of running a systematic overlay to a discretionary process.
Established relationships with sell-side counterparties, brokers and liquidity providers