Product Strategy Specialist (Investments)

A highly renowned and innovative investment management company has an exciting opportunity for an investment professional to join them as a Head of Product Strategy / Product Strategy Specialist.

This is a unique opportunity to join an experienced team of investment professionals with depth of expertise across a wide range of investment disciplines, managing and administering over R600 billion.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• You will be required to run the Distribution Product function
• Product Development of new products or enhancement of existing products for various regions/channels and on-going product lifecycle management.
• Partner with leadership across business to improve end-to-end customer experience by owning product design and development
• Responsible for the on-going monitoring of existing propositions ensuring these continue to meet customer needs, commercial promise as well as investment governance standards.
• Organises regular product reviews with key stakeholders to evaluate product performance, elicit feedback and identify improvements in the product proposition going forward.
• Collaboration with marketing, distribution, investment and RFP teams.
• Ability to present a deep understanding of the investment process, market outlook, and strong advocate for the services (e.g., Portfolio Specialist)
• Understand overall client segment/region/channel strategies across Retail and Institutional distribution channels to ensure products remain relevant and competitive.
• Define focus areas, business development initiatives, areas for training, and develop target lists. Support Learning & Development for sales training initiatives
• Partner with RFP team to ensure a consistent implementation of strategy positioning and language across products as well as updates in respects of performance composites, etc.
• Identify areas for thought leadership that connect with their product responsibilities.

REQUIREMENTS:

• 5-10 years’ experience in product and proposition design and delivery for investments across Retail and Institutional markets
• In depth experience in investments and strong market, risk and business acumen
• Understanding technical aspects of product development (legal, regulatory, tax) and implications on partners and customers
• Experience in managing complex projects across financial services organisations delivering tangible business benefits.
• Agile and design thinking experience

QUALIFICATIONS

• Relevant Bachelor’s degree (BCom, BSc) with Honours
• CFA, Actuary, or equivalent investment qualifications