eFinancialCareers

• Company

  Morgan Stanley

• Location

  UK-London

• Compensation

  Competitive

• Position Type

  Permanent

• Employment type

  Full time

• Updated

  16 Nov 2009

• eFC Ref no

  580643

VRG is part of the Financial Control Group and is responsible for all balance sheet trade valuation control issues in Morgan Stanley trading businesses. This role has a broad mandate for mark review and related valuation issues across Equity Derivatives which includes the vanilla, exotics, emerging markets and hybrids businesses.  The Equity Derivatives business has been identified as an area of growth within the Firm and is undergoing rapid expansion making it an exciting and challenging area to be involved in. There is significant management focus on the area given the necessity of having the right controls in place to facilitate business growth.

The team is responsible for the mark review for equity derivatives products for the European Equities desk. The candidate will report to the VP who heads the Equity Derivatives and Interest Rate Exotics teams. The team is part of the wider Equity team in which there are currently ten controllers and forms part of the Valuation Risk Group which is responsible for valuation issues across all products globally.

This is a unique position within Morgan Stanley as it enables the candidate to work across a broad range of businesses and products from a valuation perspective as well as dealing with a wide range of controllers and the Business Unit.

The candidate will be leading a team of 4 people responsible for a variety of valuation & control functions. The candidate’s remit will include:
• Performance and day to day functional management of Equity Derivatives team.
• Performance and management of the monthly mark review to ensure positions are marked correctly in the firm’s books and records. This covers a broad range of cash and derivative products (equity vanilla, equity exotic and hybrids).
• Gaining a full understanding of the products subject to valuation in the group and the relevant marking methodologies.
• Regular contact with Business Unit Controllers, particularly during the month end mark review process.
• Liaison with the other VRG teams regarding specific valuation issues.
• Frequent interaction with representatives of the Business Unit.
• Preparing reports and documents that clearly explain and summarise the mark review issues for senior finance management and the Business Units.
• Project work as required on new systems and functionality enhancements.
• Challenging processes and procedures to improve efficiency. A key responsibility will be to identify and develop ‘best practices’ and propose how they can be extended into other areas.

Skills required:
• Qualified accountant with demonstrable mathematical ability, able to add value within a short period of time.  Ideally the candidate should have a degree in a science, mathematical or engineering discipline.
• A depth of experience in banking and ideally strong technical ability in relation to complex derivative products (preferably equity derivatives).
• Interpersonal & communication skills are particularly important, as is the requirement to work as part of a team and liaise with a wide range of people.
• Solid knowledge of Excel is required and preferably up to macro level.
• The successful candidate will need drive, determination and have an ability to perform and manage the delivery of accurate work under pressure and to tight monthly deadlines.
• They should have demonstrable track record of challenging and improving existing processes.
• They should have good inter-personal skills as it is important to interact with Front Office, Business Unit Controllers and senior management.
• The candidate has the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of financial instruments focussed on equity and equity related products but extending into distressed debt, private equity, credit and fixed income as well.
• The role offers an exciting opportunity for the right candidate to work in a key area of a top tier Investment Bank.

Further information on Morgan Stanley and a full vacancy list can be found on:  http://www.morganstanley.com/about/careers/careersearch.html