Bridgewater Associates - Investor Services Associate. Back Office??

Just how back office is the position? Will I be able to somehow transition to front office, or use this experience at a big name hedge fund to get into a Top 5-10 MBA program in another 5 years?

Counterparty and Client Relations Department Overview:

The mission of Counterparty & Client Relations Department (CCR) is to protect the company and our clients while simultaneously facilitating business. Our methodology is to maximize the expected value to Bridgewater of any business opportunity, after first carefully identifying, fully exploring, and understanding the risks involved. The primary responsibilities of the Department are to 1) create, maintain, and terminate client participation in Bridgewater investment vehicles; 2) create, maintain, and terminate fund structures; 3) negotiate and maintain agreements and credit terms with counterparties to facilitate trading transactions; and 4) strategically manage counterparty and fund service provider relationships to maximize benefits to our funds and clients. These primary responsibilities are managed and executed within CCR by two distinct sub-groups. Counterparty & Credit Relations is accountable for counterparty credit and dealing relationships, while Fund & Client Relations is responsible for fund structuring, investor contracting, investor services, and fund service provider relationships.

Position Summary:

The Investor Services group is divided up into teams in order to accomplish all of the responsibilities outlined below. Each team will have a Senior Associate supported by an Associate in order to achieve their assigned responsibilities. The Investor Services Associate will perform day-to-day operations excellently and support the Senior Associate on each team with projects, documentation of procedures, creation of templates, and process and technology improvements. To provide growth and development, it is expected that each team member will participate in a rotation process that will expose them to all of the Investor Services group responsibilities within a two to three year time period and will not be expected to handle all of the below at any given time. All Associates will be expected to interact with Fund Service Providers as well as other Departments internal to Bridgewater such as, Marketing, Client Services, Accounting, Finance, Operations, and Account Management.

Responsibilities would include:

Investor Services -- Team 1 (responsible for general fund structures)

Investor Services -- Team 2 (responsible for separately managed accounts as well as complex fund structures and relationships)

•Processing of all shareholder transactions
•Supporting Senior Associate with shareholder registers and shareholder records
•Monitoring the movement of monies between shareholders and funds
•Provide support for Investor communications
•Facilitating investor information requests and responding to investor inquiries
•Tracking required fund resolutions that are related to shareholder activities
•Supporting Senior Associate with all official client notifications and ensuring implementation firm wide (i.e. additions/withdrawals/trading level adjustments, guideline amendments, contact changes, changes in beneficial ownership, etc.); this is for Team 2 only

Fund Services Team

•Supporting Senior Associate with managing distribution process of fund offering memorandums and official fund documents
•Facilitating and processing investor audit requests and questionnaires
•Supporting the monitoring of the funds and shareholders compliance with relevant fund policies and regulatory requirements (ie. ERISA, Blue Sky, insurance schedules, annual fund audits, material events, etc.)
•Distributing annual fund audits and applicable fund tax reporting requirements (K1's, Form 5500's, Form 5471's etc.)
•Participating in process to launch new funds and facilitating fund closures
•Fund invoicing process (costs associated with operation of all funds)
•Coordinating with external Fund Service Providers and holding them accountable for service excellence

Position Requirements:

•Bachelor's degree, demonstrating a strong academic record from a competitive school
•Proficiency using MS Word, Excel, Sharepoint, and the Internet
•Excellent verbal and written communication skills
•Exceptional organizational abilities
•Extraordinary sensitivity to detail
•Ability to work independently and handle multiple tasks with acute sensitivity to deadlines
•Self-starter and motivated
•Creative and innovative
•Common sense and comfort working in a high volume, intense environment
•Team player who genuinely shares Bridgewater's common goal of excellence

Preferred candidates would also meet the following criteria:

•One plus years prior experience in a high volume, detail-oriented work environment strongly preferred
•Experience with Hedge-Tek, Mshare/Mpartner, or applicable Fund Administration software is a plus but not required
•Experience with Interwoven or other document management system preferred but not required
•Experience in Investor Relations with strong knowledge of back office support is a plus but not required