Derivative Strategy Analyst Jobs

We are a leading financial services provider committed to making decisions easier and lives better for our customers and colleagues around the world. From our environmental initiatives to our community investments, we lead with values throughout our business. To help us stand out, we help you step up, because when colleagues are healthy, respected and meaningfully challenged, we all thrive. Discover how you can grow your career, make impact and drive real change with our Winning Team today.

Working Arrangement

Hybrid

The Global Variable Annuity Hedging (GVAH) department, within the General Account Investment Division, is responsible for establishing and managing hedging programs at Manulife Financial. The program currently manages both the company’s balance sheet equity risk through the Macro program and the equity, bond, currency and interest rate risk through the variable annuity (VA) hedging program.

There are two sub-groups within Global Variable Annuity Hedging: Strategy and Actuarial Modeling. This position is within the Strategy group. The Strategy group is responsible for the hedging assets and is headed by the AVP, VA Hedging. The Strategy group’s primary responsibility is to identify our risk exposures and design robust hedging strategies to mitigate market risks. The Strategy group is also responsible for the monitoring and high-level reporting on the performance of all aspects of the group’s hedging programs.

The VA program is high profile within the company and attracts positive attention to high performing team members. The nature of the work is very practical, ultimately leading to trades in the market. The work in the Strategy group is generally on the boundary of Front and Middle office roles in a traditional investment banking group.

Responsibilities

• Provide specifications to development teams and assist with interpretation from a capital markets perspective, to ensure the implementation meets business needs.
• Analyze proposals for new hedging strategies, completing due diligence work. Conduct research to compare alternative strategies to determine the overall effectiveness of a hedging strategy.
• Develop new tools and metrics using Excel/VBA/Matlab/Python/etc. to evaluate hedging strategies.
• Provide, or research to acquire, subject matter expertise on specific segments of capital markets (such as equities, commodities, FX, credit and/or fixed income). Particularly product details, and valuation and risk measurement methodology of the following products:
• Analyze large data sets and conduct statistical analysis using R/Python/C/C++.
• Complete updates to production model parameters maintained by GVAH, specifically fund mapping decomposition of target indices into tradable instruments.
• Collaborate closely with Actuarial Modeling, Equity Risk Oversight, traders, and other stakeholders to drive improvements to the hedging program
• IR swaps, equity futures, bond futures, FX futures, total return swaps, OTC options, exchange traded options, IR Swaptions.

Qualifications

• A strong educational background in at least one of finance, mathematics, or actuarial science.
• Should have experience using VBA, SQL, EXCEL, ACCESS, MATLAB+ODBC, scripting tools, including an understanding and application of basic professional coding practices, version control, and documentation standards.
• The ability to communicate complex information and results in an effective manner;
• A demonstrated business acumen and orientation towards solving real world problems.
• A demonstrated quantitative aptitude, at the minimum level consistent with undergraduate mathematics/actuarial science/science, is required.
• Proficient in at least one of R/Python/C/C++ with experience analyzing large data sets.
• Demonstrated understanding of the difference between communicating to a business audience, compared with an academic or technical audience. Specifically,
• FRM or CFA designation (or in pursuit of) an asset.
• The ability to summarize and take or recommend action, providing details as needed.
• Have a good theoretical knowledge of finance and derivatives, preferably together with practical knowledge including market conventions, specific product knowledge, and best practices of quantitative modeling in industry.

About Manulife And John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Asia, Canada, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2022, we had more than 40,000 employees, over 116,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 34 million customers. At the end of 2022, we had $1.3 trillion (US$1.0 trillion) in assets under management and administration, including total invested assets of $0.4 trillion (US $0.3 trillion), and segregated funds net assets of $0.3 trillion (US$0.3 trillion). We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges, and under ‘945’ in Hong Kong.

Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer

At Manulife/John Hancock, we embrace our diversity. We strive to attract, develop and retain a workforce that is as diverse as the customers we serve and to foster an inclusive work environment that embraces the strength of cultures and individuals. We are committed to fair recruitment, retention, advancement and compensation, and we administer all of our practices and programs without discrimination on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion or religious beliefs, creed, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions), sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or any other ground protected by applicable law.

It is our priority to remove barriers to provide equal access to employment. A Human Resources representative will work with applicants who request a reasonable accommodation during the application process. All information shared during the accommodation request process will be stored and used in a manner that is consistent with applicable laws and Manulife/John Hancock policies. To request a reasonable accommodation in the application process, contact [email protected].

Salary & Benefits

The annual base salary for this role is listed below.

Primary Location

CAN, Ontario, Toronto, 200 Bloor Street East

Salary range is expected to be between

$58,650.00 CAD - $97,750.00 CAD

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact [email protected] for the salary range for your location. The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training. Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance.

Manulife offers eligible employees a wide array of customizable benefits, including health, dental, mental health, vision, short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance coverage, adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits, and employee/family assistance plans. We also offer eligible employees various retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our generous paid time off program in Canada includes holidays, vacation, personal, and sick days, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence. If you are applying for this role in the U.S., please contact [email protected] for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.