Managing Director, Head Of Trading

About Cresset

Cresset is an award-winning, independent, multi-family office, and private investment firm. Cresset’s goal is to reinvent the way people experience wealth by providing access to the talent, ideas, and investment opportunities available to the largest single-family offices and endowments. We offer deeply personalized wealth management, investment advisory, and family office services through Cresset Asset Management, an SEC-registered investment advisor that has surpassed $50 billion in assets under management. The firm is widely recognized for its excellence and is frequently ranked as a Barron’s and Forbes top RIA firm.

The Managing Director, Head of Trading, will oversee the daily operations of the trading department at Cresset.  This role requires a deep understanding of the financial markets, trading processes, regulatory compliance, and technology platforms. The individual will be responsible for managing a central trading team, ensuring the accuracy and efficiency of trade execution, settlement, and reconciliation processes, driving continuous improvement initiatives to optimize operational workflows, and ownership of trading policies. This role will also lead Cresset’s efforts to improve portfolio implementation in support of our advisors. This role is critical to ensuring the firm’s trading activities are executed smoothly and in compliance with all relevant regulations.

In addition to the day-to-day responsibilities depicted above, Cresset is embarking on a build out of new trading systems and processes. This role will play an integral part in shaping the new platform and driving adoption across the firm.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leadership & Management:
  • Lead and manage the trade operations team, providing guidance, training, and development opportunities.
  • Lead and manage platform to support advisor-led trading and portfolio implementation capabilities.
  • Effectively allocate resources and cross train team on operational functions to ensure redundancies and adequate coverage.
  • Foster a collaborative team environment focused on achieving high performance and continuous improvement.
  • Establish and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders, including advisors and advisor practice management, investments, operations, compliance, and technology.
• Trade Execution & Processing:
  • Oversee the execution of all trades, ensuring timely and accurate trade entry, allocation, and confirmation processes.
  • Monitor and manage the settlement of trades across various asset classes including equities, fixed income, and derivatives.
  • Implement and maintain best practices for trade execution to minimize errors and operational risk for central trading team and for distributed trading activities with advisor teams.
  • Oversee the correction of trade issues, including errors, allocation or settlement issues and initiating trade corrections as needed to minimize market risk.
• Compliance & Risk Management:
  • Ensure all trading activities follow regulatory requirements and internal policies.
  • Identify, assess, and mitigate operational risks within the trading process.
  • Own and update trade related policies.
• Portfolio Implementation:
  • Oversee the development of practices and solutions for Advisor teams to manage portfolio implementation, including straight-through-processing (STP) capabilities in support of timely and safe trade execution.
  • Support Advisor teams’ adoption of portfolio implementation tools through training and ongoing support.
• Technology, Systems & Data:
  • Oversee the implementation, access to and maintenance of trading platforms and related technology systems.
  • Collaborate with Technology team to address system issues and enhancements that improve trade operations efficiency.
  • Ensure the accuracy of data in all trading platforms
  • Evaluate and integrate new technology solutions to enhance the trading process & portfolio management processes.
• Reporting & Analytics:
  • Develop and maintain key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of trade operations.
  • Generate regular reports for senior management, highlighting key trends, issues, errors, and opportunities within trade operations.
  • Provide insights and recommendations based on trade data analysis to support decision-making.
• Vendor & Counterparty Management:
  • Manage relationships with external vendors, brokers, and custodians to ensure smooth trade processing, error resolution, and settlement. 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business, or related field; MBA or CFA designation is preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in trade operations within an RIA, asset management, or similar financial services firm.
• Experience operating in a multi-asset class environment with preferable experience with equities, fixed income, options, alternatives, and other instruments.
• Proficient in using and managing sophisticated, high volume trade management systems at scale, with multiple custodians and counterparties.
• Proven leadership experience with the ability to manage and develop a team.
• Strong knowledge of financial markets, trading platforms, and regulatory requirements.
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to identify and solve complex problems.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook)
• Strong computer skills, specifically Microsoft Excel advanced functions including Pivot Tables, vLookups, etc.
• Experience with modern portfolio implementation tools used for ad-hoc and bulk rebalancing, and tax-aware portfolio construction a plus.
• Experience with modern business intelligence and dashboard tools like Power BI a plus.
• Experience with client reporting solutions like Addepar and CRM platforms like Salesforce a nice to have.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to work under pressure.
• Demonstrated passion for delivering exceptional client service
• High degree of professionalism and flexibility and able to perform successfully in a service-oriented, fast-paced, high-growth and frequently changing environment and aligned with Cresset’s values and culture

What We Offer

At Cresset, we focus on people first. As a service business, our people are our assets. Engaging our clients and employees is our highest priority. Starting base salary range: $200,000 - $375,000.  Salary will be based on factors including, but not limited to, experience, licenses/certifications, industry knowledge, and geographic location. Cresset offers a competitive compensation package including an annual incentive and a benefits package to all full-time employees including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, 401(k) retirement plan, health savings accounts, short and long-term disability insurance, voluntary critical and accident insurance, and pre-tax parking and transportation programs. Aligning employee and organizational interests, all employees receive equity in Cresset.

Equal Employment Opportunity

It is the policy of Cresset to ensure equal employment opportunity (EEO) for all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation, or related conditions), national origin or ancestry, age, disability, veteran status, uniformed servicemember status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a parent, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. It is Cresset’s policy to comply with applicable laws concerning the employment of persons with disabilities, including reasonable accommodation for applicants and employees with disabilities.