OUR COMPANY BACKGROUND & CULTURE

UPP is the first pension plan of its kind in Ontario’s university sector, proudly serving over 41,000 members across five universities and fourteen sector organizations. Our purpose is to bring greater retirement peace of mind to the university sector by investing with integrity and serving members with care. As a sector-wide plan designed for growth, our doors are open to all Ontario universities.

Together, we’re a team of progressive thinkers and agile doers operating within a fast-paced culture of collaboration and respect. We believe in bringing smart and capable people together to create, solve, and grow with a clear shared vision and values of integrity, inclusivity, ingenuity, and impact. Our culture is intentionally welcoming and purposefully rooted in equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation (EDI&R). We believe diverse teams, perspectives, and lived experiences contribute to better decisions and a better workplace.

As a pension plan, UPP approaches investing through a long-term lens to generate and safeguard value. Our commitment to investing responsibly accounts for material risks that impact our investment portfolio to generate sufficient risk-adjusted returns to meet the pension needs of our members.

Join us in building a bright future for our members, our organization, and each other.

THE ROLE

This is an exciting opportunity for an exceptional individual to join a team of high performing professionals and make a significant impact.

Reporting to the Senior Managing Director, Head of Private Markets, the Associate Director, Private Markets Asset Management (“AD, PM”) will build strong trusted relationships and communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders in support and development of UPP’s Private Markets strategy & portfolio. An inclusive ‘one fund’ mindset will unite the investment team in a shared mission to meet the pension promise, deliver on UPP’s expectations as a responsible investor, and position our investment platform as a key competitive differentiator.

This role is based in downtown Toronto under a hybrid work policy, allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely and in-office (approximately two days per week in-office).

SPECIFIC ACCOUNTABILITIES

Contribute to the development of UPP’s Private Markets investment strategy on an on-going basis.
Facilitate collaboration and sharing of best practices and market trends across all private market asset classes.
Coordinate active asset management and monitoring of UPP’s Private Markets portfolio, with asset class specialists and Senior Managing Director, Head of Private Markets.
Coordinate and develop processes for ongoing reports on valuations, risks, and performance on the UPP Private Markets portfolio ensuring UPP has up-to-date knowledge.
Perform due diligence and research on ad hoc topics arising in the Private Markets portfolio and provide recommendations to the Senior Managing Director, Head of Private Markets.
Collaborating with internal UPP teams on topics related to the performance, reporting and ongoing fair market valuation of UPPs Private Markets investments.
Coordination with the broader UPP Investment team on topics related to management fee budgeting and reporting, capital budgeting/investment pacing, ESG-related reporting, risk reporting, foreign exchange, hedging, liquidity, benchmarking, etc. as it pertains to UPP’s Private Markets investments.
Preparation of investment performance commentaries, in collaboration with relevant private markets asset class specialists, for internal and external distribution including regular and ad hoc meetings, investment committee meetings, as well as periodic reporting.
Developing proposals to enhance risk-adjusted performance of the overall Private Markets portfolio, considering all aspects of portfolio management, to ensure effective management of costs, risks and returns.
Develop strong relationships with external investment partners and contribute to developing strong long-term partnerships.
Integrate environmental, social and governance considerations into asset management processes and stewardship practices.
Contribute to UPP’s reputation as a respectful employer, partner, and participant in the financial sector.
Collaborate with other industry participants to promote a sustainable economy and society.
Other duties as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business Administration, or Economics, or other related disciplines.
Possessing an MBA, CFA, CPA, CBV, CAIA or any other relevant professional designation would be an asset.
Minimum of 7-10 years of experience in the investment management and/or pension industries, with direct experience in private market investments or projects.
Able to work in a multi-faceted stakeholder environment and aspire confidence in a broad range of constituencies through a proactive, respectful, and accessible communication style.

ATTRIBUTES

High degree of self-motivation and professionalism.
Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects in a time sensitive manner.
Excellent relationship building and conflict resolution skills.
Demonstrated leadership abilities.
Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills.
A collaborative approach to understand and respond to organizational needs and partner with various organizational and control functions.
High degree of professional ethics and integrity.
Strong commercial and strategic judgment.
Alignment with UPP’s desire to be a leader in Responsible Investing, ESG, and climate change.

LIFE AT UPP

Do work that matters. We are duty-bound to serve our members’ interests, and it’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly. That’s why we’ve ingrained sustainability in our work from day one—to ensure our members have a resilient future to retire into, both today and for generations to come.

Stronger together. Collaboration is how UPP was born, and it’s how we work with each other and our partners day in, day out. No one at UPP is just a number (even if they are excellent at math) and every win is a shared win.

Grow every day. You’ll have the opportunity to work on unique, once-in-a-career projects that maximize your skill set and probably teach you some new ones—at any stage in your career.

Prioritize wellness. At UPP, wellness takes many forms. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring our people are cared for in the ways that matter to them. Check out some highlights of our inclusive employee-focused benefits program including:

Defined benefit pension plan
Flexible hybrid work model
Work from abroad up to eight weeks/year
Comprehensive group benefits including medical, dental, vision etc.
Extended paramedical and mental health service coverage
Health care and lifestyle spending accounts
Fertility treatments, paid parental leave, and gender affirmation coverage
Education Assistance program

UPP enthusiastically welcomes applications from all qualified applicants and especially invites people with lived experience as an Indigenous person, a person with a disability or as a member of another Human Rights Code protected group that faces barriers to employment to apply. Our goal is to create a barrier-free experience for every candidate throughout the recruitment process, so if you require accommodation at any point during the process, please let us know so that we can make the appropriate arrangements. It would be our honor to work with you to adapt our processes to ensure that you can meaningfully participate.

UPP respects your privacy. For information on how UPP handles the personal information you provide during the application process, please see our Job Applicant Privacy Statement.

University Pension Plan Ontario

Open Positions

Associate Director, Private Markets Asset Management