Fund Accountant

[DarthAramid]

Hi guys,

I have a degree in accounting and finance and is currently working in an accounting firm. I handle the accounts of various clients.

I am planning to look for a new job and the position of Fund Accountant seems to interest me. However, i am not really strong with investment funds, calculating NAV etc..

Going for a interview if selected without such knowledge is definitely a suicide. Is there anywhere or what can should i read to give me the knowledge to be a fund accountant and what must i know in order to me one??

Please advise!

 

[rogue1109]

Hi Darth,

I worked as a fund accountant in a foreign bank for about 4 years.

During my interview, I was just asked if I know what a unit trust is. The firm I worked for was very open to hiring total newbies and train them from scratch, altho that means getting lower pay. =P

Anyway depending on the bank, the role of fund accountant could be fully dedicated to calculating the daily NAV of a fund or more.

For calculation of NAV, the following applies

1. Booking all subscriptions and redemptions from the fund by investors. Could be several different classes of investors depending on fund.

2. Booking of all trades made by the fund manager. Have to ensure that quantity and price is correctly booked and the unrealised and realised gain/loss is correctly computed.

3. Taking in all relevant corporate actions ranging from dividends, coupons, stock split, rights issue etc. and its impact on price and quantity of investments held

4. Balancing of the cash holdings and settlement of all purchase and sale proceeds on relevant value dates

5. Obtaining all updated prices of investments and making necessary checks against price providers

6. Accounting for management, administrative, distribution fees etc. as per the fund requirements

7. Churning out of reports and checking all figures for irregularities and even counter checking with another fund accountant

8. Reporting the updated NAV and any performance fees according to required frequency to client. Depending on fund, this could range from daily, weekly, monthly or annually.

I picked up my knowledge on the job. It's really not that difficult.

I enjoyed working as a fund accountant for the first two years but it gets repetitive after awhile. However I like the idea of never having to bring work home. Well hope this helps. =)

 

[DarthAramid]

rogue1109, thank you so much for the detailed reply!! I really appreciate it.

To be honest, what you said is alien to me and is totally different from my current jobscope.

Do you have to be a CPA? What is the career prospect/advancement in this line? Also, the pay range for an entry level fund accountant?

 

[rogue1109]

No problem just sharing what I know.

I never worked as an accountant before even though I have an Accountancy degree. But it would probably be different in the aspect that your cut-off is everyday instead of only at month end.

Learning about different financial instruments and how to account for them in different scenarios is very interesting. If you recall, most instruments that are held for trade should be accounted for using fair value, so there's the daily need to have them revalued.

No you don't need a CPA. In fact you don't need a degree in accounting. I had colleagues who studied outside the business field as well. Although it depends on your employers too.

Career prospects... well from junior officer to senior officer to team leader to asst manager to manager. But it's rather competitive.. Can imagine many accountants also aiming for the same position. But with at least one to two years experience in fund accounting, you should be quite easily employable in other banks as well. I recall my colleagues were moving around the same group of banks. =)

I am not too sure about pay scale now. When I joined I was offered $2,500 with zero accounting experience and left with about mid $3,000. But the bank I worked for is pretty stingy (but they are good in training you up from scratch). Some banks can offer as high as $4 - 5k with at least 1-2 years experience.

 

[DarthAramid]

Wow, thanks once again... So which line are you in now ?

 

[Awesom Andy]

Most fund accountants tend to pick up the skills and knowledge pretty quickly, and you would be considered as an experienced hire, having spent some time in an accounting firm.

The place I'm working in is looking for fund accountants of all levels at the moment, and they get promoted pretty quickly if they are capable (one FA got promoted to senior in less than 12 months).

We are ridiculously stingy in salary, but if you are desperate for a new job as a FA, drop me a PM.

 

[Worsty]

Hi guys,

I have a degree in accounting and finance and is currently working in an accounting firm. I handle the accounts of various clients.

I am planning to look for a new job and the position of Fund Accountant seems to interest me. However, i am not really strong with investment funds, calculating NAV etc..

Going for a interview if selected without such knowledge is definitely a suicide. Is there anywhere or what can should i read to give me the knowledge to be a fund accountant and what must i know in order to me one??

Please advise!

If you are in a big 4, just stay where you are. It's better (career prospect/learning experience wise) in the long run and you can always come out again once you hit Manager level. I left a big 4 to do fund accounting and although working hours are shorter (a little), the pay isn't quite as good(i'm a few hundred (monthly) behind my peers in big 4 even if you jump around every 2 years which i did, bonuses ain't as good as well.The only fund accounting place in Singapore that pays better than the big 4 (for the same number of years worked) is Goldman.)

Sometimes i sorted regret coming out as i'm the sort that prefers to be based at one place and it's pretty niche, you don't really have much places to go to after being in that industry.

If however you still want to come out, there's no need of prior knowledge. It's really simple if you're doing mutual funds, and even some hedge funds that does long/short equity strat (for example)and you'll be up to speed in no time say 3-5 months if you have basic finance/accounting knowledge. Private equity is different though (due to investment types and different reporting needs) and you'll need to be familiar with excel to find it easy.

All in all, if pay and career development is not a concern, feel free to join. The work's simple, you'll be able to plan your holidays and leave in advance.

Again, like i said, if you stay in big 4, you can always come out to do fund accounting as a AVP or VP later on after being a manager

 

[Krill Ivanov]

Software skills for fund accounting

rogue1109, Awesom Andy thank you for the insights, these are really helpful. A quick question regarding software skills other than Excel. Do you use any investment accounting software and are there any specific skill in this area that are valued in the market?
Thank you,
Kirill

 

[wahkao3]

i use fund manager for my fund accounting

 

[Krill Ivanov]

FundCount software

My clients are more General Ledger accounting oriented, and they track multiple entities with look-through aggregate reporting across entities. They use FundCount software. Any competitors you might think of?
Thank you,
Kirill

 

[fillet-oh-fish]

i use fund manager for my fund accounting

Hi, could you pls share the cost of this system and what are the perks of it (relative to the others)?

Thanks!!!

 

[Krill Ivanov]

FundCount Report Encyclopedia

Just check out the Report Encyclopedia where the reports available in the system are grouped into categories.
reports.fundcount.com

 

[Junior JR]

Most fund accountants tend to pick up the skills and knowledge pretty quickly, and you would be considered as an experienced hire, having spent some time in an accounting firm.

The place I'm working in is looking for fund accountants of all levels at the moment, and they get promoted pretty quickly if they are capable (one FA got promoted to senior in less than 12 months).

We are ridiculously stingy in salary, but if you are desperate for a new job as a FA, drop me a PM.

I know this is an super over due post but I hope if there any kind soul can share more insight for entry level fund accountants role.

Hi Andy,

I guess you probably have left the previous company for the fund accounting role -
"We are ridiculously stingy in salary, but if you are desperate for a new job as a FA, drop me a PM" - post in 2011.

Currently I hope to seek for an entry level Fund Accounting role (FYI, currently I work in a local bank as SME Acquisition Manager, have no relevant knowledge not experience in this field). Can you recommend/share with me your previous company who is willing to take in entry level fund accountant as I wish to try to apply?

Thank you.