Quantitative Risk Analyst/Associate - Risk

Quantitative Associate / Analyst (Risk)

Midwest Holding LLC., is a rapidly growing private equity backed, financial services holding company that originates annuity products in the US and invests primarily in real estate, structured and private credit, with reinsurance being a key component of our strategy. Midwest seeks a highly analytical, hands-on, and energetic team player to join us as a strong Quantitative Analyst or Associate within the Chief Risk Office. We operate as a modern insurance-holding company focused on long-term and sustainable growth. Joining Midwest’s Chief Risk Office at this exciting time will afford the prospective candidate an opportunity to contribute to almost every aspect of our business.

Summary/Objective

The Quantitative Analyst or Associate will be a key person in our risk organization responsible for supporting the highest standards in risk management with a specific focus on capital management, enterprise risk management (ERM), hedging, investment management, and reinsurance frameworks. This individual will provide support in assessing and mitigating financial risks within our annuity business, ensuring the company's stability, profitability, and regulatory compliance. The role will have visibility and touch points with every part of our organization.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Objectives: Assist the Chief Risk Office in executing on Midwest’s strategic objectives pertaining to managing capital, reinsurance, investments, and AUM/product expansion.
• Enterprise Risk Management (ERM): Develop and deploy a robust risk management framework across the organization, including risk appetite and tolerances, allowing for early risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and reporting.
• Hedging: Oversee and develop policies for strategies that utilize derivatives to hedge liability and asset exposure.
• Investment Management: Monitor the investment risk in both retained and ceded asset portfolios. Collaborate with the investment team to ensure the portfolio aligns with the company's risk and return objectives.
• Reinsurance: Create and validate complex financial and reinsurance models. Identify any potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them.
• Governance: Assist the CRO in providing materials, agendas, and the general running of risk committees

Competencies

• Risk Management Expertise: A deep understanding of various types of risks, including market risk, credit risk, operational risk, liquidity risk, ALM, and Earnings- and Capital-at -risk. This includes knowledge of best practices in risk management, risk assessment methodologies, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Industry Knowledge: Possess extensive knowledge about the insurance and asset management industries, including an understanding of the regulatory environment, financial market dynamics, accounting, conventions and various investment strategies and products.
• Strategic Planning: Proficient in strategic planning and decision-making to align risk management initiatives with overall business objectives. This includes designing and implementing risk management frameworks and policies.
• Analytical Skills: Strong analytical skills to identify, assess, and monitor risks. This includes the ability to analyze complex financial data and models and to make informed decisions based on this analysis.
• Communication Skills: Excellent communication skills are necessary to effectively explain risk reports and strategies to the board, executives, stakeholders, and regulatory bodies. This includes negotiation and influencing skills.
• Project Management: Ability to run both small and large projects, be comfortable with occasional ambiguity, and communicate clearly on timing, goals, and milestones.

Required and Preferred Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Economics, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred.
• 0-1 years (analyst) or 1-3 years (associate) of experience in the financial services industry with a focus on risk management, investments, retail annuity products, and reinsurance.
• Professional designations such as ASA/FSA, CFA, CAIA, FRM/PRM or similar are valued.
• Strong knowledge of capital management, ERM, hedging strategies, investment management, and reinsurance.

Data Analysis and Visualization

• Excel (Advanced): Proficiency in pivot tables, macros, and data analysis tools.
• Data Visualization Tools: Power BI, Tableau, or similar platforms to create risk reports and dashboards.
• High level scripting (eg R, Python) and associated libraries for modeling and data manipulation (eg SQL).

Risk Management: Familiarity with tools like MATLAB, Bloomberg Terminal, or Risk Metrics.

• Monte Carlo, Stress testing: Skills in designing and analyzing simulations or backtests to understand portfolio and business risks.
• Credit Risk Tools: Experience with Moody’s Analytics or similar tools.
• Understanding of data security and regulatory compliance frameworks

Machine Learning and Data Science

• Knowledge of machine learning models and algorithms to forecast risks and detect patterns
• Portfolio Management Systems (PMS)
• Experience with tools like Charles River, BlackRock Aladdin, or FactSet for portfolio risk analysis and compliance monitoring.

Risk-Specific Software

• Value at Risk (VaR) Tools: Experience in calculating and interpreting VaR using various methods (historical, variance-covariance).
• Stress Testing Tools: Skills in creating scenarios to test portfolio resilience.

Cloud and Big Data Platforms

• Experience with platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud for data storage and processing.
• Big data tools like Hadoop or Spark to handle large-scale datasets for analysis.

Regulatory and Compliance Tools

• Familiarity with compliance monitoring systems such as AxiomSL or Wolters Kluwer for adhering to financial regulations.
• Reporting Tools: Skills in generating automated and interactive reports. In-depth understanding of financial markets, economic indicators, and regulatory environment.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to articulate complex ideas to a variety of audiences.

We offer a competitive salary, a comprehensive benefits package, and opportunities for career growth within our organization. If you are a self-motivated and results-driven individual with a passion for insurance policy management, please submit your application today.

Supervisory Responsibility

This position will have no direct supervisory duties at first but will grow over time to include other Risk professionals. Additionally, this position reports directly to the CRO.

Work Environment

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets, and fax machines.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and communicate with others. This may be over the phone, in person, or through email and messaging. The employee must be able to hear people over the phone. The employee is frequently required to sit, stand, walk, and use their hands and fingers to work with the computer, phones, filing cabinets, paperwork, etc. 

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Additional hours as needed to complete work and ensure operations/business is not interrupted or slowed.

Travel

Some travel is required for this position to New York, NY, and Lincoln, NE. This position can be remote, hybrid, or in-person.

Work Authorization/Security Clearance

Must be eligible to work in the United States.