Middle Office Associate - Investment Operations

Purpose

The Middle Office Associate is a highly skilled investment operations support professional responsible for assisting Trust Officers with operational activities related to trust administration, asset onboarding, account maintenance, reporting, reconciliation, and investment operations. This role serves as a critical liaison between Trust Officers, Trust Accounting, Custody Operations, Investment Management, and external financial institutions to ensure the timely and accurate processing of client transactions and account activities. The Investment Operations Associate plays an essential role in delivering exceptional service to internal stakeholders while maintaining operational excellence, fiduciary integrity, and regulatory compliance.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities

• Serve as a primary operational support resource for Trust Officers and Wealth Advisors.
• Aid Trust Officers with operational servicing activities.
• Prepare and distribute reports from trust accounting system.
• Research and resolve account-related inquiries and operational exceptions.
• Cook up activities with trust accounting, custody, investment management, and client service teams.
• Facilitate onboarding of new trust and investment accounts.
• Transfer marketable securities including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and cash from external custodians.
• Coordinate incoming ACAT and non-ACAT transfers.
• Process internal asset transfers between trust, agency, IRA, and investment accounts.
• Review transfer documentation for completeness and accuracy.
• Monitor and resolve transfer exceptions.
• Aid Trust Officers with account termination processes.
• Ensure final account statement has been generated and distributed.
• Purchase, redeem, and process interest, maturities, and dividend activity related to bank certificates of deposit (CDs).
• Adjust cost basis information to ensure accurate tax and reporting records.
• Process backup withholding transactions in accordance with regulatory requirements.
• Perform manual shadow posting and transaction processing.
• Load and maintain automated data feeds for shadow accounting systems.
• Reconcile shadow accounts against custodial and accounting records.
• Research and resolve reconciliation discrepancies.
• Ensure accuracy of account balances, positions, and transaction histories.
• Generate and distribute operational, investment, and trust administration reports.
• Prepare customized reports requested by Trust Officers and management.
• Aid with month-end, quarter-end, and year-end reporting activities.
• Ensure integrity of client and account data across multiple systems.
• Maintain compliance with fiduciary standards, trust policies, and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure proper handling of confidential client information.
• Follow established operational procedures and internal controls.
• Aid with audit requests and compliance reviews.
• Identify operational risks and recommend process improvements.

Required Education

An Associate's Degree or Bachelor's Degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, Economics, Legal Studies, or related field preferred.

Required Experience

1-3 years of financial services experience supporting wealth management professionals, trust administration, investment operations, brokerage operations, or related financial services functions; OR 1-3 years of experience supporting trusts and estates within a law firm, estate planning practice, fiduciary services organization, or related legal environment.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent organizational and customer service skills.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Excellent time management skills with demonstrated ability to meet deadlines.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple responsibilities simultaneously.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise discretion when handling sensitive information.
• Dependable, adaptable, and responsive to changing priorities.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite including: - Excel - Word - Outlook - Teams
• Ability to quickly learn new software applications and operational systems.
• Experience with trust accounting, custody, portfolio accounting, or wealth management systems preferred.

Preferred Knowledge

• Trust and fiduciary administration.
• Investment operations and securities processing.
• Asset transfer procedures and custody operations.
• Cost basis reporting requirements.
• Trust accounting principles.
• Wealth management and investment administration practices.

Key Success Measures

• Accuracy of asset transfers and onboarding activities.
• Timeliness of account terminations and distributions.
• Reconciliation accuracy and resolution of exceptions.
• Reporting quality and responsiveness to Trust Officer requests.
• Operational risk mitigation and compliance adherence.
• Internal client satisfaction and service excellence.
• Achievement of established productivity and quality standards.

Work Environment and Physical Demands

Moderate noise (business office with computers, phone, printers, light traffic), ability to sit at a computer for an extended period of time, regularly required to sit, stand, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer keyboard and telephone, specific vision abilities include close vision requirements due to computer work.