PEFCO Investment Associate / Executive - Industries, Technology & Services Group

About BII

British International Investment is the UK’s development finance institution, owned by the UK Government. With a mission to solve the biggest global development challenges, we aim to create a virtuous circle of investment and impact. Your contribution will be essential.

It won’t be easy: we do the hardest work in the most complex markets. Be prepared to test your skills, get creative and say your piece as you take on high-profile work as part of a diverse team of exceptionally smart, passionate people.

In return, you can take your career to all-new places in a culture that rewards curiosity and collaboration and balances high performance with wellbeing.

BII at a glance

Over 75 years supporting sustainable business growth in developing and emerging markets

£8.8 billion in net assets

1,400+ businesses invested in

950,000 workers in the businesses we support

£9 billion in new investments planned in the next 5 years

650+ people in our diverse global team

3 key development objectives: Productive | Sustainable | Inclusive

Team and role overview

BII’s investment activities are organised across 3 principal groups:

• Industries, Technology and Services (“ITS”) Group – this group oversees our investment activity in sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, consumer services and social infrastructure, technology, and telecommunications.
• Financial Services Group – this group oversees our investment activity via financial institutions and into financial services companies.
• Infrastructure and Climate Group – this group oversees our investment activity in energy sectors and wider infrastructure sectors such as transport.

ITS consists of four sub-teams – i) Technologies, Telecoms & Sustainable Industrials ii) Food, Agriculture & Natural Capital, iii) Consumer Services Circularity & Built Environment, and iv) Private Equity Funds & Co-Investments (PEFCO). We use equity, debt, and intermediated (primarily funds) investment instruments to reach our target sectors.

PEFCO originates, executes and manages a portfolio of multi-sector equity fund investments and co-investments. The team is based in London, as well as on-the-ground in South Asia and Africa. We take a hands-on patient approach to develop the private equity industry across BII’s target markets, ensuring the right teams, strategies, skills and sectors are focused on underlying businesses to make them sustainable, successful and impactful in the long term. PEFCO allows BII to invest in our markets with scale and reach, helps to originate transactions for other products within the organisation (e.g. direct equity and debt), leverages BII tools and value add for the benefit of the fund managers we back (e.g. technical assistance, E&S, impact management, Gender & Diversity) and obtain insights into our markets from our portfolio of funds and on-the-ground managers.

Co-investments (investing directly into companies alongside our funds) are an important component of the PEFCO mandate. It helps us to target capital to key sector and impact objectives, whilst also seeking to enhance portfolio returns.

There are 5 levels in the team – Associate, Executive, Manager, Director & Team Head. The team is flat and people at all levels are involved in all aspects of our work and transactions including presenting to Investment Committee and representing BII externally. Directors and Managers act as deal and portfolio leads/oversights; Executives and Associates provide key support on transactions and portfolio.

Purpose

Investment Associates and Executives will support the team’s strategy across BII’s target markets, including the origination, evaluation, execution and portfolio monitoring of fund transactions and co-investments. This will include research and strategy work, initial assessment of new opportunities, due diligence, execution and portfolio management activities, as required, as well as assisting and liaising with other relevant transaction support teams – including Development Impact, Legal, Environmental & Social, Business Integrity, Technical Assistance, and Gender & Diversity.

Responsibilities

Overall responsibilities will be driven by priorities and needs of the team at the time, but are expected to include some or all of the following:

• Work with senior investment professionals in the management of portfolio funds and co-investments, including actively monitoring the financial performance and development impact of investments and their compliance with BII’s investment policy
• Member of deal team that sources, analyses and executes new proposals to invest in funds and co-investments, with the objective of selecting investments with the highest potential for financial and developmental impact
• Evaluating new investment opportunities which will meet BII’s objectives under its impact framework, including utilising BII’s internal tools for mapping proposals
• Completing discrete due diligence tasks such as investee, industry, geographic and economic analysis.
• Identifying transaction risks and how these can be mitigated.
• Preparing detailed investment papers for presentation and recommendation to investment committee.
• Travelling to BII target geographies to conduct onsite meetings as required
• Managing the engagement of support teams (Environmental, Social, Business Integrity and Development Impact), ensuring all internal stakeholders can achieve their objectives.
• Reviewing transaction/legal documentation together with the internal legal team and assisting in negotiation process
• Maintaining and sharing up-to-date market knowledge/intelligence, geographic and sector mappings
• With the support of the deal lead, active engagement with fund managers, portfolio companies and other investors related to portfolio issues and ongoing monitoring.
• Monitoring and reporting on the financial performance, cash flows, compliance, ESG, and any other issues that relate to existing portfolio investments (i) formally, through the review and analysis of quarterly fund reports and supporting the deal lead in portfolio management team, and (ii) Informally, through active engagement with fund managers, other investors and market participants
• Keeping up-to-date deal-flow, deal management and portfolio monitoring databases for transactions covered by the team.
• Preparing materials and analysis for BII Portfolio Review Meetings
• Processing drawdowns to and distributions from investments alongside support teams
• Taking a pro-active approach to identify problems of under-performance and/or non-compliance and propose tangible solutions.
• Supporting the building an effective network in the funds business as well as relevant sectors in BII’s target markets
• Developing expertise on economic, political and social conditions in relevant BII target markets
• Working in cross-team working groups on various areas of the business e.g. new strategies, internal processes, etc
• Contributing to the onboarding of new colleagues as well as coaching any more junior colleagues

The candidate

Background, aptitude

• Strong academic credentials, preferably including a post-graduate finance qualifications such as MBA, CFA, ACA/CA/CIMA, IMC, or equivalent
• Relevant experience might include working in private equity (direct or fund of funds), private debt, investment banking, financial markets or management consultancy.
• An active interest in investing in emerging markets. Previous experience, especially in Africa and Asia, is desirable
• Candidates should be strongly motivated by BII’s objectives including an interest in development and sustainability issues, as demonstrated through previous experience

The successful candidate should also demonstrate the following aptitudes:

• Results Focus: Drive to achieve objectives/results, desire to learn and willingness to take on feedback
• Personal Effectiveness: Prioritising and managing time to meet agreed deadlines
• Team Working: Collaboration with own team and the wider BII community
• Influencing/Persuading: Ability to obtain agreement and cooperation in a ‘win-win’ fashion

Technical skills

• Solid written and oral presentation skills, including the ability to write reports and to clearly present conclusions and ideas to an audience Proficiency with Excel, including building financial models
• Analytical, research and valuation skills, including the ability to analyse investment performance, company reports, sector data, economic scenarios and political events
• Understanding of investment assessment skills, familiarity with diligence processes, financial terms, legal terms
• Demonstrable professional approach and ability to develop relationships within BII as well as externally.
• Appreciation of the role of development impact and ESG in day-to-day investment decision making
• Understanding of emerging market environments and willingness to travel within BII target markets

Our cultural values

We look for team members who aspire, as we do, to work at our best and to be:

• Impact-led, commercially rigorous
• Tenacious in the face of challenges
• Collaborative and caring

Our cultural values

We look for team members who aspire, as we do, to work at our best and to be:

• Impact-led, commercially rigorous
• Tenacious in the face of challenges
• Collaborative and caring

British International Investment is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or educational background.

Please provide a cover letter with your application

Salary: Competitive