Associate - Ratings Advisory

Department Overview:

The position is within the London team focussed on Ratings Advisory (RA). The team is focused on ratings advisory external ratings - typically those produced by the ‘big-3’ rating agencies (S&P, Moody’s and Fitch) – increasingly represent the key facilitator of a company’s ability to access and optimise non-bank (and in certain cases bank) capital sources.

As such, the role would involve exposure to the many front office areas of the bank where external ratings are important. At its core, the work of the department is fundamentally orientated around corporate credit analysis. This role would provide any applicant with an excellent grounding in the fundamentals of credit risk – a skill which has material cross-over in many areas of banking, investing and finance.

More specifically, the team’s role encompasses:

• Positioning ING’s various front office teams across Europe (for example DCM and Acquisition Finance) with value-add, company bespoke, rating insight within the context of marketing processes – we are often central to the client presentation team

• Providing internal rating views on various transactions and structures to facilitate ‘forward motion’ and discussion internally, for example, between front office and loan syndications, front office and risk, front office and their clients etc. 

• Live execution of external advisory mandates for key ING clients in conjunction with a front office transaction – often a senior DCM role or an Acquisition Finance Mandated Lead Arranger role. This often involves obtaining an external rating for a company for the first time and guiding the client on how to achieve that goal effectively

• Generally acting as a centre of technical expertise related to external ratings and their implications for capital structure optimisation within the ING organisation and providing answers to ad hoc rating related questions as well as spreading knowledge about ratings and rating agencies throughout the organisation

Despite being a deal and deadline driven team operating at very high standards, in line with the overall ethos of ING, the RA team takes to heart and practices the concepts of work-life balance and overall wellbeing. In our view, without that, we cannot remain effective in our jobs in the long-term.

Main Duties and Responsibilities of Role:

The role would initially be centered on supporting the seniors within the team in all aspects of their work. More specifics are detailed in ‘Core Tasks & Material Responsibilities’ below.

As such, the role would be varied, interesting and full of opportunities to develop professionally. The successful applicant will be receiving an excellent training in the fundamentals of corporate credit risk analysis and debt/ratings advisory.

Core Tasks & Material Responsibilities

Specific tasks could include:

• Producing analysis of rated peers (core to forming a rating view)
• Responsibility (for the already existing) Ratings Advisory model template
• Production of the rating specific content of client presentations (based largely on analysis produced by the team’s senior members)
• Supporting in various aspects of live deal execution

In time, the successful candidate would be offered the opportunity to put their newly acquired knowledge into practice and start producing rating opinions, which are disseminated throughout the ING organisation, on less complex situations, under the guidance of a team senior. This, combined with the inherent exposure to many other front office teams within the bank, is where the professional growth aspect exists.

Candidate Profile

Qualification/Education

Essential:            Degree (with material numerical element)

Desirable:           Accountancy/CFA qualification

Experience/Knowledge

Essential:            Financial modelling and presentation production skills. Therefore, a high level of competence with Excel and PowerPoint is essential. Some previous exposure to live execution environments is also a core requirement.

Desirable:           Experience / understanding of the basics of financial analysis, corporate credit risk, DCM and Leveraged Finance

Personal Competencies

Essential:              Highly motivated, entrepreneurial, focused and hard working

                               Excellent English and verbal communication skills

                               Ability to collaborate effectively with a diverse team, but also able to work with large elements of own inspiration and initiative (in due course)