The Wallace Foundation, an independent national philanthropy, traces its origins back more than half a century to DeWitt and Lila Acheson Wallace, founders of The Reader’s Digest Association. Ranked by assets, Wallace is among the 50 largest private foundations in the United States. 

The Wallace Foundation's mission is to foster improvements in learning and enrichment for disadvantaged children and the vitality of the arts for everyone. As stewards of limited resources, we seek to maximize the benefits derived from our grant dollars, so that they have an impact beyond the services we can fund directly. Our approach is to look for opportunities to develop important new insights and evidence in our areas of interest; fund real world tests of innovative concepts; and then disseminate what we have learned nationally to policymakers and those who work on the ground providing services.

At The Wallace Foundation, we work in teams that assemble the mix of expertise and perspectives we need to design and carry out initiatives according to our approach. Wallace seeks employees who are both highly skilled in their professions and able to work collaboratively with others. Wallace employees need to be able to think analytically and communicate clearly.  We value the flexibility to adapt to change, a desire to learn, and the ability to work productively both on one’s own and with colleagues inside and outside the foundation.                                                                                       

For more information about The Wallace Foundation, please visit www.wallacefoundation.org.

Endowment Management

The Wallace Foundation has an endowment of over $1.4 billion, which is diversified across a broad range of risk buckets and asset classes to achieve the Foundation’s investment goal of funding grants and operations while preserving the long-term, inflation-adjusted value of the endowment.  Our Investment Policy, Investment Committee Charter and other financial and governance information can be found here on Wallace’s website.

The management of the endowment is described in the Investment Committee Charter, which includes delegated authority to the Chief Investment Officer to hire and fire investment managers within specific limits.  The Investment Team includes a Senior Officer, Officer, Associate and Assistant, all of whom report to the Chief Investment Officer.  All Investment Team members:

• Have exposure to a broad range of asset classes, although there are areas of specialization, and
• Participate in Investment Strategy Team meetings that include the Foundation’s President 

Role

The Investment Associate contributes to the effective management of the Foundation’s endowment by providing support in these primary areas: 1) operations due diligence, which includes valuation, audit and risk control; 2) investment manager due diligence; 3) performance measurement and custodial trustee liaison; and 4) general research and administrative support. 

Responsibilities

Operations Manager Due Diligence

• Conduct meetings or conference calls with the compliance and accounting staffs at each of our Private Funds to review their audited financial statements, valuation policies, custodians, administrators, service providers, fund terms and regulatory status. 

• Prepare an annual report on each of our Private Funds to document these reviews and to assign ASC 820 levels to each of these investments. 

• Prepare the workpapers that are needed to meet information requests that arise during the annual audit of our Investment Portfolio by our external auditors.
• Request and analyze data annually from our Private Fund managers on their:
  • Cash inflows and outflows for the firm and the product in which we invest
  • Investment expenses, including management fees and carried interest, that are charged on a direct or indirect basis
  • Tactical risk exposures in the areas of leverage, derivative, counterparty, securities lending and currency

Investment Manager Due Diligence

• Provide support to the Investment Team by preparing preliminary analyses for meetings that other team members will hold with the Foundation’s portfolio managers to discuss their investment staffs, strategies, portfolio holdings, performance attribution and risk metrics.

Performance Measurement and Custodial Trustee

Serve as the liaison with the Foundation’s external:

• Performance Measurement service to ensure the timely flow of information needed by that service to complete monthly performance reports
• Custodial trustee service to ensure the timely completion of assigned duties including the processing of the Foundation’s capital calls and distributions, delivery of accounting statements and processing of securities settlements 

 General Research and Administrative Support

• Provide research and analysis for Investment Committee reports and investment manager searches, as needed.
• Process wire transfers for capital calls and distributions and handle other administrative duties when the Investment Assistant is out of the office.

Development

Reflecting Wallace’s commitment to learning and professional development, the Investment Associate will:

• Build capacity and expertise in preparing Investment Due Diligence reports for current managers
• Develop a greater understanding of endowment management

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with a concentration in investments, finance, economics or statistics.
• One to three years’ experience performing Operations Due Diligence or other experience relevant to the responsibilities of the position
• Excellent research and analytical skills that demonstrate an ability to analyze data and produce related reports
• Strong quantitative skills
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Interpersonal skills to work productively in a collaborative environment

Salary is commensurate with experience. Our benefits include health, dental, life and disability insurance, a 403(b) retirement plan and paid time off.

The Wallace Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to maintaining a diverse workplace where differing perspectives are a source of strength.

To Apply:

The Wallace Foundation has retained the services of Harrison Stone & Associates, LLC to conduct this search.  Please direct inquiries, nominations, and applications in confidence by February 29, 2016 to: [email protected]. Please put “Wallace Investment Associate” in the subject line.