Job detail for Finance Manager - Real Estate

At M&G, our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. With a heritage dating back more than 175 years, we have a long history of innovation in savings and investments, combining asset management and insurance expertise to offer a wide range of solutions.

Our two distinct operating segments, Asset Management and Life, work together to provide access to balanced, long-term investment and savings solutions.

Through telling it like it is, owning it now and moving it forward together with care and integrity; we are creating an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent.

We will consider flexible working arrangements for any of our roles and offer workplace adjustments to ensure you have the support you need to succeed in your role.

The Role:

The Property Fund Finance team is responsible for the financial operations of over £30 billion of property funds managed by M&G Real Estate.

Reporting into the Associate Director – Property Fund Finance, the applicant will be responsible for providing financial control and oversight services to the M&G UK Residential Property Fund, a UK institutional fund structured as a Luxembourg FCP owning an English Limited Partnership, the liquidation of M&G UK Property Fund and its underlying English Limited Partnership and supporting any new fund launches. The role also involves line management of a Senior Associate.

Oversight and financial control:

•     Pricing and NAV review:

o     Second review of monthly/quarterly reporting packs received from the English Limited Partnership (ELP) accountants and feedback any comments or queries to finalise these packs. Work with the ELP accountants to ensure correct accounting, particularly with respect to new transactions.

o     Review of accounting trackers prepared by the Senior Associate in respect of Development Assets to be sent to the ELP accountants to assist with the account’s preparation.

o     Second review of monthly/quarterly NAV packs received from the administrator including reviewing the investment value, subscription and redemption prices, distribution calculation, and accruals.

• Review and sign off NAV checklist and control workbook in a timely manner

o     Review and sign off of performance data and QIR data produced by internal system and presentation of the results at the monthly liquidity meetings.

o     Second review of the INREV fee metrics prepared by the administrator.

o     Review of additional supporting documentation and information prepared by the TPA including:  AIFMD reporting inputs and INREV SDDS reporting.

• Budgeting, Forecasting & Cash Monitoring:

o     Monitoring fund cash requirements and reviewing the monthly cashflow forecast prepared by the Senior Associate.

o     Monitor forward funding development cashflows and liaise with the fund team to ensure accurate and timely drawdowns.

o     Running bi-weekly meetings with the fund management team to keep up to date with current and impending activity and providing accounting advice where required.

o     Support redemption and liquidity management

•     Technical Accounting

o     Preparing accounting memos for complex transactions and working to get these signed off with the auditors before exchange.

o     Coordination and review of financial due diligence in relation to asset acquisitions and disposals.

o     Review of drafting of legal agreements in relation to complex transactions, to ensure commercial terms support desired accounting treatment.

•     Financial Statements

o     Review ELP financial statements prepared by the Senior Associate under IFRS.

o     Review the FCP financial statements prepared by the administrator under IFRS and work closely with internal teams to ensure the annual report is delivered on time.

o     Manage the production of the IFRS financial statements for the FCP.

o     Work with the Senior Associate to produce audit information and liaise with the auditors to resolve specific queries.

•     Supplier management

• Responsible for the management of supplier relationships for accounting service providers, including ensuring they are adequately instructed, responding to accounting queries, monitoring and reviewing outputs and ensuring that the fund is receiving the appropriate level of services.

o     Run quarterly meetings with the Residential Fund ELP accountants.

o     Liaison with external accounting suppliers to ensure instructions are appropriate, clear, and followed and attendance at relationship meetings with service providers to report on any updates or issues.

•

Additional Reporting:

• Review and presentation of papers for Board and Audit Committee meetings.

• Attendance (typically via video conference) at Board meetings of the fund and the subsidiaries on a quarterly basis.

o     Review quarterly investor report and inputs prepared by the Senior Associate.

o     Review of financial oversight memos prepared by the Senior Associate and presentation of these reports with at Board meetings.

o     Review of half yearly consolidation reporting to Prudential Group prepared by TPA

o     Working with the Client Reporting team to respond to ad hoc investor queries.

o     Working the Senior Associate to prepare information required by the tax team to ensure the tax compliance of the fund.

Transactions & corporate finance

• Review of financial due diligence and legal agreement, in relation to asset acquisitions and disposals, to ensure commercial terms support desired accounting treatment.

• Support with the on-boarding of new acquisitions, including agreement of service provider scope, ensuring service providers are adequately informed and instructed, preparation of detailed accounting memos and agreement of accounting treatment with auditors.

• Supporting the arrangement of internal financing, e.g. review of funding diagrams and management of funding lines, and movement of cash through the fund structure in conjunction with the administrator

Additional :

o     Ensuring adequate preparation and review procedures exist and are sufficiently documented.

o     Attendance at the Property Fund Finance Steering Committee meetings to update on the service provider relationship and audit process.

• Provision of cover to the Senior Associate and Associate Director and other team members

• Ensuring that accounting procedures are fully documented and kept up to date

• Attendance at weekly/quarterly fund meetings

• Review of rent arrears with asset managers

• Review and input into the quarterly investor report process

• Assistance with ad-hoc projects covering various elements of the work of the Property Fund

Location: London

Work Level: Manager/Expert

What we offer:

We’re dedicated to supporting your wellbeing and helping you thrive, both at work and beyond. Our benefits are designed to help you balance your professional and personal life , and financially plan for the future. Our UK benefits include:

• A valuable pension scheme of up to 18%(13% made up of employer contributions and 5% employee contributions).
• Access to our Share Save and Share Incentive Plan, alongside financial wellbeing and support services to help give you real confidence to put your money to work.
• Enjoy 38 days annual leave (including bank holidays), with the opportunity to purchase up to five extra days. Our Time Off When You Need It policy gives you the flexibility - to balance work and personal commitments.
• Our market-leading Inspiring Families policy includes comprehensive support and paid parental leave covering maternity, adoption, surrogacy, and paternity leave - because supporting families is an important part of our inclusive culture.
• Health & Protection cover includes Private Healthcare, Critical Illness cover and Life Assurance for you, with additional family options - for peace of mind.

To explore more about life at M&G and our full benefits offering, visit Life at M&G

At M&G we strive to have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture, underpinned by our policies and employee-led networks that offer networking, support and development opportunities for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds – across gender, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation and more – including neurodivergent individuals, career returners and those with military service experience.

M&G is proud to be Level 3: Disability Confident Leader under the UK Government Disability Confident employer scheme, and we welcome applications from candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions. If you would like to participate in the initiative, you will have the opportunity to indicate this on your application.

We are committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process. All candidates have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments when applying. If you need any additional support at any stage, please contact us at: careers@mandg.com