Portfolio Manager Assistant
93% skill overlap
Your role
Investment Risk Analyst
Full profileYour role
- L3 salary
- Not published yet
- Upcoming dated changes
- 2 changes ahead
What the role does
An Investment Risk Analyst monitors the risk of investment funds and client portfolios at an asset manager or wealth manager. The role measures market, liquidity and counterparty exposure with measures such as volatility, tracking error, value at risk (VaR) and sensitivities, checks positions against regulatory and contractual limits, and explains the numbers to portfolio managers, risk committees and boards. It sits in the second line of defence, independent from the investment team.
Read a day in the life
A day in the life
The morning starts with the overnight risk run. The analyst checks that positions, prices and benchmark data loaded correctly, then reviews the dashboard: VaR, tracking error, duration, concentration and liquidity buckets for each fund. Two funds show alerts. One breaches an issuer concentration limit after a market move, so the analyst confirms the data, records the breach and contacts the portfolio manager to agree a remediation date. The other is a false alarm caused by a stale price, which goes back to the data team. Late morning goes to the monthly liquidity stress test required for funds under European fund rules: redemption scenarios, days to liquidate and the share of illiquid assets. After lunch the analyst prepares slides for the risk committee, explaining why risk rose in a credit fund and which positions drive it. The afternoon ends with a request from a new institutional client who wants a custom risk report, and with testing a new factor model against last quarter's results.
Levels
- L1 Starting out
- L2 Independent
- L3 Senior or specialist
- L4 Leads a team or an area
- L5 Leads the function
Full level descriptions and job titles
The EFO level names are the common scale; job titles differ between employers.
| Level | What the work looks like | Typical years | Typical job titles |
|---|---|---|---|
| L1 Starting out | Runs daily risk reports, checks data quality and flags limit alerts. Learns the risk system, the fund documents and the main measures (VaR, tracking error, duration) under close supervision. | 0-2 | Banks: Analyst, Junior Analyst, Associate (asset servicing), Trainee, GraduateAsset servicers: Junior, Specialist (entry), Officer |
| L2 Independent | Owns risk monitoring for a set of funds end to end, handles routine breaches with portfolio managers, prepares committee packs and trains new joiners on the daily process. | 2-5 | Banks: Analyst / Senior Analyst, AssociateAsset servicers: Specialist, Senior Specialist, Senior Officer |
| L3 Senior or specialist | Specialist in a risk area such as liquidity, fixed income or multi-asset. Designs stress scenarios, reviews models and represents risk in fund launches and system projects. | 5-9 | Banks: Senior Associate, AVP, Assistant ManagerAsset servicers: Senior Specialist, Expert, Team Lead (small team) |
| L4 Leads a team or an area | Leads a risk team or an asset class. Owns the limit framework and its controls, presents to boards and regulators, and is the escalation point for breaches and disputes with investment teams. | 8-14 | Banks: VP, Manager, Senior ManagerAsset servicers: Team Lead, Manager, Head of Section |
| L5 Leads the function | Head of investment risk for a firm or region. Accountable for the risk management function required by fund regulation, sets methodology and risk appetite, and reports to senior management and boards. | 12+ | Banks: Director, Executive Director, Managing Director, Head of functionAsset servicers: Head of Department, Director |
Skills
Where the skill weights come from
Each role lists its skills with a tier and a weight. The weights of one role add up to 100 percent.
Source: the EFO role catalogue, built from the ESCO classification and reviewed by the editors.
The percentage is the skill's share of the role; the bars are drawn relative to the anchor skill, which is shown full.
Critical
- Portfolio construction and allocationWeight 13.6%Relevant to you
- Performance measurement and attributionWeight 9.1%Relevant to you
- Financial markets knowledgeWeight 9.1%Relevant to you
- Net asset value calculationWeight 9.1%Relevant to you
- Risk measures and sensitivitiesWeight 9.1%Relevant to you
Important and supporting skills 16
Important
- Company valuation (DCF, multiples)Weight 4.6%Relevant to you
- Derivatives and how they workWeight 4.6%Relevant to you
- Advanced Microsoft ExcelWeight 4.6%Relevant to you
- Bloomberg Terminal / market dataWeight 4.6%Relevant to you
- Fund regulation and structures (UCITS, AIFMD, US 1940 Act)Weight 4.6%Relevant to you
- Professional written communicationWeight 4.6%Relevant to you
- Descriptive statistics and distributionsWeight 4.6%Relevant to you
- Assessing the quality of sourcesWeight 4.6%Relevant to you
Supporting
- ESG frameworks and rating criteriaWeight 2.3%Relevant to you
- Attention to detailWeight 2.3%Relevant to you
- Querying data with SQLWeight 2.3%Relevant to you
- Verbal communication and presentingWeight 2.3%Relevant to you
- Conduct and investor protection rules (MiFID II, FINRA, SEBI)Weight 2.3%Relevant to you
Useful
- Python for data analysisWeight 0.8%Relevant to you
- Working to tight deadlinesWeight 0.8%Relevant to you
- Stakeholder managementWeight 0.8%Relevant to you
Processes
The work the role takes part in.
What each process covers
- Fund accounting and NAVMain
- Market risk measurementMain
- Portfolio and investment managementMain
- Corporate finance and dealsSupporting
- Depositary oversightSupporting
- P&L and valuation controlSupporting
Where the role concentrates
How AI is changing the role
Data checks, report production and first-draft commentary on risk movements are being automated, which shrinks the time spent preparing numbers.
Read the full assessment
Data checks, report production and first-draft commentary on risk movements are being automated, which shrinks the time spent preparing numbers. Machine learning also helps spot outliers in prices and positions. The value moves to judgement: challenging models, designing scenarios for new risks such as climate, explaining exposures to portfolio managers and boards, and validating the AI tools themselves. The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025 lists AI and big data and analytical thinking among the fastest-growing skills, and expects 39 percent of core skills to change by 2030.
Dated changes for this role
- Retail Investment Strategy: final adoption expectedRelevant to you
- AIFMD II and UCITS changes: reporting standards due 2027Relevant to you
Worth knowing
Salary snapshot
Salary figures are not published yet
The L3 salary range for this role, with its sources, will appear here when the salaries section opens.
Certifications
- CFA Program Level I
- CFA Program Level II
- CFA ESG Investing Certificate
Concepts to know
Neighbouring roles
Roles that need many of the same skills, by weighted skill overlap, with the skills you would need to add.
Fund Selection Analyst
93% skill overlap
Your role
Index & ETF Analyst
93% skill overlap
Your role
Investment Product Specialist
91% skill overlap
To add: Product marketing and messaging
Your role
Performance & Attribution Analyst
87% skill overlap
To add: Data cleaning and validation
Your role
Portfolio Analyst
70% skill overlap
Your role
Do this job? Suggest a correction
Sources
Value at risk (VaR)Value at risk estimates the loss a portfolio should not exceed over a given horizon at a given confidence level, for example 99 percent over one day. Common methods are historical simulation, parametric (variance-covariance) and Monte Carlo. It says nothing about the size of losses beyond the threshold.
Stress test (supervisory)A supervisory stress test projects a bank's capital under a common adverse macroeconomic scenario over several years. The EBA coordinates the EU-wide exercise every two years, and the results inform Pillar 2 guidance. Banks also run internal stress tests for the ICAAP and ILAAP.