Investment Operations Analyst
78% skill overlap
Your role
Securities Lending & Repo Analyst
Full profileYour role
Also known as Repo Operations Analyst · Securities Finance Operations · Securities Lending Analyst
- L3 salary
- Not published yet
- Upcoming dated changes
- 9 changes ahead
What the role does
A securities lending and repo analyst supports the operations behind lending securities and financing them through repurchase agreements (repo). The role sits in banks, agent lenders, custodians and asset managers. It books and confirms loans and repo trades, manages recalls and returns, monitors collateral and margin, processes fees, rebates and corporate actions on lent securities, and reconciles positions with counterparties and triparty agents.
Read a day in the life
A day in the life
The morning begins with new loans, returns and recalls from the overnight cycle. The analyst checks that every trade agreed by the desk is booked with the right rate, term and collateral and matches the counterparty's view on the matching platform. Next comes the collateral run: exposures are marked to market, margin calls are issued or agreed, and collateral moves with triparty agents are checked. Recalls need speed, because a lender who sells a security on loan must get it back in time for settlement. Before a dividend or other corporate action, the analyst makes sure the economic benefit goes back to the lender. Afternoon work includes fee and rebate calculations, billing breaks, reconciliations with agents and counterparties, and settlement fails that need a buy-in or a substitution. The day ends with a review of open fails, unmatched trades and collateral shortfalls.
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 | Books and confirms loans and repo trades, follows recall and return procedures, prepares margin calls and reconciliations with a checklist, and learns the trade lifecycle under supervision. | 0-2 | Banks: Analyst, Junior Analyst, Associate (asset servicing), Trainee, GraduateAsset servicers: Junior, Specialist (entry), Officer |
| L2 Independent | Owns a book or a set of counterparties end to end, resolves fails, billing and collateral disputes, trains new joiners and is the first operational contact for the desk and agent lenders. | 2-5 | Banks: Analyst / Senior Analyst, AssociateAsset servicers: Specialist, Senior Specialist, Senior Officer |
| L3 Senior or specialist | Handles complex trades, corporate actions on lent securities and new market rules, improves controls and automation, and represents securities finance operations in projects such as new platforms or counterparties. | 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 securities finance operations team, owns controls, key risk indicators and service levels with agents, and is the escalation point for large fails, disputes or collateral shortfalls. | 8-14 | Banks: VP, Manager, Senior ManagerAsset servicers: Team Lead, Manager, Head of Section |
| L5 Leads the function | Accountable for securities financing operations in a legal entity or region, sets the operating model and standards, and represents the function with senior management, clients and market bodies. | 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
- Securities financing (repo and securities lending)Weight 13.1%Relevant to you
- Collateral and marginingWeight 8.7%Relevant to you
- Trade lifecycleWeight 8.7%Relevant to you
- Period-end close and reconciliationsWeight 8.7%Relevant to you
Important and supporting skills 20
Important
- Investment book of record and portfolio dataWeight 4.4%Relevant to you
- Corporate actions processingWeight 4.4%Relevant to you
- Net asset value calculationWeight 4.4%Relevant to you
- Custody and asset servicingWeight 4.4%Relevant to you
- Settlement and fails managementWeight 4.4%Relevant to you
- Data cleaning and validationWeight 4.4%Relevant to you
- Advanced Microsoft ExcelWeight 4.4%Relevant to you
- Attention to detailWeight 4.4%Relevant to you
- Investigative reasoning on anomaliesWeight 4.4%Relevant to you
- Working to tight deadlinesWeight 4.4%Relevant to you
Supporting
- Querying data with SQLWeight 2.2%Relevant to you
- Financial markets knowledgeWeight 2.2%Relevant to you
- Performance measurement and attributionWeight 2.2%Relevant to you
- Fund regulation and structures (UCITS, AIFMD, US 1940 Act)Weight 2.2%Relevant to you
- Stakeholder managementWeight 2.2%Relevant to you
- Control mindset (what could go wrong)Weight 2.2%Relevant to you
- Process mapping and redesignWeight 2.2%Relevant to you
Useful
- Python for data analysisWeight 0.7%Relevant to you
- Data governance, quality and lineageWeight 0.7%Relevant to you
- Adaptability to changeWeight 0.7%Relevant to you
Processes
The work the role takes part in.
- Collateral and margining
- Financial reporting and accounting
- Reconciliations
- Repo and securities lending
- Securities settlement
- Trade capture and booking
- Trade confirmation and affirmation
What each process covers
- Collateral and marginingMain
- Financial reporting and accountingMain
- ReconciliationsMain
- Repo and securities lendingMain
- Securities settlementMain
- Trade capture and bookingMain
- Trade confirmation and affirmationMain
- Corporate actionsSupporting
- Custody and safekeepingSupporting
- Fund accounting and NAVSupporting
- Investment and reference dataSupporting
Where the role concentrates
How AI is changing the role
Matching platforms, triparty services and automated recall and collateral tools already process much of the routine flow.
Read the full assessment
Matching platforms, triparty services and automated recall and collateral tools already process much of the routine flow. Machine learning is used to predict recalls, settlement fails and collateral needs, and generative AI can summarise counterparty messages and draft dispute responses. The European Banking Authority notes rising AI use for operational efficiency in banks. Value moves to exception management, collateral optimisation, understanding market rules and explaining risks to the desk. The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025 shows analytical thinking and technology literacy rising, which suits analysts who learn data and workflow tools.
Dated changes for this role
- ESMA guidelines on allocations and confirmations for T+1Relevant to you
- CSDR settlement discipline rules updated for T+1 in three stepsRelevant to you
- CSRD scope narrowed by Omnibus I; second wave reports from financial year 2027Relevant to you
- ECB Pontes: DLT settlement in central bank moneyRelevant to you
- EMIR 3 active account reporting every six monthsRelevant 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
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.
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Reference & Security Master Data Analyst
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Collateral Management Analyst
60% skill overlap
To add: Derivatives and how they work, Trading and risk systems (Murex, Calypso), Risk judgment and escalation instinct
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Reconciliations Analyst
60% skill overlap
To add: Derivatives and how they work, Trading and risk systems (Murex, Calypso), Risk judgment and escalation instinct
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Do this job? Suggest a correction
Sources
Securities lendingSecurities lending is the temporary transfer of securities from a lender, often a fund or pension scheme, to a borrower that returns equivalent securities later and pays a fee. The borrower gives collateral (cash or securities) above the loan value; lenders keep the economic benefit of income through manufactured payments.
Repo (Repurchase agreement)A repurchase agreement (repo) is a sale of securities together with an agreement to buy them back at a set price on a later date. Economically it is a secured loan: the seller borrows cash, the buyer lends it and holds the securities as collateral, with the price difference representing the repo rate.
Corporate actionA corporate action, or corporate event, is an action by an issuer that affects its securities and their holders, such as a dividend, a coupon payment, a stock split, a rights issue, a merger or a redemption. Events are mandatory, mandatory with choice, or voluntary, and must be processed along the whole custody chain.
Generative AIGenerative AI is a family of AI models that produce new content (text, code, images, audio) in response to a prompt, by learning patterns from very large datasets. In finance it is used for drafting, summarising documents, coding help and customer service assistants.