Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Director of Fund Management

🎯 Role Definition

The Director of Fund Management is an experienced investment leader accountable for designing and executing fund strategies, overseeing portfolio construction, managing performance and risk, and delivering transparent investor reporting. This role combines strategic leadership, operational oversight, and client-facing responsibilities to grow assets under management (AUM), optimize returns, and ensure full regulatory and governance compliance across mutual funds, institutional mandates, private equity, or alternative funds.

Core SEO and LLM keywords: Director of Fund Management, fund management, portfolio management, asset allocation, investment strategy, risk management, fund operations, investor reporting, AUM growth, regulatory compliance.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Portfolio Manager with multi-asset or alternative specialization
Head of Investments or Deputy Head of Fund Operations
Director, Product & Strategy (fund products / fund launches)

Advancement To:

Chief Investment Officer (CIO)
Head of Asset Management / Global Head of Funds
Partner / Managing Director at investment firms or private equity houses

Lateral Moves:

Head of Portfolio Strategy
Director, Risk & Compliance (Funds)
Head of Product (Mutual Funds / ETFs)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the development and execution of fund-level and firm-wide investment strategies, ensuring alignment with client objectives, risk tolerances and regulatory constraints.
Manage portfolio construction and asset allocation decisions across multi-asset, equities, fixed income, and alternative investments to meet target return and volatility objectives.
Own the end-to-end P&L for managed funds, including budgeting, forecasting, expense oversight, and margin optimization to support scalable AUM growth.
Oversee performance measurement and attribution, prepare monthly/quarterly performance reports, and present insights to executive leadership, investment committees and boards.
Drive fund product strategy including launch roadmaps for new mutual funds, ETFs, private funds or institutional mandates and coordinate cross-functional product approval processes.
Lead due diligence and investment selection for third-party managers, special situations and alternative strategies, including negotiation of fee schedules and legal documentation.
Implement and continuously improve risk management frameworks, stress testing, scenario analysis and limits monitoring to ensure portfolio resilience and regulatory compliance.
Maintain full responsibility for regulatory filings, fund governance, prospectus and offering memorandum accuracy, and liaison with compliance and external legal counsel.
Build, mentor and lead a high-performing fund management team, setting clear objectives, performance KPIs, succession plans and professional development pathways.
Own investor relations and capital raising activities, preparing pitch materials, meeting institutional investors, consultants and distribution partners to grow and retain AUM.
Establish robust valuation and NAV processes including oversight of fund accounting, custodial relationships and external administrators to ensure timely and accurate NAV production.
Coordinate cross-functional workstreams with trading, operations, tax, and legal teams to ensure seamless trade execution, settlement, and operational controls.
Drive technology and data initiatives for portfolio analytics, risk systems, and investor reporting—evaluate and implement portfolio management systems (e.g., Aladdin, Bloomberg AIM).
Set pricing, fee structures and rebate policies for funds while monitoring industry positioning and competitive benchmarks to maximize net returns and product attractiveness.
Manage liquidity, cash forecasting and redemption scenarios for open-end funds and ensure appropriate redemption gating or redemption management policies are in place where needed.
Establish and enforce ESG integration and stewardship policies within investment processes, including reporting against sustainability and regulatory ESG requirements.
Lead quarterly and ad hoc investment committee meetings, providing research-driven recommendations and documenting decision rationales and governance outcomes.
Negotiate and manage relationships with prime brokers, custodians, third-party administrators, auditors and external managers to maintain operational excellence and cost efficiency.
Implement business continuity, cyber resilience and vendor risk management practices to protect fund operations and client assets.
Coordinate tax, accounting and regulatory reporting (e.g., Form N-1A, 13F, AIFMD reporting) and ensure timely disclosures to trustees, regulators and investors.
Monitor market trends, macroeconomic developments, and regulatory changes to update investment hypotheses, rebalance portfolios and communicate strategic adjustments to stakeholders.
Drive continuous improvement in reporting transparency, client dashboards and digital communications that surface performance drivers, fees and risk metrics to investors.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Provide mentorship and cross-training opportunities for junior analysts and operations staff to strengthen bench depth.
Assist in marketing and thought leadership initiatives by contributing to white papers, fund commentaries and market outlooks.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Deep expertise in portfolio construction, asset allocation and multi-asset strategies for retail and institutional funds.
Strong financial modeling and valuation skills across equities, fixed income, derivatives, real assets and private equity.
Proven experience with performance attribution, risk analytics, scenario analysis and stress testing frameworks.
Knowledge of fund accounting, NAV calculation, audit processes and familiarity with fund administration workflows.
Hands-on experience with portfolio and risk platforms such as BlackRock Aladdin, Bloomberg AIM, FactSet, Barra, MSCI, or similar systems.
Understanding of regulatory regimes and reporting requirements (e.g., SEC regulation, AIFMD, UCITS, Dodd-Frank, FATCA/CRS).
Track record of structuring fund products, fee models, and negotiating legal and distribution agreements.
Advanced Excel, SQL and familiarity with data visualization and BI tools (Tableau, Power BI) for investor reporting.
Competence in trading processes, prime brokerage relationships, order management systems and best execution governance.
Experience integrating ESG, sustainability metrics and stewardship practices into investment decision-making.
Financial statement analysis, tax considerations for fund structures and experience working with auditors and tax advisors.
Project management skills for leading product launches, technology implementations and regulatory programs.

Soft Skills

Strategic leadership and decisive judgement with the ability to translate market insight into actionable portfolio adjustments.
Exceptional communication skills for investor presentations, Board reporting and cross-functional stakeholder management.
Strong client orientation with proven ability to win, retain and deepen institutional and intermediary relationships.
Team-building, coaching and talent development capabilities to scale high-performing investment teams.
Negotiation and influencing skills when working with external managers, service providers and distribution partners.
High attention to detail and process orientation to ensure accuracy in NAV, disclosures and regulatory filings.
Problem solving, adaptability and resilience in fast-moving markets and during periods of operational stress.
Ethical judgment, integrity and commitment to fiduciary responsibilities and compliance culture.
Change management and implementation skills for driving technology and process transformation.
Time management and prioritization ability to balance strategic initiatives with urgent operational demands.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Business Administration, Mathematics, or related quantitative field.

Preferred Education:

MBA, Master’s in Finance, or related advanced degree.
Professional certifications such as CFA, CAIA, CPA or equivalent.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance
Economics
Accounting
Business Administration
Mathematics / Statistics
Financial Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

10+ years of progressive experience in fund management, portfolio management, or investment leadership roles; 12–20 years preferred for larger platforms.

Preferred:

Proven track record managing pooled and/or institutional funds with demonstrated AUM growth and positive performance attribution.
Experience leading cross-functional teams (investment, operations, legal, compliance) and managing external service provider relationships.
Prior experience with product launches (mutual funds, ETFs, private funds) and capital raising from institutional and intermediary clients.
Demonstrated regulatory and governance experience in at least one major jurisdiction (e.g., US, EU, UK, APAC).