Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Investment Accountant

🎯 Role Definition

We are seeking an experienced Investment Accountant to join a busy asset management / fund accounting team. The Investment Accountant will be responsible for accurate and timely investment accounting, NAV calculation, reconciliations, financial reporting and operational controls for pooled funds, separate accounts, private funds or institutional portfolios. This role requires strong technical accounting capability (GAAP/IFRS), experience with portfolio accounting systems, exceptional attention to detail and the ability to partner effectively with portfolio managers, operations, tax and external auditors. Ideal candidates have a track record of producing month-end and quarter-end closes, preparing investment valuations and supporting investor and regulatory reporting.

Keywords: Investment Accountant, investment accounting, portfolio accounting, NAV calculation, fund accounting, reconciliations, financial reporting, GAAP, IFRS, asset management.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Junior Fund Accountant / Fund Administrator
General Ledger Accountant or Staff Accountant with asset management exposure
Operations Analyst (trade settlement or portfolio operations)

Advancement To:

Senior Investment Accountant / Lead Investment Accountant
Accounting Manager / Portfolio Accounting Manager
Fund Controller / Head of Fund Accounting
Vice President, Finance or Chief Financial Officer (asset management)

Lateral Moves:

Financial Reporting Analyst (investment-focused)
Performance & Analytics Analyst
Investor Reporting / Client Services Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Manage the full cycle investment accounting for assigned funds or accounts, including daily trade and position capture, month-end and quarter-end closes, journal entry preparation and posting, accuracy checks and detailed review of the general ledger to ensure investment balances are correctly reflected.
Calculate Net Asset Value (NAV) for mutual funds, hedge funds, private funds or pooled vehicles on a daily, weekly or monthly basis; document NAV methodology, variance analyses and communicate NAV drivers to portfolio managers and operations teams.
Perform comprehensive reconciliations of cash, securities positions, broker statements, custodian statements and prime broker accounts; identify, investigate, and resolve uncleared items and discrepancies within established SLAs.
Prepare and post accruals, amortizations, realized/unrealized gains and losses, foreign exchange translations and other period-end adjustments; ensure accounting entries adhere to GAAP, IFRS and fund-specific policies.
Account for complex instruments including derivatives (swaps, forwards, options), structured products, FX forwards, fixed income accruals and repo transactions; maintain supporting valuation and P&L documentation for each instrument type.
Maintain and reconcile management and performance fee calculations, carried interest waterfalls, incentive fee accruals and fee invoices; validate fee schedules against partnership agreements and ensure timely billing to clients or fund administrators.
Support monthly and quarterly financial statement preparation for funds, including balance sheet, income statement, cash flow, schedules and notes; prepare package materials for external and internal stakeholders.
Lead or support statutory, regulatory and investor reporting deliverables (e.g., investor statements, capital activity reports, Form PF / AIFMD / local filings) ensuring accuracy and timely submission.
Facilitate and coordinate external and internal audits and tax engagements; prepare schedules, provide reconciliations and respond to auditor inquiries to support opinion issuance and tax reporting processes.
Maintain valuation oversight and control procedures: document valuation inputs, review third-party pricing sources, perform independent price verification and escalate valuation variances to valuation or portfolio teams.
Monitor and account for corporate actions (splits, dividends, mergers, spin-offs), income receipts and distributions; ensure correct posting to investor capital accounts and fund ledgers.
Execute and document daily cash management and cash forecasting activities: reconcile daily cash movements with custodians, monitor margin and collateral requirements and notify portfolio managers of significant cash events.
Build, maintain and improve accounting policies and procedures for investment accounting activities; implement process controls to reduce manual effort and accounting risk while maintaining strong SOX or internal control compliance.
Partner with middle office and trade operations to ensure accurate trade capture, confirm settlement statuses and coordinate pre- and post-settlement exception resolution for failed trades or breaks.
Perform detailed P&L attribution and variance analysis, explaining key drivers and unusual items to senior finance, portfolio and operations stakeholders; provide commentary for monthly reports.
Implement and maintain portfolio accounting systems and accounting interfaces (e.g., SimCorp, SS&C Advent Geneva, Investran, eFront, BlackRock Aladdin); lead testing for system upgrades, interfaces and reconciliations between front-, middle- and back-office systems.
Prepare ad hoc analyses, special accounting projects (e.g., application of new accounting standards such as ASC 825/ASC 820 / IFRS 9), and support M&A accounting or fund re-organizations as needed.
Ensure accurate capital activity accounting for investors: subscriptions, redemptions, transfers, capital calls and distributions; maintain investor ledgers and reconciliations to ensure investor statements reconcile to fund books.
Drive continuous process improvement initiatives including automation (Excel macros, VBA, SQL queries) and workflow enhancements to increase efficiency of month-end close, reconciliations and reporting cycles.
Monitor and implement changes required by new accounting pronouncements and regulatory requirements; educate and train the accounting team on new standards and updated controls.
Serve as a subject matter expert for investment accounting questions, providing guidance to junior accountants, operations and portfolio teams, and creating best-practice documentation for knowledge transfer.

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 training and mentorship to junior staff on fund accounting workflows, reconciliations and system usage.
Assist in testing and validation of pricing feeds, accounting interfaces and reporting templates during system implementations.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Strong investment accounting knowledge (NAV calculation, fund financial statements, investment valuation).
Proficient with accounting standards: US GAAP and familiarity with IFRS; comfortable applying ASC/IFRS guidance to investment products.
Experience with fund/portfolio accounting platforms such as SS&C Advent, Geneva, SimCorp Dimension, Investran, eFront, or Aladdin.
Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, advanced formulas, VBA/macros) and practical SQL experience for querying transaction and position data.
Ability to perform complex reconciliations between custodian, broker and ledger systems and to document variance explanations.
Knowledge of derivative accounting, fixed income accruals, FX translation, and hedge accounting treatments.
Familiarity with fee and carried interest calculations, partnership accounting and investor capital accounting.
Experience supporting external audits and preparing audit-ready schedules and reconciliations.
Working knowledge of pricing sources (Bloomberg, Refinitiv, Markit) and independent price verification best practices.
Comfortable with accounting close processes, journal entry preparation, general ledger management and month-end/quarter-end routines.
Strong technical writing skills for SOPs, accounting memos and investor reporting templates.
Experience with automation tools (VBA, Python, R) and reporting / visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau) is a plus.

Soft Skills

Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy under tight deadlines.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to root cause discrepancies and propose corrective action.
Excellent verbal and written communication; able to explain technical accounting matters to non-accountants.
Proactive owner mindset with ability to manage multiple priorities and meet firm deadlines.
Collaborative team player who builds strong relationships across operations, tax, legal and portfolio management.
High integrity and commitment to maintaining robust internal controls and compliance.
Adaptability and eagerness to learn new systems, products and accounting guidance.
Time management and organizational skills for recurring and ad hoc deliverables.
Client-focused attitude for responding to investor queries and delivering transparent reporting.
Leadership potential to mentor junior staff and lead accounting projects.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics or related quantitative discipline.

Preferred Education:

CPA, ACCA, or equivalent professional accounting qualification.
Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or an MBA with accounting emphasis is a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Accounting
Finance
Economics
Mathematics / Statistics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

2–6 years for mid-level Investment Accountant positions; 6+ years for senior or specialized roles.

Preferred:

3–5+ years of hands-on fund or portfolio accounting experience in asset management, private equity, hedge fund, mutual fund administration, or custody/brokerage environments.
Demonstrated experience with NAV calculation, reconciliations, financial statement preparation and audit support.
Prior exposure to fund structures (LP/GP, pooled vehicles), investor reporting and partnership accounting is highly desirable.