KYC & Distributor Governance Analyst

Job Description

Aberdeen comprises three businesses, Investments, Adviser, and interactive investor (ii) each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients' evolving needs.

 In European markets, our dedicated and highly experienced investment team manages our European products, including emerging market income and debt, smaller companies, European credit, ETFs, real estate and sustainable investing propositions.

 We have offices in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Our breadth of experience gives us close proximity to the companies we invest in and the markets we operate in.

 Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry's best talent.  Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders and society.

We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent

About the role:

Putting our clients at the centre of everything we do applies to all our practices. We need to ensure that we have a smooth client onboarding, as well as a robust on-going governance, particularly when it comes to client due diligence and management of risk.

With a focus on strengthening oversight and control of these activities, as well as transforming our end-to-end approach for Clients, a Client Risk and Governance team has been created, reporting to the Chief Client Officer within Client Group

Key Responsibilities:

Through the delivery of proportionate, risk-based oversight of aberdeen Investments distributor population, you will work across internal and external parties to ensure aberdeen adhere with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Product Governance obligations. Working in the First Line of Defence (1LOD), you will be responsible for executing KYC and Due Diligence on new and existing relationships. The job role will include but not limited to the following activities:

• Conduct Due Diligence and Oversight: Perform proportional, risk-based due diligence and oversight of distributors at onboarding and on an ongoing basis, in line with current regulatory landscapes such as CSSF circular 18/698 in Luxembourg and FCA Product Governance & Consumer Duty rules in the UK.
• Client Onboarding and Review: Execute timely client onboarding, periodical review of Know Your Distributor (KYD)/AML, Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)/Customer Due Diligence (CDD), and Ongoing Due Diligence (ODD), ensuring accurate completion of risk assessments and checklists.
• Flexibility with Customer Types: Adapt to working with various customer types, including distributors, B2B sub-distributors, institutional investors, intragroup entities, related parties, and fund assets.
• Screening and Compliance: Perform screening of all related parties against PEP/Sanctions and adverse media and escalate ML/FC suspicions in line with policies and procedures.
• Liaison and Reporting: Liaise with the second Line of Defence (2LOD)/AFC and distributors to obtain key performance indicator data, analyse it, and provide qualitative reporting through internal governance forums.
• Relationship Building and Coordination: Build and develop relationships with internal stakeholder teams (Distribution function, Client Service, 2nd Line Risk Anti Financial Crime Team, Legal, Product Governance, and CRM Team) to support the DG&O process and raise awareness of DGO's remit and responsibilities.
• Team Management and Documentation: Assist the Head of DG&O with day-to-day team management, including managing mailboxes, reviewing and maintaining key documentation, and preparing reports, escalations, and Board papers.
• Oversight of BAU Activities: Maintain oversight of BAU activities and tasks, including distributor onboarding, due diligence refreshes, regular reporting, and email queries, ensuring priorities are assessed and deadlines met.
• Service Provider Management: Act as the primary point of contact for key service provider "ume," managing the platform, monitoring user access, and processing Aberdeen entity Due Diligence Questionnaires.
• Guidance and Support: Provide guidance to clients, client-facing, or investment teams on KYC requirements, and support the technological implementation and automation of processes.
• Knowledge and Compliance: Keep up to date with ML/FC obligations and risks, including aberdeen's internal minimum standards, and review internal templates, policies, and procedures.
• Technology Strategy: Assist the Head of DG&O in working with Aberdeen's technology teams to develop, implement, and maintain the team's data and technology strategy.

About the candidate:

• Comprehensive Regulatory Knowledge: In-depth understanding of Global, EU, UK, and Luxembourg AML and delegate compliance regulations.
• KYC Expertise: Extensive experience in KYC onboarding and refresh processes within the fund industry.
• Regulatory and Industry Awareness: Proven awareness of regulatory and industry standards, with a strong commitment to developing and implementing robust and proportionate governance and control frameworks.
• Report Writing and Presentation Skills: Exceptional ability to write reports and deliver presentations effectively.
• Language Proficiency: Fluent in both oral and written English; proficiency in additional languages is advantageous.
• Technical Proficiency: Solid working knowledge of Microsoft Office products.
• AML/KYC Toolkit Experience: Hands-on experience with AML/KYC toolkits, including World-Check One and Nice Actimize.

Competencies:

• Regulatory and Client Focus: Understands regulatory requirements and maintains a client-centric approach.
• Analytical Problem Solving: Analyses complex issues, interprets data, and develops solutions.
• Effective Communication: Skilled in clear communication, influencing, and negotiating.
• Planning and Organization: Efficient in planning, organizing tasks, and meeting deadlines.
• Attention to Detail: Maintains high accuracy and detail orientation.
• Responsibility and Tenacity: Takes ownership, demonstrates persistence, and stays goal focused.
• Relationship Building: Builds strong professional relationships and networks and works well in teams.
• Self-Motivated and Independent: Possesses excellent interpersonal skills, solves problems confidently, and operates independently.
• Comfortable with technology implementation and automation.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes: The Company will provide the employee with contributions of 7% of the monthly salary, with 2 years vesting period, Discretionary Bonus, Risk Insurance – Death, Risk Insurance - Disability, Lunch Vouchers, Gym Membership, Teleworking allowance.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients' changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we'd like to hear from you.

At Aberdeen we've adopted a 'blended working' approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we'll be happy to help.

We're committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment.  We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance.  We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.

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