Description:
The Senior Intermediary Services Liaison position provides premier customer service to intermediary back-office personnel and internal distribution partners, in partnership with the Allspring Funds transfer agent, SS&C.
The position works to develop relationships with key operational contacts at broker/dealer, banks, trusts and third-party administrators that distribute or service Allspring Funds. The position coordinates the completion of tasks in our Intermediary Oversight Program and proposes and implements relevant enhancements as the industry evolves. The position partners with the Intermediary Services team and external service providers to oversee moderate to complex transfer agent production items that relate to back-office operations and manage and coordinate back- office components of initiatives for the Allspring Funds.
Responsibilities
- Develops and maintains effective relationships with intermediary partner back offices to provide ongoing support including problem solving, issue resolution, communication of Fund policies and partnership on intermediary driven initiatives.
- Acts as a central point of contact for a wide range of operational and administrative inquiries with a back-office focus by supporting a team email inbox.
- Delivers premier customer service by researching and responding to all internal and external inquiries, quickly, efficiently and professionally. This includes responding to calls routed to a toll-free customer service number exclusive to back offices.
- Builds strong business partnerships across various functions, including but not limited to portfolio managers, distribution, Finance, Fund Administration and the Allspring Funds transfer agent.
- Demonstrates the ability to independently manage daily and project work of the transfer agent with little supervision from manager and interfacing directly with transfer agent and intermediaries.
- Serves as a point of escalation for the transfer agent on items not in good order. Team member resolves items with intermediaries for resubmission.
- Completes operational questionnaires and fact sheets upon request from intermediaries pertaining to Fund Set-up, Fund Policies (as detailed in the Prospectus) and system functionality.
- Evaluates exception items and offers reasonable recommendations to management for consideration that balances financial and reputational risk with the client experience.
- Completes forms to update system records to facilitate calculation and payment of fees (per intermediary contract and/or prospectus stated fees) based on contract updates or new product launches utilizing transfer agent’s Multiple Trailer Fee formats.
- Independently performs intermediary reviews as a component of our Intermediary Oversight Program, including SEC Rule 22c-2 monitoring, review of third-party audit documentation (SOC1/FICCA).
- Performs oversight of Intermediary access to client records through SS&C Vision ID review.
- Performs monthly oversight of 12b-1 and Shareholder Service Fee processing and allocations.
- Monitors daily reports to ensure adherence to Fund policies such as new account eligibility in retail money market funds, foreign account policy compliance and frequent trade policy.
- Performs reporting on metrics for team tasks for monthly management review and/or incorporation into quarterly Allspring Funds Board reporting.
- Communicates large trade notifications to portfolio managers and researches unexpected cash flow inquiries utilizing SS&C’s NSCC Smartdesk, Same Day Cash Management system and ad hoc reporting.
- Maintains Allspring Mutual Fund data within DTCC’s Mutual Fund Profile Service II database.
- Leads a range of project activities with limited supervision from direct manager such as identifying and communicating intermediary back-office requirements for fund mergers, fund launches, fund liquidations etc.
- Provides after hours support to intermediaries in response to project driven events (for example, confirmation of merger ratios, dividends or late prices) or in response to a business continuity event (system issues or unplanned market events).
- Contributes to our continuous improvement program to ensure processes and procedures remain current and appropriate.
Required Qualifications
- 10 years of mutual fund industry experience
- Minimum 5 years of related transfer agent industry experience
- Knowledge of intermediary back-office operations, NSCC Fund/SERV, Networking, and ACATS
- Must be familiar with aspects of an operating transfer agent including: Proficient knowledge of SS&C suite of products including TA2000 Desktop, NSCC Desktop, AWD Products, Vision, and Fanweb
- Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint)