Legal Counsel - Derivatives / Trading

At M&G, our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. With a heritage dating back more than 175 years, we have a long history of innovation in savings and investments, combining asset management and insurance expertise to offer a wide range of solutions.
Our two distinct operating segments, Asset Management and Life, work together to provide access to balanced, long-term investment and savings solutions.
Through telling it like it is, owning it now and moving it forward together with care and integrity; we are creating an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent.
We will consider flexible working arrangements for any of our roles and offer workplace adjustments to ensure you have the support you need to succeed in your role.

Purpose

We are recruiting a Derivatives / Trading Lawyer to join as a permanent member of the Life Legal team within M&G. This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic in-house legal team to support the need for trading legal specialists. The role will offer suitable candidates the opportunity to grow and develop their full range of investment legal skills as a fully embedded member of the Life Legal team.

Key Responsibilities

The core responsibility of the role will be to negotiate and deliver trading documentation but the successful candidate will also work closely with the Life and asset management investment teams, operations experts and with compliance and risk colleagues to provide strategic legal advice and pragmatic trading solutions to help deliver the trading investment strategy.

The Role

The role encompasses trading strategy design and implementation, drafting and negotiating derivatives trading documentation (ISDAs, GMRAs, Stock Lending Agreements, Master Netting Agreements and Broker Terms) and related documentation, advising on and assisting with implementation of regulatory change, operational onboarding and supporting the company’s strategic projects.

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualified lawyer
• Strong academic background

Preferred/Desirable

• Qualification in a common law jurisdiction

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

• 5+ years PQE working in the derivatives / trading team of a law firm and / or in-house team with demonstrable experience drafting and negotiating derivatives and other trading documentation to support strategies for private and public assets, segregated mandates, liquidity management and long-term liability hedging.

• Buy-side experience of guiding and advising the business on appropriate trading strategies, eligible instruments, collateral management and managing sell-side counterparty expectations

• An understanding of investment management / value chain and the relevant regulatory framework applicable to insurers and asset managers (in particular SII, MiFID II, EMIR and SFTR)

• Ability to build and develop relationships with key internal stakeholders

• Proficiency in English essential (contract negotiation level)

Preferred/Desirable

• Experience in cross-border derivatives transactions

• An understanding of fund structures and fund documentation, preferably across various jurisdictions (specifically UK, Luxembourg and Ireland), desirable but not essential

• Experience working with and managing external counsel in a multi-jurisdictional context

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Strong drafting and analytical skills and excellent attention to detail, sound judgement and decisive;
• Willingness to challenge / debate and offer own views;
• Tenacious and willing to go beyond the job description;
• Transparent and a good communicator. Works most effectively when collaborating within the team and across other functions;
• Resilience and strength of character that enables effective communication across all levels of the organisation;
• Strong organisational skills;
• Flexible with the ability to adapt to changing priorities and fluid deadlines.

Experience Level: Manager/Expert

Recruiter: Helen Simons

What we offer:

We’re dedicated to supporting your wellbeing and helping you thrive, both at work and beyond. Our benefits are designed to help you balance your professional and personal life, and financially plan for the future. Our UK benefits include:

• A valuable pension scheme of up to 18% (13% made up of employer contributions and 5% employee contributions).
• Access to our Share Save and Share Incentive Plan, alongside financial wellbeing and support services to help give you real confidence to put your money to work.
• Enjoy 38 days annual leave (including bank holidays), with the opportunity to purchase up to five extra days. Our Time Off When You Need It policy gives you the flexibility - to balance work and personal commitments.
• Our market-leading Inspiring Families policy includes comprehensive support and paid parental leave covering maternity, adoption, surrogacy, and paternity leave - because supporting families is an important part of our inclusive culture.
• Health & Protection cover includes Private Healthcare, Critical Illness cover and Life Assurance for you, with additional family options - for peace of mind.

To explore more about life at M&G and our full benefits offering, visit Life at M&G

At M&G we strive to have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture, underpinned by our policies and employee-led networks that offer networking, support and development opportunities for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds – across gender, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation and more – including neurodivergent individuals, career returners and those with military service experience.

M&G is proud to be Level 3: Disability Confident Leader under the UK Government Disability Confident employer scheme, and we welcome applications from candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions. If you would like to participate in the initiative, you will have the opportunity to indicate this on your application.

We are committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process. All candidates have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments when applying. If you need any additional support at any stage, please contact us at: [email protected]