Event-Driven Portfolio Manager

Role Overview

We have partnered with a leading buy-side firm looking to hire a senior Event-Driven / Special Situations Equity Portfolio Manager. This is an established business with deep research support and a long-term commitment to backing talented portfolio managers.

This is not one of the large multi-strategy platforms.

The successful candidate will run and own a fundamentally driven event-driven and special situations equity strategy, leaning towards soft catalysts, with a European focus and the flexibility to invest globally where they have an edge.

This is a senior seat with full ownership of investment decisions, portfolio construction and risk, running a high-conviction book across both long and short positions. The role offers the autonomy, infrastructure and platform support to build and grow a meaningful long-term franchise, with scope in the right circumstances to build a dedicated team over time.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage an event-driven and special situations equity book with full ownership of the track record
• Generate returns through bottom-up fundamental analysis combined with a clear catalyst overlay, centred on soft catalysts such as restructurings, management change, strategic reviews and shifts in capital allocation
• Selectively include hard catalysts such as spin-offs, carve-outs, special dividends, and pre- and post-deal situations
• Own portfolio construction, position sizing, liquidity and risk management
• Build the strategy towards a scalable, long-term franchise
• Contribute to the wider investment culture, including drawing on and contributing to central research, and where relevant supporting investor engagement

Requirements & Qualifications

• A proven, autonomous Portfolio Manager with full ownership of their track record, rather than experience running shared books where ownership is unclear
• 3 to 5+ years of track record as a PM, with consistent, auditable performance; quality of the track record matters more than the size of the book (although at least $100m+ AUM is ideal)
• A fundamental, bottom-up investment process with a distinct and repeatable approach to identifying and underwriting catalysts
• Experience at a specialist event-driven or special situations manager would be advantageous
• A grounding in M&A or investment banking would also be a plus
• A Europe-centric book is preferred, with global situations welcome where the candidate can demonstrate a genuine edge
• Disciplined portfolio construction and risk management, with a sound approach to liquidity
• Strong investment judgment, integrity and a collaborative, entrepreneurial mindset
• A demonstrated ability to recover effectively from periods of drawdown
• Strong communication skills and gravitas, given the client-facing nature of a senior seat