Investment Associate

The Company

Stears is a Pan African data company. For global funds investing in Africa, Stears is the data and insights provider that enables quick, accurate decisions during the investment process. Stears users get access to industry, company, transaction, and macro data as well as constantly updated reports by researchers. Unlike other providers, Stears goes beyond just data to provide insights and context based on knowledge of local markets and delivers it all in an easy-to-use data platform. You can find more info about Stears here.

Our teams are based across Africa’s key markets: Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana.

We are looking for an Investment Associate with extensive deal advisory or investment research experience to aggregate and produce information that helps private equity customers source and evaluate companies. The ideal candidate has worked in a team that has executed or advised on African investments. Other good candidates have extensive experience producing research tailored to African investors.

The Role

Why it’s important: Stears’ primary customers are fund managers (private equity, venture capital, etc.) and their advisors (investment banks, strategy consultants, etc.) who evaluate investment opportunities in Africa. We aim to provide our customers with the information (data, analytics, insights) on African companies, industries, and economies they need to make the best private company investments on the continent.

All Stears’ information is provided to customers via license access to the proprietary Stears platform. Our industry desks are responsible for providing information on companies and industries in our five primary countries: South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Egypt. As an Investment Associate, your mission is to contribute to Stears’ coverage of one or more industries by providing an effective mix of proprietary and non-proprietary reports, datasets, indices, forecasts, and dashboards to support our customers’ investment decisions.

What it covers: As an Investment Associate, you are responsible for providing proprietary and third-party information on industries, companies, and transactions to empower private equity investors during deal origination & evaluation, due diligence, and exit planning.

Our priority industries are listed below. You will be expected to contribute to multiple industries.

1. Financial Services

2. Energy & Utilities

3. Consumer Goods and Services

4. Technology

5. Telecommunications & ICT

6. Agriculture

7. Industrials

8. Healthcare

As an Investment Associate, you will:

• Collaborate with economists and other members of the Intelligence team to identify the most commercially viable companies in Africa for various investor profiles.
• Conduct extensive quantitative and qualitative research and analysis on specific companies and industries to identify and evaluate commercially viable investments for private equity firms and similar investors.
• Aggregate, produce, and analyse a range of company, transaction, and industry-related information that enable investors to leverage Stears’ platform for commercial due diligence.
• Aggregate, produce, and analyse a range of company, transaction, and industry-related information that helps investors plan exits from existing and prospective portfolio companies.
• Conduct detailed financial analysis and build financial models to evaluate potential investment and exit opportunities for private investors.
• Collaborate with other stakeholders to leverage internal and third-party resources to help build company, industry, and transaction databases for your coverage industries.
• Provide a range of proprietary or third-party reports, datasets, models, dashboards, etc. that clearly and effectively communicate the information and insights customers need for their investment decisions. Example outputs include:

  • Industry or Market maps

  • Company insight reports

  • Long-form Industry reports

  • Market size or industry forecasts

Who you will work with: This role is part of the Intelligence team. You will report to the Head of Intelligence.

We are looking for someone with:

• At least four (4) years of experience working in roles focused on investments, investment analysis or investment research in Africa, including roles in investment banking, investment research, fund management, or management consulting.
• Proficiency with financial analysis and company valuation.
• Strong familiarity with African investors, transactions, asset classes, capital markets, and so on, either through direct experience working on transactions or exposure from serving investors for many years.
• Strong data analysis skills with the ability to analyse, interpret or extract insights from data
• A proven track record of excelling in research tasks—including gathering information through stakeholder engagement—evidenced by previous experience in roles that require significant research activity.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including conveying complex financial and industry concepts clearly and concisely to diverse audiences, both verbally and in writing.
• Strong expertise in at least one of our priority industries, either by working as an industry analyst/expert or by covering companies, transactions or trends in the industry for many years.

  • Financial Services

  • Energy & Utilities

  • Consumer Goods and Services

  • Technology

  • Telecommunications & ICT

  • Agriculture

  • Industrials

  • Healthcare

Preferred skills & qualifications: These skills & qualifications are not necessary, but will be highly valued

• A Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in finance, statistics, economics or similar quantitative degrees.

• Professional qualifications in finance (e.g. CFA, ACCA), management (e.g., MBA), and any relevant industry qualifications.

• Strong familiarity with private equity investors or private equity as an asset class.

• Good experience analysing companies and industries in multiple countries within our coverage: South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Egypt.

Perks

Meaningful perks matter to us. They make employees better and contribute to making Stears a great place to work. If you join us, you can be assured that you’ll enjoy a wide range of generous perks, rewards and office benefits including:

• Competitive salary

• Comprehensive Health Insurance coverage

• Flexible working. We are currently hybrid

• Help lay the platform foundations of our African expansion. We are currently fleshing out our expansion strategy and would love you to be a part of this growth while doing impactful work

• Be part of our new product offerings

• Unlimited access to Stears Intelligence Solutions

• Paid time off - 25 days excluding public holidays and sick days (prorated)

• Compassionate Leave

• Parental Leave

• Unlimited Sick Leave

• The Stears Experience - These are the top reasons employees are having the best experience of their careers at Stears:

  • Deepen their analytical & critical thinking skills which apply beyond a specific domain
  • Gain a high level of autonomy and responsibility by taking on a senior role in our high trust startup environment and relatively flat organizational hierarchy
  • Do something meaningful by being part of a team making African data more widely available

• Access to an expert Intelligence & Analytics team - Stears Intelligence team includes some of the brightest knowledge experts in Nigeria covering a wide range of sectors, all with a passion for delivering the highest quality of intelligence and analytics on the African continent.

• Special emphasis on learning and development

• Regular social activities, including annual off-site team bonding

• A well stocked fridge, lots of snacks and bean bags

• Stears branded merchandise and swag

Diversity

Stears is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants regardless of color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital or family status, disability, gender identity or expression, veteran status, actual or presumed belonging to an ethnic group, or any other legally protected status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.