Job description
The Team
Infrastructure Advisory Group (IAG), a part of KPMG Advisory in the UK, consists of over 400 professionals and is widely recognised as a leading independent business, financial and regulatory adviser in the infrastructure space.
We provide in-depth advice on strategic, financial, regulatory and commercial issues driving investments in infrastructure across Transport, Power & Utilities, and Social Infrastructure in the UK and globally. Our work includes market and policy design, economic and regulatory analysis, deal structuring and execution, and strategic and transaction advice to enable private and public capital to fund infrastructure. We work closely with other functions within KPMG to advise clients on mergers and acquisitions, valuations, tax, accounting and due diligence.
Power & Utilities (P&U) is one of the largest business area of the IAG and encompasses work for major clients in the sector, including all UK utilities as well as some of the largest energy and water companies in Europe and beyond. We provide in-depth strategic and technical advice on strategy and business planning and analysis, regulatory finance, corporate financial management, regulatory policy and other areas to help our clients create value for both shareholders and customers. Our work combines elements of policy, finance, economics and strategy to assist our clients in structuring investments, securing financing and supporting regulatory regimes to benefit customers and maximise shareholder value. We are widely recognised by many industry stakeholders as market leaders influencing the future of the utilities sector.
Our P&U business is currently divided into several practices: Finance, Projects, Strategy, Regulation, Transactions and Benchmarking, and is continuously expanding with double digit growth over the last 10 years. As such we are looking for high quality candidates to support our growth and development of existing and new service lines, while building on the work already undertaken in the Group.
The Role
1. You would be joining the leading provider of regulatory and corporate finance consultancy services in the regulated utilities sector, working in the Finance practice. The role will focus on the team's corporate financial management business, including capital structuring and ratings advisory. There will also be opportunities to work on projects related to regulatory finance and regulatory economics.
2. The projects that you will advise on will be varied. These could include advising on credit ratings, capital structures, financing strategy, financial modelling, financeability, risk analysis, cost of capital, major transactions and much more. There is no 'typical' project. You will need to apply a structured strategic approach to problem solving, drawing on corporate finance theory, economic principles and market practice in relation to capital structuring and credit ratings. Many projects will require you to integrate knowledge of both regulatory and corporate finance to deliver a differentiated offering to the client.
3. You will take charge for the delivery of several small and medium sized engagements on a day-to-day basis and ensure that the deliverables produced and advice provided (written or oral) are of high quality. This will include delegating tasks to team members, project planning, managing client interactions, tracking budgets and complying with the company's risk processes. You will need to be comfortable managing, coaching and mentoring junior staff on specific projects.
4. You will proactively contribute to business development and growth of the corporate financial management offering, including development and support of proposals and pitches as well as identification of new opportunities across existing and new clients.
5. You will build relationships with key clients across the sector, as well as with other regulatory, financial and legal advisers.
6. You will contribute to the development of market intelligence and sector knowledge within the team. You will maintain a good technical understanding of the regulated sectors, including the regulated asset base (RAB), cost of capital and financeability considerations. You will also maintain an understanding of how regulatory mechanisms impact cashflows, financial profile, capital structure and credit ratings of regulated businesses, from both the company and investor perspectives.
7. You will contribute to the development of the team, training, inspiring and empowering team members.
The Person
8. Have at least five years of experience in corporate finance, with demonstrated exposure to the regulated utilities sector in a bank, credit ratings agency, consultancy or equivalent. Candidates with experience in an in-house corporate finance or treasury function within industry would also be considered.
9. Educated to a degree level (ideally in a quantitative field, though not essential) or with highly relevant, equivalent experience.
10. Understand the broader UK (and ideally European) utilities sector, including regulatory frameworks, composition, stakeholders and relevant policy debates. The ideal candidate will possess good knowledge of RAB-based and other regulatory regimes in the UK power and utilities sector, as well as regulatory finance principles and their application in relation to notional and actual capital structures and business performance.
11. Have knowledge of the key concepts that underpin capital structures (including complex multi-tiered structures), credit ratings, and investment considerations in UK regulated sectors.
12. Demonstrate good working knowledge of corporate finance (including company and investor perspectives) and economic theory and its application, preferably with experience in applying corporate finance concepts in the regulated utility space.
13. Be highly skilled in financial analysis and financial modelling for regulated utilities, including cashflow and valuation modelling, and interpreting results. The ideal candidate will have experience working on projects with extensive financial modelling elements.
14. Be an independent thinker with the ability to identify and solve problems and contribute to the development of compelling and well-thought-out solutions, helping us to remain at the cutting edge of innovative thinking in the sector and to provide persuasive responses in a credible manner.
15. Bring excellent report writing and Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.
16. Be highly motivated and ambitious, willing to take advantages of the opportunities this position offers.
17. Be comfortable running and managing small project teams, with a focus on mentoring and coaching junior staff.
18. Be a proven team player who can demonstrate a clear desire to manage teams, who can gain the trust and support of internal colleagues.
19. Language skills and experience in other markets and jurisdictions are a bonus.