Senior Accountant - Investments GAAP at Allstate, Northbrook, IL

The Allstate Corporation is the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer. A Fortune 100 company, with $156 billion in assets, Allstate sells 13 major lines of insurance, including auto, property, life and commercial. Allstate also offers retirement and investment products and banking services. Allstate is widely known through the “You’re In Good Hands With Allstate®” slogan. Allstate was founded in 1931 and became a publicly traded company in 1993.   Position Title
Senior Accountant
Investments
  
Corporate Profile:
The Allstate Corporation
Northbrook, IL
 
The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer. Widely known through the “You’re in Good Hands with Allstate®” slogan, Allstate helps individuals in more than 17 million households protect what they have today and better prepare for tomorrow through approximately 14,700 exclusive agencies and financial specialists in the United States and Canada. By leveraging Our Shared Vision, Allstate is committed to strong principles of the highest ethical standards and encourages individual accountability. Allstate realizes success through innovative thinking while providing challenging and collaborative work for its 70,000 employees. Allstate demonstrates a commitment to diversity through a variety of ways and continues to identify the requirements for future success since it was founded in 1931.
 
Allstate Investments, LLC strives to provide sustainable, competitive, risk-adjusted investment returns and investment-related services for the benefit of the Allstate Corporation.  We work in direct partnership with the leaders of our major lines of business to develop uniquely tailored investment strategies aligned to their needs. Our business model provides the foundation for daily decision-making and effective management of a portfolio comprised of $100 Billion in assets.  The 400 professionals within Allstate Investments, LLC represent a wide variety of disciplines including taxable fixed income, tax-exempt fixed income, equities, private securities, commercial mortgages and derivative asset classes as well as accounting, finance and technology.  Investment performance for our three major portfolios has consistently provided excess returns for our customers and we attribute that success in large part to the quality of our people. We recognize that our employees are our ultimate advantage and we seek to attract and retain highly qualified individuals with strong academic backgrounds, a deep interest in investments and a desire to be challenged.  For additional information about Allstate Investments, LLC, visit our website at www.AllstateInvestments.com
  
Area of Responsibility:
 
Accounting, reporting and analysis for investment instruments, with a primary focus on US GAAP/SEC reporting.
 
The Position Responsibilities:
In alignment with corporate goals, specific responsibilities for Senior Accountant will include:
 

• Various GAAP month end close responsibilities, including preparation of journal entries and account analysis.
• 
  Prepare and analyze various reports – both established and ad hoc – for internal and external customers. This includes, for example, preparation of the investment balance sheet, income statement, cash flows and investment position reports for the Corporation and its subsidiaries.
• 
  Prepare quarterly, year-end and ad hoc GAAP schedules that are utilized in the preparation of the 10-K, 10-Q and Investor Supplement for the Corporation and stand alone financial statements for the Corporation’s subsidiaries. 
• 
  Assist the GAAP reporting team with the compilation of the investment information in the MD&A and Footnotes to the Corporation’s 10-K, 10-Q and Investor Supplement.
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  Help coordinate and participate in team projects, assignments and team responsibilities such as continual process improvement, strengthening of controls, peer analysis and team education sessions.

 

• Participate in accounting research projects and implementation of new accounting guidance.

Hear what current employees have to say about working at Allstate: www.allstate.com/Allstate/content/refresh-videos/HR/Allstate_General_Hiring.wmv.

Professional and Educational Background:
 
Skills:

• Works effectively in a team environment and maximizes team effectiveness
• Accounting knowledge, specifically investments related concepts
• Organizational, problem solving, detail oriented, oral and written communication
• Flexibility to adapt to changing work priorities and assignments. Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Shows initiative, self-motivated, professional demeanor, desire to learn.

 
Experience Required:

• 1 to 2 years of professional accounting or reporting experience, preferably with an investments and/or SEC reporting focus.  

Computer Proficiency:

• Intermediate to advanced in Microsoft Excel, Access, Outlook, Word, SAP or other general ledger applications and database querying tools

Education:

• Accounting/Finance Degree Required
• CPA/CPA candidate required
• CFA/MBA a plus

Personal Traits & Requirements
 
The successful candidate must have the following personal and professional attributes which are consistent with the Company’s stated values:
 

• Thrive on change and continuous improvement;
• Demonstrate and foster a sense of urgency, strong commitment, and accountability while making sound decisions and achieving goals;
• Focus on exceptional customer service and drive innovation to create an atmosphere that supports new ideas and initiative;
• Strive for effective communication that results in teamwork, shared knowledge, and ideas;
• Contribute to the creation of a work environment where people from diverse cultures and backgrounds work together effectively;
• Be of unquestionable integrity, ethical and moral character;
• Deal effectively with ambiguity, change, and adapt appropriately to a range of situations;
• Demonstrate commitment to lifelong learning and personal development.
• Be willing to adhere to the following in order to ensure adherence to Allstate Investments compliance requirements and policies:

 
a)     Provide the Investments Compliance team with a list of investment accounts over which you have significant influence; 
b)    Provide consent, through a signed statement, allowing Investments Compliance to receive duplicate confirmations of transactions in such accounts;
c)     Pre-clear through the Pre-Trade Clearing Process any personal security trades as will be further described upon employment.  The Pre-Trade Clearing Process involves a check against a restricted security/issuer list, maintained by Investments Compliance, based on Allstate Investments’ and Allstate’s activities and dealings in the financial markets,
d)    Answer certain compliance questions regarding any affiliations with investment advisers, violations of state or federal securities laws, or actions taken against you by securities regulators and,
e)     Annually (and as otherwise required) confirm compliance with the Allstate Code of Ethics and the Allstate Investments Code of Conduct.
f)     Provide Investments Compliance with a complete report of their current securities holdings in which the employee has, or acquires, any direct or indirect beneficial ownership.  An employee is presumed to be a beneficial owner of securities that are held by his or her immediate “family members” sharing the individual’s household. Household family members include married or common-law spouses, domestic partners, partners defined by civil union and resident dependent children.
 
 
Compensation and Benefits Package
 
A competitive compensation and benefits package will be provided. 
 
Additionally, Allstate offers a diversity of competitive benefits programs and resources:

• Comprehensive health care plans, dental coverage, vision coverage, and flexible spending accounts;
• Group legal, AD&D, group and dependent life insurance, as well as long-term and short-term disability;
• Retirement program and 401K;
• Tuition reimbursement for further education opportunities;
• Paid time off days.

 
 
Our customers aren’t the only ones in Good Hands with Allstate!  If you are interested in working for an employer of choice, then look no further.  We offer:
 
A commitment to diversity                                 A commitment to our communities
A commitment to success                                 A commitment to work-life balance
 
At Allstate, you will be among the industry’s top talent with an environment that encourages continuing development and growth opportunities
 
Here what current employees have to say about working at Allstate: www.allstate.com/Allstate/content/refresh-video/HR/Allstate_General_Hiring.wmv