Research Analyst - Non-Agency Residential Mortgages

The Role

About Lord Abbett:

Founded in 1929, Lord Abbett is an independent firm with a singular focus on the management of money. Over the course of our history, we’ve earned a sterling reputation for our leadership, influence, and innovation in the asset management industry. Today, our independent perspective, our commitment to active management, and our intelligent product design continue to make us relevant to individual and institutional investors.

From the very beginning, we’ve recognized that our people are our greatest asset. As an investment-led, investor-focused firm, we value intellectual curiosity, teamwork, and collaboration across the organization.

We’re looking for people with a keen interest in working for a trusted leader in the asset management industry, a desire to expand their knowledge, and a passion for delivering a client experience that exceeds expectations.

Now that you know our history, are you ready to be part of our future?

Job Overview:

We are seeking a Research Analyst to support fundamental research coverage within the non-agency residential mortgage sector. This individual will focus on evaluating RMBS, loan portfolios, originators, bond issuers, and housing and consumer market dynamics across the full range of the residential mortgage credit ecosystem, to drive investment alpha in residential mortgage credit across a range of investment mandates.

This role requires a seasoned professional with deep industry expertise, strong investment judgement, and experience measuring and valuing mortgage credit risk in a variety of interest rate and credit environments. The position will play a central role in shaping portfolio positioning, governing our research processes, navigating investment complexity, leadership of other investment professionals, and serving as a key thought partner to internal and external stakeholders. This role will report to the Head of Residential and Consumer Asset Backed Research.

We’ll trust you to:

• Play a leading role in research across the RMBS space for Lord Abbett’s fixed income department, with a focus on delivering enhanced returns to our investors relative to pertinent yield or benchmark objectives
• Maintain robust cash flow modeling infrastructure via a mix of internal and third-party tools to ensure analytic accuracy, including duration, convexity, and other key risk factors
• Create and maintain infrastructure and systems for generating repeatable alpha, including a keen understanding of industry-leading prepayment and convexity models
• Have a strong grasp of foundational principles of mortgage investing, and a process of valuing and isolating alpha, across collateral credit risk, related party risk, prepayment risk, structural risk, and other factors
• Conduct detailed fundamental analysis of residential real estate issuers, including REITs, homebuilders, and housing-related structured products
• Analyze key housing market drivers such as supply/demand dynamics, affordability, demographic trends, and interest rate impacts
• Develop and articulate investment views supported by both company-specific and macro housing insights
• Maintain ongoing awareness of the financial health of key counterparties in the residential credit ecosystem, including REITs, Servicers, Originators, and Sponsors
• Monitor existing holdings and provide ongoing surveillance, identifying risks, opportunities, and potential catalysts
• Prepare clear, concise research reports and present findings to portfolio managers and senior analysts
• Engage with management teams, industry participants, and data providers to develop differentiated perspectives
• Collaborate with traders, portfolio managers, and other sector analysts to support investment decisions and portfolio construction
• Contribute to team knowledge sharing and help mentor/support junior analysts as appropriate

You'll need to have:

• 10+ years of relevant experience in residential mortgage credit or non-agency RMBS
• Tools for managing and processing loan level data to conduct surveillance and value collateral pools
• Experience managing and vetting quantitative models, liaising with quantitative analysts, and managing myriad interest rate and credit risks related to RMBS and mortgage investments
• Expert grasp of residential real estate fundamentals, including housing cycles, affordability metrics, and regional market dynamics
• Experience evaluating counterparty credit risk, as it pertains to originators, sponsors, and servicers
• Ability to synthesize macroeconomic trends and translate them into actionable investment insights.
• A proven ability to solve problems creatively, while working collaboratively, with cross functional internal and external stakeholders
• Effective written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present ideas clearly and concisely
• Strong attention to detail, organization, and ability to manage multiple priorities
• Collaborative mindset with a proactive, intellectually curious approach
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree and/or professional certifications (e.g., CFA) preferred
• Familiarity with industry data platforms and artificial intelligence tools to enhance the research process

Why Lord Abbett?

Lord Abbett is a leading global independent, privately held investment management company. We are active managers and invest where we believe we have a repeatable edge and can deliver alpha for our clients. Our vision is to be the most respected asset manager in the world, admired for our people, our performance, our relationships, and our organizational agility. This inspires the three pillars of our culture.

• Principles-Based - We empower our leaders to create an environment of trust.
• Performance-Oriented - We inspire our people to embody our values, excellence, responsibility, transparency & collaboration.
• Purpose-Driven - We instill a passion for always putting our clients' interests first.

We were honored to be ranked #1 in Barron’s Best Fund Families for 2024 and to have earned recognition as one of the Best Places to Work in Money Management by Pensions & Investments for five consecutive years.

Compensation Information: Annual base salary for this role is $200,000 - $250,000. Salary is estimated for this role. Actual pay may be different.

Discretionary Bonus: Role may be eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus. Discretionary bonuses are determined by several factors including, but not limited to, firm, team, and individual performance.

Benefits: Lord Abbett is committed to offering a competitive total rewards package to all eligible employees. Offerings include competitive total compensation, retirement plans, competitive health and well-being plans. To learn more about what we offer, please visit Careers | Lord Abbett

Lord Abbett is an equal employment opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals without regard to the following legally protected characteristics: race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, sexual identity, caregiver status, military/veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal law. All employment decisions at Lord Abbett are based solely on the applicant’s relevant experience, skills and qualifications.

Important notice to Search Firms - Please Read CarefullyWithout prior written agreement, Lord Abbett does not accept unsolicited submissions from employment agencies, search firms, placement services, or any similar provider (“Search Firms”) for employment opportunities. All candidates submitted by Search Firms to any employee or partner at our company without a written Search Firm agreement in place will be deemed the sole property of our company. In such circumstances, no fee, commission, or other compensation will be paid to such Search Firm in the event a candidate is hired by our company. To the extent a Search Firm has a written agreement in place, all introductions are position specific and should be directed to HR or the hiring manager, so we kindly request no unsolicited phone calls or emails.