Associate, Strategic Relationships (Strategic RIA)
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:
As an Associate on the Strategic Relationships team, aligned to the Strategic RIA Group, you will play an integral role in advancing Lord Abbett’s engagement with a select group of the firm’s most sophisticated Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and Family Offices. This role directly supports senior relationship leadership in the RIA channel and requires a strong understanding of the segment’s unique characteristics, including centralized research models, institutional-quality due diligence processes, and complex portfolio construction frameworks. You will operate at the intersection of relationship management and strategic execution, helping to drive platform access, deepen partner engagement, and position Lord Abbett’s investment capabilities within a highly competitive and evolving segment of the wealth management landscape. This is a strategic, externally facing role offering meaningful exposure to senior stakeholders and the opportunity to contribute to one of the firm’s highest priority growth channels.
We’ll trust you to:
Support the development and execution of relationship strategies across a defined set of high-value RIAs and Family Offices.
Partner closely with senior relationship managers to deepen engagement with key stakeholders, including investment teams, research analysts, and due diligence professionals.
Build a strong understanding of partner firm structures, investment processes, and decision-making frameworks to help navigate product onboarding and endorsement pathways.
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Coordinate the deployment of firm resources, including investment professionals and product specialists, to support strategic engagement efforts.
Prepare high-quality briefing materials, meeting content, and strategic analyses for senior-level interactions.
Monitor RIA channel trends, competitive dynamics, and firm-specific developments to generate actionable insights.
Collaborate across Distribution, Investments, Product, and Marketing to ensure a coordinated and consistent approach to partner engagement.
Support business planning efforts through analysis of flows, product positioning, advisor segmentation, and growth opportunities within the RIA channel.
Help drive strategic initiatives that enhance Lord Abbett’s relevance and positioning across sophisticated advisory platforms.
Represent Lord Abbett at meetings, due diligence sessions, and industry events with professionalism and credibility.
You'll need to have:
4–7 years of experience in asset management, wealth management, or distribution, preferably with exposure to RIAs, Family Offices, or institutional advisory platforms.
Strong understanding of the wealth management ecosystem, with familiarity or demonstrated interest in the RIA channel and its evolving business models.
Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage thoughtfully with internal and external stakeholders.
Strong analytical capabilities, including evaluating platform structures, product fit, and commercial opportunities.
Ability to operate effectively in a highly strategic, relationship-driven environment with attention to detail and follow-through.
Capacity to manage multiple priorities while balancing strategic thinking and execution.
High level of professionalism, discretion, and sound judgment.
Collaborative mindset and ability to work effectively across a matrixed organization.
We’d love to see:
Experience supporting coverage of RIAs, Family Offices, or other sophisticated advisory firms.
Exposure to due diligence processes, model portfolios, or centralized research platforms.
Experience working with or supporting senior relationship managers on complex, high-profile partnerships.
Background in strategic planning, competitive analysis, or business development within a defined client segment.
Strong internal networking skills and ability to mobilize cross-functional resources.
Comfort operating in a high-expectation environment with exposure to senior leadership.
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 $110,000-$125,000. 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 Carefully
Without 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.
Perks and Benefits
Health and Wellness
Parental Benefits
Work Flexibility
Office Life and Perks
Vacation and Time Off
Financial and Retirement
Professional Development
Diversity and Inclusion