Cantor Commercial Real Estate in Los Angeles. What do you know about them?
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(Senior Monkey, 72
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on 5/19/12 at 3:13pm
Are they ex Credit Suisse LA real estate guys? ex UBS guys? What do you guys know about them? Are they considered an investment bank? How's their reputation? What do you think their salaries for analysts/associates are? Any information on them would be nice.






This is a CMBS shop. They
This is a CMBS shop. They will underwrite loans for commercial real estate properties that they will subsequently try to package and sell through securitizations. They are not an investment bank in the true sense of the word; though investment banks often have arms that perform this function in their capital markets / originations division. This is an appropriate role for someone with an interest in real estate, but I think you would be better off in real estate investment banking on the coverage side if possible.
One of the associates
One of the associates mentioned that this internship was a "foot in the door" to wall street. Is this true, being that they are located in LA? The firm is a brand name firm (think twin tower 9/11 firm). What are the exit opps associated with an internship or analyst gig at a prestigious CMBS shop? Are the modeling skills valuable?
Also, would you say an internship would be more valuable here, or summarizing CIMs at a local PE shop?
Does anybody have any
Does anybody have any insight?
I was 99% sure I wrote a
I was 99% sure I wrote a reply to your other thread that covered this, but it seems I didn't post it or something. Sorry.
Anyway, I know of Cantor. They were more of a trading/broker-dealer shop before 9/11 to my knowledge, and as of late have made a big push trying to become more of a real estate firm (they acquired Newmark Knight Frank and Grubb & Ellis to get into actual real estate brokerage).
To be totally candid, I think a "foot in the door" on Wall Street is generous. Working in CMBS is a better foot in the door into real estate than it is into other parts of Wall Street (not necessarily a bad thing). Your exit opportunities will most likely be in some form of real estate lending, or possibly moving over to an investment role. You will probably do some modeling, but it is not going to be especially intensive (although the degree to which exceptional modeling abilities are valued in the real estate world is debatable, and varies widely depending on what type of place you work at).
For what it's worth, I think you are better off here than at the PE shop. The fact that the internship is unpaid more or less signals that they don't view this role as a feeder into their investment team, and more a source of labor. The PE shop would be something I'd consider more strongly if you were not a rising senior, but for your final summer internship, the structured program at Cantor will show better.