Anyone familiar with Colony Capital?

Hi all, anyone here familiar with Colony Capital? Just wondering - one of my friends is curious about their reputation, work/life balance, etc. but I don't really know naything about this firm besides what's on the website. Any opinions you guys could offer would be great. Thanks.

 
Best Response

No idea about how it is to actually work for them, but they're in the very top echelons of REPE. They own Station Casinos (recent Ch. 11) and the Neverland Ranch (too soon for any jokes about this one), as well as Paris Saint-Germain, the world's greatest football team. They've done very well for themselves in the past twenty years and I'm getting the sense that they got a little carried away with the pet projects of upper management during the past boom cycle. They've probably lost money on all three of those investments, and the sports team thing seems rather hard to justify. They just bought Morgan Stanley's stake in PSG and now own 95% of the club. The head of Colony Europe is currently chairman of PSG. It would however seem that they are tightening the screws again, as starting next year they will on cover the deficit of their soccer team by selling players.

Sorry for how retarded my post sounds, but I hope that can help a little.

 

It's based in LA. They hire MBA's and rarely take undergrads. Thomas Barrack is the head of the company and is highly regarded in the real estate industry.

This summer I heard they were looking for undergrad interns to work unpaid (a very common thing out here) that had backgrounds in ibanking and finance.

monkeybusiness123 do you have upcoming interview with them?

 

Yeah i just visited their website and the ConnectSC. I didn't realize they were still looking for an interns. I knew they started looking in early April and were being pretty picky about it.

I don't know anyone interviewing for the internship currently. It's kind of late to be looking for summer interns as this point unless they can find someone who hated their first one.

 
okay24:

so you dont actually have the IBD internship offer?

technically, no as I have not signed anything yet. but they verbally said yes. I know I am only making assumptions but I want to know where I am heading to before making any decisions. Any thoughts? beside, is Colony Capital really a REPE giant? searching WSO gives me only 0.5 page results..
 
Gene Parmesan:

Are they both in Asia? That seems like a significant detail

Sounds like you don't want to work in real estate... so you should do the BB-IBD

As I stated in my OP, I do believe this colony capital opportunity would be a great one, and I am actually very excited about it. I was only concerned because I don't have any previous experience in real estates like I do in banking, and because exit opps would be narrower. Other than that, I think it is an amazing opportunity.

If you are currently / experienced in real estate industry, could you please provide me some of your thoughts?

 

Colony would 100% be my vote, but I'm also not trying to switch over to TMT Banking afterwards... so that's a big factor. This is a step towards real estate, if you want real estate exit opps it's a great choice.

Having said that. Colony is a great company, and working abroad would provide a major differentiator over a vanilla BB IBD analyst (intern!) - no matter what the industry is.

Fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds of run. - Kipling
 

The people in my network that have worked at Colony Capital are former I-Bankers that follow the standard 2 year I-banking, and then move to a PE fund type career path. It seems like there are more of these people than actual real estate focused analyst/associate positions when you think of a REPE shop. The 2 people I knew (1 moved on) there seemed to really like their job, and mentioned they really enjoyed the work life balance, however, their idea of work-life might differ from you and I. Pay for these jobs is great, don't know exact figures but in line with PE shops.

I cannot comment on their affiliate(s) - American Homes or w.e. it is, as I do not know much about it. Ask yourself where you want to be in 10 years. Will managing a portfolio of SFD rentals be beneficial to where you want to go? It very well could be.

As a side note, I know they do have typical real estate investment people (standard excel & ARGUS modeling, etc.), but I believe this is a small group located in their New York office.

 
GentlemanAndScholar:

As a side note, I know they do have typical real estate investment people (standard excel & ARGUS modeling, etc.), but I believe this is a small group located in their New York office.

NYC office is more investment banking/finance than LA.

Robert Clayton Dean: What is happening? Brill: I blew up the building. Robert Clayton Dean: Why? Brill: Because you made a phone call.
 

Corrupti qui adipisci eius est. Qui vel aliquid quia facere et iure. Ea illo sit vitae voluptas et necessitatibus. Vero excepturi est maxime voluptatum. Itaque dignissimos quos unde culpa reprehenderit dolores. Quis incidunt aliquid tempora sunt.

Sint illo odit nesciunt ut. At voluptatum aut est esse. Consequatur dolore doloribus inventore maiores.

Voluptatem reprehenderit ut nemo assumenda quibusdam quisquam. Dolores voluptas ab rerum et reiciendis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (87) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (146) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”