How to move from IB to REPE?

Hey guys,

I'm in the M&A team at one of the lower bulges (think UBS, Wells), and I'm very interested in moving to REPE (ideally in the PERE 20 such as Fortress, Starwood, etc.). I know many of these firms prefer IB RE, but what can I do to effectively position myself to get to REPE?

 
Best Response

I think first and foremost you need to have a good story as to why you want to move into RE. The last thing they want to do is hire you, train you, and then have you decide you don't like RE and leave shortly thereafter. If you can demonstrate you like RE and are somewhat knowledgeable about the industry that will go a long way.

 

REIB to REPE is possible. You have a good shot. That is depending on the REPE firm. If by REPE you actually mean Blackstone and Carlyle, well that's another story. It'll definitely be harder.

At the end of the day, it comes down to networking. You'll need to demonstrate that you're smart and ambitious.

 

It is not nearly as rigid as vanilla PE. The very best firms are more stringent on their requirements, but most hire ad hoc and its relationship driven and so on. If you get a BB REIB job after MBA (which seems doable if you go to a decent program), then you should be able to break in. Either directly, or go to a REIT or some place buyside first and do investments and eventually break in.

 

What did you do post undergrad? Also, is your goal to ultimately be in REPE? why not skip REIB and network your ass off to to REPE? I mean, not BX or anything, but a smaller boutique shop & by exploiting your network you have a chance. I am assuming that you have somewhat of a transferable skill set from your work experience post undergrad given that you are going to NYU for MBA.

 

Thanks for all of your responses everyone, it's great to know that the REPE door won't be closed.

To Gentleman's question, I'm not 100% convinced that REPE is the end game. Because of this, I'd like to do REIB first. Also, I'm assuming that with REPE I would be working more on the asset-level. This is fine, but I'd like to have some background in corporate/transactional-based RE as well. I think that background could be very useful not only in REPE but if I'd ever like to begin managing a small portfolio of my own. The thinking is that I'd pick up the finance/capital skills within REIB and then asset-level skills at REPE. Post-undergrad, I've worked within the credit risk dept of a BB, so somewhat-yet-not-really transferable skill set (wasn't focused on the RE side).

 

Go network with real estate people, and have a convincing story as to why you want to get into real estate. You'll be fine. You're nowhere close to "too late." Plus, the job market for real estate is pretty hot right now.

I would guess your modeling skill set is strong enough. Anyone with a brain who is hiring you would look at your resume and say to himself, here's a kid who can run the numbers, I'll teach him about the real estate. You can read a book or take a real estate modeling course, but you're probably going to break in by talking to enough people and eventually making a good impression on the right one.

 

Thank you for your feedback. That is most definitely encouraging. In terms of networking, how would you best recommend I do so? I am planning on reaching out to all my analyst friends and asking if they know anyone in REIB or REPE, but in case of no leads.. How should I go about meeting people?

 

Can't you just find entry level people in the industry/Westbrook and develop a relationship with them to ask them this? I don't know how many people here are gonna know the answer to your question

 

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