Hi everyone,
First time posting in this section, but been an active reader.
I'm currently a mid-level associate at a BB, and I'm increasingly looking to move to the buyside before its too late.
I've been approached for associate roles at large pension funds (think CPPIB/CDPQ). Given I don't know anyone who have worked at a pension fund I'm really interested to hear what people here think about them?
I'm particularly curious about what it's like to work at these places, the culture, the challenges, comps & if there are exit ops if I don't fit or am I going to be pigeonholed?
Thank you!
I can't say from working as one, but in the institutional world, Canadian pensions are highly regarded. Speaking broadly, they have insourced a lot of their security selection within equities and fixed income, have sophisticated portable alpha portfolios, and if you work for a place like CPPIB you're doing direct real estate and private equity investments, so think of yourself of being as big as KKR except that your entire goal is to make money for your retirees. All to say I think what you would do should be pretty interesting whether it be manager selection or direct investments.
I think relative to the lifestyle (not as intense) your pay is likely commensurate, but I couldn't confirm. Culture my guess is a lot nicer than buyside though I can't say I know if it's as political as the US funds. Take a look at their public reports and meeting minutes and my guess is that you might have some transparency on pay too since they are public.
That's my two cents. Hope someone else can add some other color.
Sent you a PM
Could you please also post the content of your PM? I think it would be beneficial for a lot of people and help advance the discussion.
MS for what? I just wanted to get the same information as I am curious and because it could be helpful for the community
Also sent a PM.
Could you please also post the content of your PM? I think it would be beneficial for a lot of people and help advance the discussion.
Yo, what's the MS for?
Interested as well
I can only talk about the London office for CPPIB. The guys I met there were not only incredibly smart but also very nice. I interviewed for a direct investment summer internship with them a while back. The culture was incredible and pay was only slightly lower than compared to PE funds, at least for summer interns. I think you should also keep in mind that if you don't work in the head office of your pension fund, it might be harder to do deals. Depending on their structure, it could be that your IC sits in, for example, Toronto and that decisions are made in Toronto. If you are working from there, your IC members are likely to know a lot about your deals in advance and it will be less likely for them to kill. You also have the chance to develop a better rapport with them.
Anyone know anything about comp? I heard bonuses are capped at 40% with no carry (not sure how true this is)
Julian, I'm collecting paperwork and when I get enough, I can evict anyone in this park. You, Ricky, even little Bubbles here. And you know why? 'Cause you all signed on the dotted line. I'm watching you, Julian. Like a shithawk. Come on, Randy.
There was a new article on Canadian pension funds at M&I yesterday or the day before that, deff worth checking out!
Pension funds and deal making are big in Canada.
I worked at a pension plan in Toronto before moving to New York. Based on what I know about the banks, Asset Management companies, etc. from friends - it seems the culture at (Canadian) pension plans is far less political, ego-driven, etc. People are nicer. And the work's more meaningful. On the flip side, pay seems to be worse. And exit opportunities perhaps more limited. But it's a much better career for many, I'd suspect. Depending on what you value - I would highly recommend it.
Pension Fund Investment Advisory Position (Originally Posted: 08/15/2016)
I was hoping to gain some insight from the community here about what it's like to work for a pension fund in an "Investment Advisory" role. Most of the conversation here revolves around acquisition, AM, development, and investment sales positions and this is definitely a very different opportunity.
As it has been explained to me the company acts as the RE investment board for a major pension fund. They have about 12-15 Real estate operating companies where they act as 90% of their capital and have the first right to every deal they source. The role's general responsibility would be to screen these portfolio companies' investment opportunities, report on potential investments to the pension fund's board, report on existing investments to the pension fund's board, evaluate new real estate operating company investments, and look for opportunities to expand the scope of current real estate operating companies' platforms.
This position is definitely a step away from direct deal level acquisition work I have done so far in my career. I don't know anyone else who works in a similar position so I'm not sure if this is a good direction to be heading. The caliber of people who work at this firm is certain top notch. MBA business schools">M7 MBA's, former CEO's of national real estate sponsors, and several people with institutional real estate investing experience.
Does anyone here have experience working in a similar position or thoughts on this kind of opportunity?
Do you mean you invest in a 90/10 JV for each deal (you are the LP equity)? This would be good. Same thing that Blackstone / Invesco / AEW / Clarion / KKR does with the development / operating partners for value-add and opportunistic deals.
Or you invest in a fund with the operating partners and they invest and you do nothing but get reports from them? This would not be good. I think this would be like a hedge fund of funds.
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