Career pivot from PE to REPE after a sabbatical. Looking for advice.

Hey all,

Asking for a friend whose situation I said I’d post about here.

He’s 27 and currently a 3rd year associate at a UMM PE fund. Before PE, he was at MBB. He’s been feeling pretty burnt out and is thinking about taking a one year sabbatical.

Longer term, he wants to pivot into REPE in the US. One option he’s considering is doing a one year master’s in real estate finance. Cambridge has an MPhil in Real Estate Finance that he’s interested in. The idea would be to use that year to reset, build real estate specific knowledge, and make the transition into REPE.

The end goal would be to join a UMM/MM REPE shop in the US (ideally MCOL or LCOL) at an associate/senior associate level, but he’s not sure how realistic that is given the time off and asset class switch.

Otherwise he’d also be happy to go back into PE at a MM fund, but was also wondering about the viability of re-entering PE at a senior associate level given the sabbatical.

Appreciate any perspectives from people who have made a similar move or have seen this transition play out.

10 Comments
 

The switch is possible, especially with the RE masters at Cambridge. The biggest roadblock imo is getting sponsored for a role in the US. London firms will sponsor you, but very tough to break into US RE market if you have no experience there and need sponsorship.

For context - I have worked in both REPE and MFPE, in London and NY.

 

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