BB Real Estate Lending or Mid-Size REPE
Hey everyone. I recently graduated from school (non-target) and have received two offers. The first is at a top BB RE Lending group (where I would be doing both CMBS and BS lending). The second is at a mid/small REPE firm that directly invests in RE companies ~$10bn AUM. As my end goal is to work in acquisitions at a large PE shop (BX, Starwood, Carlyle...), I was wondering if you guys would be to provide input on which of these jobs will be better. I understand that the REPE shop is more applicable work, but I was wondering if the 'name brand'/CMBS work outweighs the REPE and offers me more opportunities upon leaving.
Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.
They have 10bn of equity capital raised / managed? That’s not a small / mid sized repe shop. Also if you’re doing entity level investments, I don’t know how transferable it is to doing property level acquisitions. However that line of work is more complex and interesting (in my opinion) than buying individual apartment complexes.
Are you sure you’re describing the PE fund correctly? Don’t know of a place that only makes corporate level RE investments and also manages $10bn. Maybe KSL but they also do asset level deals. Also those places rarely hire straight out of college. PM me if you want, I’m curious and pretty familiar with the space
If your end goal is acquisitions, this is a no brainer. $10B AUM is not small, so transitioning from that to a larger fund will be easier than going from debt to equity.
Your professor is a professor for a reason. A $10BN fund will carry plenty of prestige.
I believe what OP means is it is a PE company that invests in RE playformas, ala Vista (I think?) or Almanac Realty.
If I am right then this exp would be exactly what Bs / starwoods are looking for.
Edit: not vista... Almanac realty
Dude no way. Think about it... A lot of BX/SW guys are REIB allum. Entity level investing is arguably more impressive than REIB IMO.
Either one is good but I'd go the platform REPE company. Just make sure there is direct RE exposure and it isn't like a fund of fund structure or some bs.
I think the PE fund has a higher “beta” for the outcomes. If he’s given significant responsibility on several platform deals, that’s great experience. If he’s not, he’d be better off at the BB which will almost certainly will have high deal flow and a great brand
2nd this. Good comment. I've worked with analyst/associates at platform investors. It's a mixed bag in terms of what they're doing.
If you are working on recapping operating companies, ala underwriting the company's existing assets and go forward eq then I think that is great exp.
If you're more involved in platform DD, manager research, proving out business plans, etc.. then that's probably not the best experience for what you're trying to do. That akin to like an equity placement agent which from what I understand isn't very prestigious or transferable to acquisitions type roles.
Tough to give solid advice without knowing the exact company.
BB is safe bet if the job description is wide.
To put something else into perspective for you- you’re in a great spot. I don’t really think there is a “wrong” answer here. Will one provide marginally better opportunity than the other? Possibly. Not the guy to definitively answer that. But whichever route you take, you’re getting great experience and this will not inhibit any success.