Thoughts on bellwether asset management, especially as a debt analyst? Comp, hours, culture, and just day to day work would be great.
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Comp is average+ but better than a lot of shops in LA. Hours are tough, culture is awesome, lots of young fun people. Would recommend depending on what other options are.
Did you work there?
No but I know a lot of people there
How is an AM fee shop utilizing a debt analyst? Are they doing debt AM now?
Bellweather is average when it comes to LA shops. Not the best rep/comp compared to others (Hines, Ares, Eastdil ). It has a longstanding rep as being the JV team of Oaktree. They have been trying to change that but its kind of stuck
We do debt AM for the entire OCM book, Invesco, Rockwood, PGIM and several others.
Doing AM work doesn’t imply we are the JV team — they are a client of ours. Apples to oranges to be comparing our comp to those shops — well above market for AM roles.
I get it. You work there and hearing "average" hurt your feelings.
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/comment/2249067#comment-2249067
They try to sell the Oaktree connection hard, this comes up over and over and if you work there then you know that. How many people from Bellweather make the move to Oaktree? I didn't say it was a terrible shop...just average.
I think the JV team comment the original post refers to means that BWAM is a 3rd party fee business that get zero of the incentive pie. Yes, the recurring fees are probably enough to pay base/bonuses but you're not getting any major upsides as you move up (ie 15+ years experience). I know people there who are saying that they're (BWAM) trying to raise their own capital, totally separate from OCM, but imagine how that is viewed from an institutional investor perspective...You just don't have the cachet of an elite investment manager anymore once you identify yourself as a servicing firm, much to the chagrin of the very well-educated BWAM employees - as there's some seemingly very smart people there.
OCM insider checking in here - going to second what the fella said below and say a lot of your claims are just wrong, please be careful speaking so confidently on stuff you’ve clearly just pulled from someone else on WSO and not from experience in the industry. The comparison of an AM shop to a developer/GP, an LP and a brokerage shop in the same sentence as if they are apples to apples made me chuckle. Very UG-esque “acq or bust” thinking.
OP, BWAM is very highly held within OCM as well as across the AM industry. Sure, you’d probably want to go to an OCM type directly if you’re interested in direct investing, but BWAM is a pretty great platform to start from and opens plenty of doors should you desire to move to acq. Not to mention their juniors are straight senders and know how to have a good time.
Have to second this. We've had Bellweather as a counterparty on a deal and they were excellent to work with. I think people on this forum view asset management as some kind of lesser role, more back office than front office. But it's an integral part of the business and probably a more important skill set at the end of the day than someone who can build an underwriting model in excel in 3 minutes flat. This whole site is very finance-oriented, so it is no surprise that the more "hard finance" roles are often considered better or more prestigious, but it really is such a minimal part of real estate, at least on the sponsor side.
I know a guy that was an analyst there. He left because he wanted to move back to the NE near family. He said longish hours (for LA), but pretty good culture and a good mix of people.
Worked there for over two years (equity associate) and left to take a job a large PE firm. BWAM has grown a lot since then but I believe its very true to the same character when I worked there.
For added humorous context - The Duke of Wall Street left the firm the week I started and I inherited his investment portfolio. Turned out to be the best learning experience of my life. Little bit of trial by fire but definitely worth it in the end. Thank you Duke for that particular accidental blessing. Hope all is well with you!
All is well! Hope the same with you.
In terms of your response, you hit the nail on the head (as have a few others). The firm has grown rapidly in terms of fees, head count, cachet, and clientele. For anyone considering BWAM, I would say it can open nearly all doors from an exit opportunity perspective. And for those who choose to stay, the culture is fantastic and the compensation is good, too.
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