Big 4 out of grad school --> REIB, PE, or anything else good??
Hi! Recently graduated T25 JD/MBA still looking for a job. Committed to real estate - what do you all think of doing Big 4 real estate consulting? They have all sorts of positions available. Is this good experience that can lateral into something good in a few years? Do the REPE and REIB shops value this experience? I've seen a few people's career paths on LinkedIn translate from Big 4 RE to something good, but I just wasn't sure if it's common.
Also, I applied for an associate position at Morgan Stanley REI. Thoughts on this program, how they're doing, and hiring / what they're looking for??
THANKS!
Historically, MS REI (this is the new formal name, but most in the business tend to call it MSREF) was one of the best entry points into RE PE at the analyst level (one of the view respectable names that hired analysts). MSREF suffered some pretty staggering losses in the financial crisis, has had some issues with its investors, and has lost a lot of its lustre in the last few years. All that said, it is nearly impossible to get into a top RE PE fund at the associate level, so if you do end up with an offer here and you are committed to real estate, I would encourage you to take it.
Big 4 consulting is not a very viable route to acquisitions at a major RE PE fund. RE PE funds regularly hire people with real estate accounting backgrounds to work in fund accounting, portfolio modeling, tax, etc., but almost never for acquisitions. LinkedIn profiles often obscure the reality of what people are actually doing.
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Thanks for the info re-ib-ny. You're very helpful. What do you see as Big 4 RE consulting exit opps? If I had an offer in capital markets with one of the brokerage houses (JLL / HFF / CBRE caliber), would it be better to take that over Big 4 senior associate?
Anybody else have stories to share?
For a real estate career, capital markets / brokerage at JLL / CBRE would be better than Big 4 accounting, especially if you're working for a decent team within JLL / CBRE.
I agree with Relinquis. You will have a much better chance of exiting into real estate acquisitions from the Capital Markets Group of a major brokerage than from a Big 4. As I mentioned above, from a Big 4 your most likely exit will be some support function at a fund (like return modeling for quarterly reports). I haven't seen an appreciable difference between consulting/accounting, etc (if that's what you were driving at in your follow-up question).
I disagree with the above posts but Im based somewhere in Europe so keep that in mind..
My big4 owned the local market at one point. We have, by far, done the larget real estate transactions and are currently among the top 3-4 RE transaction teams. We do RE M&A and TS related stuff (CDD, FDD, etc)
Several former colleagues are now buy-side.
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