Breaking into PE RE
Hi, I currently work in the Middle East as a real estate investments analyst for the Asset Management arm of a large insurance company. Been here for 2 years now. The ultimate aim is to break into PE in a big shop in the US. Admittedly, a mountainous task at the moment!
2 questions: 1.Would doing an MBA at a top business school in the US be the easiest way in? Pretty unlikely I will get hired straight out of here, right?
- I might be on a verge of a couple of offers, both in the Middle East (fingers crossed!). One is in RE TAS with EY. The other is as an investments analyst with a firm that is a JV between an important PE player in the region and one of the largest private American developers. The role here will be to do the modelling for a number of large developments they are undertaking in the region, as well as to occasionally look at some existing income-producing opportunities, although deal flow is not expected to be great.
The job with the developer certainly sounds like it would build on my existing Excel/PPT skills more so than the EY one. My question is, which of these opportunities would better set me up for an MBA in the US/my eventual aim of breaking into a PE shop in the US? The developer has just had one of their analysts leave to do an MBA at Columbia Business school and a number of the senior management are ex-Wharton, etc. Could these connections help?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Second option sounds good, how old are you? Wharton/Columbia could be tough to get into plus as far as I know they are two years, you should consider cam bridges 1 year Mphil in re finance- rep placement is strong
Thanks, that's helpful!
In terms of EY vs. the developer, I'd be interested to know how universities/top PE firms view the respective benefits and drawbacks of each one. Obviously, on a global scale, EY has a bigger reputation, although the work I will be doing with the developer will be more relevant.
Any thoughts?
Don't get an MBA. If you're going to fork up the money for graduate schooling - do a MSRE or some type of RE concentration. If you want to go into the finance side of the house, I recommend doing the CFA once you are eligible.
Also - I find that most firms, especially in RE where ever deal is different, value experience over everything else. I think if you put two people side by side...Person "A" has three years of RE experience at a half decent shop and has been a part of more than a couple transactions. Person "B" went straight form undergrad to an MBA or MSRE program, and hasn't worked on a single deal before. Managers I've spoken with all say they would go with "A".
you can't get into a top MBA without experience...typically 3-5 years is required to have a shot at getting in
I don't know - I think at that point its a huge waste of money. If you have 3-5 years of experience with a reputable shop, you should be well on your way to senior analyst/associate by then. Sure MBA if you want to be a CEO, but by the time the millennials become of age to start taking over companies, I'm not sure how much the value of a MBA will be correlated to what it is now.
I think 3-5 yrs of experience, yes, you're a shoe-in for top MBA firms...but for RE specifically, I don't know why'd youd do that after your getting traction in the industry, or why'd you choose that over a MSRE, etc.
Plus consider that those "top MBA" programs are going to take you out of the work force for 3-4 years. Which, In my limited experience, would hurt more than help as almost always solid experience trumps the best MBA's.
Could you try to get a job with a middle East investor that does work in the us. I work with a guy that worked for ADIA before coming to work for a US PERE firm
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