Breaking into RE from IB
I am 2.5 years out of undergrad. I have 2 years of corporate banking experience (3-4 months in CRE) and about half a year now in Investment Banking. I know IB is not for me due to the culture and hours, and am wanting to break into RE. What are good roles to target and what are large firms to target? I do not want a significant pay cut either. I am a newbie when it comes to RE, but have always been fascinated by it, and based on my experience I am sure I would be able to learn quickly. I am based in NYC for reference. Appreciate any help and guidance.
Bump
You want less hours, but no significant pay cut? I mean, usually it's one or the other. If you come into a REPE for acquisitions for example at a experienced analyst level, you could expect anywhere from $90K to $110K all-in depending on location (NYC/SF a little higher). Firm is also dependent for hours/culture and pay. Starwood might offer IB type of pay, but you'd still probably be putting in 70-80 hours week. If you want better lifestyle you'll have to take a pay cut, if you want higher pay you usually have to grind more hours. REPE pays less than corporate PE because there tends to be less upside, but the firms stability is more secure.
From my own experience I have 2 years of experience in RE and an MBA, coming from banking (2 years in FinTech) and my offers were anywhere from $150K to $80K at an associate level. The $150K pay would require hours around 70 per week, but can drift to 80-90 during deal times. I got lucky and am making $100K with a firm that I am allowed to work remotely with (for the next 3+ years) and get carry on each deal.
I don't have any advice on the development or AM side so you may have to look around on here if that's what you want.
I mean I am fine with a pay cut but need to be in the 95-110k ballpark to maintain a decent life in NYC. It seems like you landed a great gig. Do you think the MBA played a key role in landing it? I too am considering going back for my MBA at a T15-T20.
To answer your first question, I think $95k - $110k is definitely in the ball park for NYC, and some firms could potentially pay more. It's hard to determine what the WLB will be prior actually working with the firm unfortunately.
Your second question is trickier, I did my MBA in the EU and returned to the US this past fall in the full-force pandemic job market, and only had one year of RE experience. To me RE is very much an experience oriented industry, but I did got a lot of interviews. I felt I did well in them, but was ultimately passed up because the job market had a lot of people with heavier experience than I did (even one where I got passed up in the final interview for an associate role to a VP that took a step down, which is crazy to me). There is potential for it to help with a bigger network in RE, and if you can leverage it with an internship at a firm you want to land at, but you can usually get to the same firms without an MBA, and I found HH's found MBA grads less attractive for bigger PE firms. The firm I am with now fundraises most of it's money from EU/ME so for me I fit well, and I should be looking at an average of $150k (including the carry if we match our forecasts) and I work anywhere from 40-50 hrs during the week with 3-4 hrs on Saturday and Sunday, but my MBA again did not really help me with landing the job.
Were the offers you got from only core/core+ funds or any opportunistic/distressed?
You shouldn’t have a problem getting a good job. Target all large developers for analyst and associate roles, probably you’ll land as an associate but it depends on the firm. Expect a pay cut from banking, but possibly that won’t be the case since you’re just in your first year. I’d recommend getting a full year in IB. If you don’t want a pay cut, target acquisitions roles at REPE firms and you might not have to take one. Look at PERE top 50 for list of firms to apply to.
Maybe I'm depending too much on my own experience, but are there any REPE firms that pay their analysts $120K? That seems pretty high for REPE analysts with one year of experience, but I have less experience in NYC and SF/LA.
With banking experience, yes, all-in. Some firms would do this, probably not many though.
If I value WLB over pay, what firms/roles would you look for?
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