Capital Markets Intermediary Rankings

Just wanted to float this out there based off my research, MBA rankings, and conversations with RE finance industry professionals. Want to hear any feedback

Tier 1 A+

Eastdil Secured

Tier 1 A

HFF/JLL Wells Fargo CBRE Capital Markets JP Morgan Meridian Capital

Tier 1 B

BAML Newmark Knight Frank Walker & Dunlop Cushman & Wakefield Deutsche Bank Berkadia KeyBank Citigroup

Tier 2

NorthMarq RED capital

Tier 3

Marcus & Millichap Colliers

23 Comments
 

I’ve always been confused by the banks being on these lists. aren’t they only CMBS originators? does that really count? a lot of these shops (not the banks) can place debt and equity with anyone.

 

My intermediary is not listed, and it's #1 in its respective region (which is quite large and doesn't have usual big players), and it's also Nasdaq listed, so I am offended :(

“Destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives, living existences of quiet desperation, never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon their shoulders is really a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights. Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor, that to strive and triumph in the face of fear is what it means to be a hero. Don’t think. Become.”
 

Agree with posters below. Lets not use this to jerk ourselves off. It’s very market/team dependent, but we can all agree Marcus & Millichap is at the bottom.

 

I know two of the biggest idiots from my college fraternity that became M&M brokers. They drive for Uber and work as bartenders at night to subsidize the lack of income. I could never imagine these people running a sales process.

 
Most Helpful

How about we not arbitrarily rank things just to have something to jerk off to

This isn't the IB forum.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Pathetic seeing the RE forum slowly turn into the narcissistic IB forum

 

@Ralph_Lauren4122" is right, in CRE it very much depends upon the team.

On your list of intermediaries, like half of them are just CMBS intermediaries. Eastdil just does large transactions. Some of these do mostly middle market transactions, and some do both. A handful do the full gamut, Life, GSE, CMBS, Bank, Equity, etc. The list is a pointless grouping of apples and oranges.

Also, you left off some, like Grandbridge, and most big metros have at least one boutique outfit that does a great job...though those are slowly getting eaten up by brands.

 

Ah yes the moment I have been waiting for......Our high quality CRE forum turning in to the cesspool that is the IB forum. Can't say I am surprised. When the following posts started happening I knew it would only be a matter of time:

"I'm a senior in HS how do I make it to CRE"?

"Non-Target- Do I have a shot at CRE"?

IB-Prospect- So tell me all about CRE?

OP- It has been said a million times. Rankings are inaccurate because it is mostly market specific. Yes most of your CBRE/ JLL / Eastdil offices are quality and do big deals, however there are markets where a firm you have ranked as a Tier 2 might outperform a CBRE/JLL/Eastdil in a certain product type.

Cautionary Warning from anyone that may be an IB/HF/Trading/ER prospect thinking they will just switch to CRE their senior year and go to Eastdil and make bank instead- Good luck. While CRE may be easier to break in to from the aforementioned industries it is still not a cakewalk. There is a misnomer on this site that CRE is easy to break in to. While this may have been the case 5-10 years ago it just isn't the case anymore (It is still easier to break in to, and less based on pedigree as above industries). For every analyst job there are hundreds and hundreds of applications. Not to mention these kids have had CRE internships since their sophomore year.

It probably sounds like I am gate-keeping but whatever. It is tiring seeing posts of people that decide IB/HF/Trading/ ER isn't for them think they are going to waltz in to a analyst job at Eastdil Secured NY because WSO told them CRE is more about hustle.

OP- I am sure you are probably an undergrad trying to figure things out. We are here to help. In fact I would say the CRE forum is probably the most helpful on this site. I recommend CRE to anyone that will listen. Next time maybe try to frame your question like:

NY Debt and structured finance? Which are the top teams? Office investment sales in Boston- Newmark or CBRE? ETC.

Also all of the above wasn't directly aimed at you, but more so a rant of things I have seen lately. If you have any questions I am happy to help.

 
"press107" Cautionary Warning from anyone that may be an IB/HF/Trading/ER prospect thinking they will just switch to CRE their senior year and go to Eastdil and make bank instead- Good luck. While CRE may be easier to break in to from the aforementioned industries it is still not a cakewalk. There is a misnomer on this site that CRE is easy to break in to. While this may have been the case 5-10 years ago it just isn't the case anymore (It is still easier to break in to, and less based on pedigree as above industries). For every analyst job there are hundreds and hundreds of applications. Not to mention these kids have had CRE internships since their sophomore year.

Just want this to be emphasized. Gone are the days of your dad's golfing buddy who is a broker and needs an analyst. You used to be the top guy for the job, but now there's too much institutional $$$ in the industry and that inherently will bring in the "high-finance" types that think they can waltz in and grab an analyst spot on Stacom/Shanahan's team

 

Seconding this. A non-trivial number of brokers at my shop have been here for over 25 years and the story was “well one of my fraternity brothers needed a runner one summer and I’ve been here and moving up since” and we are one of the giant publicly traded firms. Real estate hiring isn’t like that anymore, the real estate clubs at any school interested in real estate include some really smart kids that want to be in real estate.

 

Agreed. I can't believe all of the people trying to get into real estate these days. Some kid from my undergrad cold emailed me asking to talk with him about real estate and breaking in. He's a mechanical enigineer. Get out of my inbox you fucking nerd.

 

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