Career Path for Portfolio Mgmt (Straight Out of UG)
What's up WSO -- earlier this year, I landed a summer internship in the Portfolio Management group of a top REPE shop (think Blackstone, Brookfield, Starwood). A member of the group mentioned that exit opps were somewhat limited out of PM, despite the firm's reputation.
Do you guys find this to be true, and if so, what does a typical career path look like for someone in PM coming straight out of undergrad? Super open to anything, whether that be non-RE, MBA, acq/AM/etc.
You should follow up with this person and get some context directly (I mean, maybe they had been personally striking out trying to land a new job, so be careful to generalize without full knowledge).
That said, if the PM group is kept distant from acquisitions and asset mgnt, as is the deal at a lot of firms with multiple funds, strategies, SMAs, etc., then the experience gained may lack some of the core transactional, ground-level real estate experience that people are often sought after for. I mean, it can be true that two years as an analyst at an I-bank, IS/DE brokerage, or acquisitions role can be like 5+ years of experience due to "deal life" (i.e. working 80 to 100 hrs a week). That is why IB experience is so powerful, you see and do tons in short time (and frankly are burnt out and want to leave, helps for poaching).
Again, working in portfolio mngt is an "exit op" for many, so not sure what the goal/issue is. If you get offered a return FT position, I would only decline if you had something mega awesome in hand, it sounds like an amazing place to start right out of UG. The idea that such a position out of UG would slow-down or hurt a career sounds preposterous to me to be fully honest.
I think redever is right as usual. When I see who’s in Portfolio Management on the senior level and how they got there; they were people working in Acquisitions/AM as analysts with me and then got pulled up.
When I think about the junior folks in PM, I think of them as supporting the senior PMs and caring more in the fundraising, presentation prep-side. That said, I think LP facing experience is very important but unless there is more transactional or product level expertise, I feel the path is more fundraising (fund development, aka the talker) than actual allocator / portfolio building.
In a multi-fund REPE, there is often allocation of deals amongst the funds. This is a very fascinating experience to see who gets the deal and why. Really hones your capital markets understanding within the buyside. I would say the PMs play a big part in this internal brokering and a multifaceted experience and skillset would be crucial. Fundraising is one part of the job.
Regarding OPs question if it’s ok to start at a top name firm in portfolio management as a junior member; I say absolutely. I know folks in PM who moved over to Acqs.
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