Career Prospects Advice! Where do I stand.
Need some opinions here on how long it will take the RE Market to get hot again for acquisitions. I know a lot of major players have plenty of dry powder for opportunistic funds, but when we do you think there will begin to be a rise in job postings for acquisitions in general?
I currently work at a PERE 15 in a major east coast market under the asset management team. I did a year in middle market investment banking before that (non RE coverage group). Will this experience set me up in a great position to compete for upcoming acquisitions analyst positions once the market gets hot again?
It should be noted that this is actually the time when the asset management teams get to shine, maintaining the value of the portfolio and investments will be the number one goal of many firms. So, I'm not sure if you really should plan on jumping anytime soon. Your profile shows you are a 2nd year analyst, I think you would want to stay and hopefully get promoted, especially if you are at a PERE 15.
A lot more firms are running joint or semi-joint acquisition/asset mngt teams, so I don't see why jumping as an analyst makes a ton of sense. If you can transition within your own firm, or have a more hybrid role (not sure your firm intermixes the two), that's a good way to go about it.
But seriously, your on the right track, hang in and get the value of it. If you lateral to acquisitions you could be hitting reset on promotion path. This is not a negative to your career, but could be a slowdown.
@Real Monkey" it sounds like you have a really good position. Assuming you have good leadership, ability to learn, and are generally happy, I see no reason to try to lateral to acquisitions.
My personal advice would be to run with where you are. Your career path in AM should aim you towards Chief Investment Office, Fund Manager, etc. Don't disagree with wanting to add acquisitions to the portfolio, but I would wait till at a more senior level. Going as an analyst seems to be a non-value adding move.
No, I do not think it is common to jump to acquisitions, but it common to get promoted or hired into a role that oversees both operations. Really, it tends to 'broaden' has been what I've seen.
At my firm, a developer, people tend to start in project mngt, but some finance oriented types will be designated as acquisitions from day one. By the time someone reaches Director, or really VP (we go Assoc->Mngr->Dir->VP->SVP/EVP), they will need to do some acquisitions work. At the VP level, they may only be responsible for acquisitions.
PERE is different in that acq. and AM can be totally independent, some blended (like by prop type and/or region), and some totally integrated (really a small shop thing). So, jumping shops may have you picking Acq into your portfolio by nature. At other firms, senior AM people are just bigger parts of the Acq process as part of daily duties.
So, I guess my final point is, you really just want to be the best at something in your first few years, you do not need to be best at everything (really few do that ever). As you progress, you will likely be forced or asked to be more rounded. That is what's required for senior leadership.
Since you have a good role, you really just need to crush it. If you jump to a new role/firm for lateral responsibility and levels/title (even if better pay) you are resetting the clock on learning and even seniority to some extent. Personally, I would not jump unless you get an amazing offer that is a bump in pay, title, and responsibility (you are already at a PERE 15, so firm shouldn't matter at this point).
Somewhere in the 3 to 5 year mark, or after, you may get on the radar of headhunters and get 'tapped' for jobs. That is the next step. Applying for stuff you see posted.... Honestly you are probably beyond that. Networking and headhunters should be your focus, that's the long game.