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As an acquisitions analyst I worked at a large institutional investor. I spent 90% of my time underwriting deals that had been brought in by more senior members. This basically included writing an investment memo and maintaining the model on all the relevant information for a certain deal and presenting my findings to the investment committee. My hours were generally 7:30-5:30. The answer to your question will vary greatly depending on where you will be working.
I did a Day in the Life last year. I do acquisitions for a REIT but the experience will be very similar.
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/life-in-acquisitions-analystassoc…
Process-wise this is a great summary ^^
I too am an Acquisitions Analyst at a very large REIT supporting two major metro areas and my process is almost identical to this. Broker sends OM or basic info on the deal, my boss, who sits on investment committee, dictates which I should focus on and which not to. I then run the numbers (project cash flows) and get an understanding of the "story" of the deal and talk it over with my boss. He then makes a call. If he doesn't like it, on to the next. If he likes it, he'll have me send out an LOI. If our offers accepted we start DD, which I run point on.
We keep our ear to the ground and glance at any deal of reasonable size just to understand the market and keep tabs on where buildings are trading per unit and per SF. The same goes for land deals. Hope that helps.
Underwriting is the glamorous/easy part of our job.
At a small shop like mine, we are in the throws of due diligence for a new acquisition on a tight timeline for hard money deposit. The last month has been 60-70 hours weeks neck deep in reading through leases, understanding each tenant's expense reimbursement and getting granular right down to the last dollar.
REPE Roles (Originally Posted: 06/11/2015)
Hi,
I am currently applying for acquisitions team analyst roles in the (European) REPE space. When talking to others I realize there is a lot of confusion about specific roles in REPE and what people actually do (also caused by varying firm structures). REValuation and baamboo have some great posts that touch on some of the functions, but I was hoping someone (with more experience than me!) would be willing to share their views? I think this would benefit a lot of junior people in the industry.
What are the skills/personalities best suited for the following roles, and what would the day-to-day look like:
*portfolio manager / "fund manager" *acquisitions team *asset manager vs. property manager
bump
Portfolio manager makes the overall strategic direction of a particular fund, separate account etc. He'll usually decide on the buy/hold/sell strategies (often in conjunction with other high level executives). He generally runs the portfolio of an account.
The acquisitions team sources and underwrites the acquisitions for a fund (duh!) Your day is usually call brokers to talk about deals, creating models, acquisition due diligence, etc.
Asset managers run the day to day finance and operation of a group of assets. Usually lease negotiation, contract negotiation, bid pricing, creating budgets and trying to maximize the value of their group of assets. Doing refinancing and sell/hold analysis is often handled by this group as well.
Property managers handle the day to day nuts and bolts of a group of properties. Tenant has a roof leak? They call you, property managers will handle service calls, manage a group of porter/service men, negotiate service contract and give advice to the asset managers on whether certain repairs or capital improvements are necessary.
Thanks! Good to hear this was in line with what I thought (as I'm primarily familiar with the acquisition part). Am I correct in assuming the portfolio management role is more reporting/technically oriented (in a portfolio theory kind of way)? There is much less pro-active / deal-oriented work and networking than for the acquisition roles?
Generally (as titles vary) portfolio management in equity real estate companies are high level strategic/executive/management roles. In large REPE companies you have several to dozens of portfolio managers. often portfolios are separated geographically or by asset class or both. At insurance companies that to separate account investing its usually by account. Portfolio managers are responsible for everything everyone I mentioned above does on a daily basis.
Seems you've missed the biggest fun. The analyst's role is company-specific I guess? I interviewed with a REPE firm before. As an analyst, they didn't expect me to crunch numbers much, but to liaise with JV partners to ensure the REPE's 'interest is intact'.
Wait for more replies.
whatever you do, don't be a broker. with your experience, you should either:
a) get into a distressed REPE fund where, in addition to crunching DCF models, you can participate in restructuring the RE via refinancing/redevelopment/repurposing/repackaging/re-lawering (leases, tenants, vendors)
b) go work for a developer and help them deploy their capital in a more efficient way
nothing like that at certain funds... totally depends on place / strategy...
nothing like that at certain funds... totally depends on place / strategy...
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