I'm so done with investment banking. The hours have been absolutely insane, and I find myself sitting on my butt all day, with little to no moving around.
I've been told the real estate space is more culturally relaxed, and can also provide ample opportunities to venture outside (e.g. property inspections and the like).
With regard to these types of roles, are they limited to acquisitions and development? Which area has the better pay and which the better hours?
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The most similar CRE job to IB (depending on what IB group you work in) would be working for a capital markets shop. Capital markets is usually split into 2 groups with those being debt/equity placement (DCM/ECM) or investment sales, which is representing the seller of a real estate asset. In these groups you are preparing BOV's (Broker's opinion of value) where you are valuing the property and trying to win business, and once you win business you prepare OM's (offering memorandums) which are similar to investment memos. Gives an overview of the deal and the financial that potential buyers can look at. Eastdil Secured is a capital markets shop that is structured exactly like an investment bank and they operate on a base+bonus model all the way up the hierarchy, where other capital markets shops like JLL/CBRE/Cushman operate on a base+bonus for analysts/associates, and directors (brokers) are usually commission only. Work hours can be a lot at times but for the most part, less than IB (besides Eastdil from what I've heard). Once you graduate from an analyst role and become a broker (in leasing or capital markets), you can be traveling quite a bit trying to drum up business. If you are a broker and always at your desk, that's probably a bad sign.
My friends who work in asset management and acquisitions do get the opportunity to travel to see deals that they may purchase or are already working on, same with development. As a developer, you may get more chances to leave the office to go visit the job site of the deal you are working on. Hope this is helpful.
Just adding my two cents — went from IB (did 1 year) to real estate acquisitions. Current role is at a more institutionalized shop that I would say leans “finance” vs. “real estate” (other folks on my team are ex-mega fund / IB). Hours are better (most days 9 to 9) with moderate weekend work when prepping for IC.
The BIGGEST difference in my opinion is the predictability of the work. This certainly in-part may be a function of my higher ups, but overall there are no 2am requests for BS slides that are going to end up in the appendix. Limited bus dev work / client development (still answer to LPs but it’s much less bullshit work). Additionally, I personally find the work much more Interesting with added visibility given how lean my team runs.
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