I don’t really understand what they do as a company. It doesn’t seem like they actually own and management properties correct? They just lend money to borrowers via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
Is this a good shop to get a job at?
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IMO yes, as I used to work there. I always say that no other capital markets firm pays analysts better than Berkadia. When I was there as a regular analyst, my base was $95k and always got near 100% of bonus. Probably due to team structure/production volume but still, clearing $180k+ at 22-24 years old (in CRE nonetheless...) was unreal and for sure set me up.
But to answer OP, yeah they are not an owner, they don't own property - they are an agency lender and regular CRE brokerage firm. They offer debt, JV equity financing, investment sales, servicing, etc. And they don't lend to Fannie/Freddie, they lend on behalf of those two (DUS lender).
However, that is just Berkadia on the surface. Everything there is so team dependent that you have offices that never look at Fannie/Freddie deals and only do office, retail, industrial, etc. Vice versa is true as well. Lot of hard money at work at Berkadia too, they have an internal bridge-to-perm platform that has been up and running for awhile, and they are about to get in the CLO market soon too IIRC.
Either way, Berkadia is a great shop to work for (yes I am biased, but my experience was awesome).
Edit: they are extremely respected in the agency space and was the #1 Freddie Mac lender for 2021. They also have been poaching some solid debt/equity and IS teams from JLL, W&D, CBRE lately so company growth is certainly there.
What kind of analyst were you and how many years to get 95K base?
Mortgage banking, so production. I had a strong profile when graduating, so took one year at Berkadia to reach $95k. Stayed for three years and senior analyst pay was $110k, but bonus cut to 60-70% at that point.
May I ask what market? Thanks
Wdy
South Florida
I'm looking at moving there. Would you say it's common for people to move around internally at Berkadia?
They have two main functions to their business primarily which are mortgage banking and investment sales. From what I’ve heard through a friend that works there is that MB analysts make great money. The IS side is great too (70-80k + bonus) but this past year MB apparently has really taken off. If you’re looking to go MB or IS they’re a great option. Not quite as prestigious as JLL/CBRE, but like it was said above they’re growing more than other competitors
I have a friend in servicing side only making $65K. Is he underpaid?
Highly dependent on market and exact servicing role. 70-80k is a ballpark I got talking with my buddy who is on the IS side as an analyst there. He works in a market with a lot of volume i.e (Atlanta/Dallas/Phoenix) and likely got a bump in base as a result. He also did a year at C&W out of college in IS which likely helped. I think $65k is reasonable if that’s base. I know another analyst who is at $65k, but has a 40% bonus. It’s all about the specific office, amount of volume, and prior experience
They are well regarded (I think of them similarly to Walker and Dunlap, which also has a great rep), def well known in the multifamily space (not sure how far they go into other asset classes tbh). They may not have the same size/scale of JLL/CBRE, but frankly the are very competitive with those firms within certain markets. I know a few HFF people who joined them instead of going to JLL. So, from a firm/brand perspective, they are great (no idea about work life stuff).
I've got a buddy who works there and really enjoys it. He is an analyst or associate (not sure which one) and his team crushes it. They've closed some big land and apartment deals. He also seems to have a pretty good work life balance.
What’s his total comp?
He told me once. I want to say $150k-180k. Could be way more now, his group has closed a lot of big deals lately.
Agency guy here but not at Berkadia to give you another perspective from someone who does not work there. They are a top agency lender. That's all. As much as the guys in there will talk about brokering other product types, equity, etc, it's miniscule compared to the agency business which is their bread & butter. And dont get me wrong, everyone does it. Greystone or Hunt will talk about their CMBS business or some proprietary debt product but end of the day they live and die by the agency business. One of the comments mentioned Berkadia being the #1 Freddie lender, it's true for 2021 but it was CBRE for 2020. And W&D is the #1 Fannie lender this year. The top lenders will go back and forth in the rankings but the top 10 lenders will more or less be the same names every year for Freddie & Fannie, they are all very good at what they do. Because they are all so similar, the dick measuring contest will then become conventional vs affordable vs small loans vs green financing vs senior housing vs MHC vs student housing etc. You can find the list if you google top freddie/fannie lenders 2021, 2020, etc. I would also pay more attention to a specific team too, for me it will be a Berkadia team in X city vs a W&D or CBRE team in Y city, so its not so much just a generic Berkadia vs W&D for me.
TLDR- a Top Agency lender, thats it, nothing more, nothing less. Depending on the team, pay or experience will be more or less the same in all the top agency lenders as the same people go back and forth between agency shops. It's funny but thats the nature of the business, a guy from a below average agency shop like Sabal is more likely to get hired at a top agency lender rather than someone at Wells or JP Morgan balance sheet or CMBS groups as even if they have institutional CRE experience, agency experience- knowledge, connections, systems, etc is a niche and a scarce resource.
Hi thanks for commenting! Have you heard of corevest who is also a lender. Thinking of trying to make a move there. What do you think?
I have not worked at Corevest but what is your goal? to be in 1-4 unit residential investment loan or SFR rental industry? If so, Corevest is fine. Cant imagine pay to be very attractive there but thats just based on my gut feeling. You appear to be be super young, a one or two year stint there wont kill you. But if you want to be in the CRE business- whether it's debt or equity in any way shape or form, then Corevest wont be my top option, it will be the last resort. Guys from Berkadia have gone onto become acquisition guys at MF REPE shops for example, not so much from Corevest and if it happens, it will be an outlier. So you get what I mean, it all depends on your goals.
I respect their OMs. Top memorandums in the industry. Quality work
What is an OM and memorandum?
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