M&A Analyst Transition to Real Estate Canada

Background: M&A analyst in Canada, up for associate promotion this year, decent deal experience but almost none in the real estate industry

Goal: Looking to make a long-term focused move, most interested in asset-level acquisitions / development in the residential properties (single-family, multi-family)

Top three things I value most for my next move: 1) Global brand name; 2) Relevant deal experience; 3) Pay

Which firms should I aim for and how do I best position myself for recruiting? Should I consider a rotation with the real estate or property brokerage teams within my bank first? Appreciate any insights!

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In Canada if you want a global brand name your options are pretty limited if you want to work in a head office on the buy side - Brookfield, an insurance company, or one of the major pension funds (CPPIB, Oxford, or Cadillac Fairview). These firms do not focus heavily on asset-level acquisitions, but the development teams might be of interest. You've also got a few large US firms with satellite offices (LaSalle, Hines, etc.) but positions are rare. If you want to work on asset-level acquisitions, you're better off focusing on a large, well-recognized firm within Canada - there are plenty of funds with $5B+ AUM that have high deal flow, and if you aren't planning to leave the country they'll serve you just as well in terms of brand name.

I would settle on whether you want to target development or acquisitions before you narrow down your list of target companies. In terms of positioning, if you have decent deal experience in IB from a Big 5 bank or any of the US BB's satellite offices you're already well positioned. REPE loves recruiting straight from IB, probably more than brokerage. I wouldn't bother doing a rotation with the REIB team from your bank unless you're with RBC, the other banks' teams are worse off than going to a CBRE/JLL/C&W.

 

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