Mega REPE vs <$10B AUM

Why go to a mega REPE shop when you can get more carry with a smaller group? I get that some people like a little more stability or higher base and like saying they work at BX but I just don’t see the draw. Just want to hear people’s thoughts/stories

11 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Some people only want to work on $100MM+ sized deals and have a high base salary and 50-100% bonus every year and be able to say they do important work at a Blackstone/KKR/Starwood/Brookfield. Others want to say they joined a small "start up" with only a few properties in their portfolio and grew it to a multi-billion dollar fund over their career. And like you said, these smaller funds will typically give carry earlier in someone's career than a MF REPE, so that also entices people. I went for a middle market national developer (national meaning a few developments in each region but focused in on 1-2 regions in particular) with only a few $B AUM and liked that we are in a high growth phase without all the risk of a brand new firm that could collapse with 1 or 2 meh deals. 

 

There’s definitely a middle ground. If you join the right shop, you can definitely make more money than some “principal” at blackstone.

But there’s more risk to it. Maybe the firm blows up, maybe the founder doesn’t share his equity generously enough, etc. But there are people who joined Angelo Gordon at the right time and then retired when they were 40 (Source is a founder of a RE firm who was telling me to stop being a baby about accepting lower comp when leaving IB).

Firms with less than $10bn aren’t exactly startups though… weird that you selected that number. My firm has less than $10bn and pays more than “megafunds” like Carlyle lol

 

Dolorem quis aperiam nihil. Harum omnis nemo sunt quod voluptatibus. Aut iusto possimus aut aut impedit non aut. Inventore modi qui placeat sed et. Doloribus saepe voluptate qui dolorem totam sed non ut. Corrupti et distinctio inventore earum natus. Ab sed aspernatur quidem atque.

Ut natus est expedita quasi. Nihil distinctio dolor voluptas.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (72) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”