MS REI vs BlackRock FMA (London roles)
Hi all,
Anyone has thoughts between choosing these two roles? They both have their pros and cons. Was hoping to get more colour from RE practitioners about their opinions on MS REI.. Is it still a good time to join them?
My perspective is based on my knowledge in the US, but I would say you should take the MS REI job. Generally speaking, I think you'll get more out of working on the buy-side than in advisory. I also don't view BlackRock as being particularly well established in real estate financial advisory. The work they do is primarily debt-related, which has a chance of pigeon-holing you into real estate structured finance.
I'm sure your concern toward MS REI relates to the negative press on their recent past performance, management turnover, and LP relations, all of which are pretty valid concerns. With all of that in mind, I would note that MS still has a bunch of money in their last MSREF fund and was able to get an extension of the investment period from their LPs. I've also heard their US allocation is running thin, but that would seem to imply they've still got a lot of money to spend abroad.
Two questions I'd have, which could change the calculus here, are what level you'd be going in at and what your role would be. If you're going in as an analyst on the acquisitions side, then I think the choice definitely should be MS REI. People in RE PE put down MS (and other bank-run funds) all the time, but they still recognize it as a good source of analyst-level talent, and you don't have to count on being there longer than 2-3 years. At higher levels, I'd be more concerned. I also would be hesitant to take the job if it is asset management.
I don't know which I'd go for as they're pretty different. But I thought I'd point out that FMA is Financial Markets Advisory not really real estate financial advisory. They get brought in to do sovereign debt consultancy, stress tests etc..as well as institutional work. They're a mix of ex-IB and ex-consulting.
To the OP, have you heard back from BlackRock re the FMA grad program? Do you have an offer?
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