Q&A: Currently an SA at a MF (Ask me anything)
Hi everyone,
So I am currently an SA at a MF within their REPE division (Think KKR, BX, Carlyle, Brookfield etc). I spent time targeting everything from family offices, GPs, LPs, RE IB and ultimately accepting my offer with the firm I am at now.
Non-target/ semi-target undergrad (In NYC) , but high (3.9+) GPA and significant extracurricular leadership. Getting into a MF from a non-target was a significant battle and would be happy to share any info that I can regarding the process.
My previous internships included: Real Estate Investment Management at a 50bn AUM firm and Investment Sales.
I'm happy to answer any questions about either:
what the recruiting process was like or what the internship has been like so far (especially in the virtual format).
**EDIT: I am open to any and all questions. I was just listing the topics above for some color. **
You mentioned how challenging it was getting in a MF from non-target. Describe that - how'd you distinguish yourself? Is a majority of your class ivy league?
However redudant it may sound networking a lot and networking early was the key.
In terms of differentiating myself I would say my involvement on campus in RE clubs and my prior internships were a big player. In addition, being able to speak to my experiences was huge.
For instance, if I was speaking with someone in industrial I would mention an industrial deal that I had been following or worked on. Showing that I was knowledgeable, and more importantly enthusiastic about real estate.
My intern class is probably 90% ivy (this is the case across all MF) and I am the only non-target in the group I am interning with. At the end of the day once you are there it does not make a huge difference as long as you work hard.
Hope that helped!
Can you speak about how you got the internship and your recruitment process?
As mentioned above, lots of networking. I found someone at the MF who was an alumni (not even in RE) and connected with them. They were able to make intros into the RE group.
My school has no OCR for this MF, so it was a lot of legwork on my end and asking to be put in touch with more people.
My interview process lasted about 1 month and consisted of 3 rounds. I was not given a case study, however I did prepare for one and it definitley helped me when they asked technical questions/ paper LBO questions.
Sounds like you already know what kinda questions you wanna answer, might as well include it in the OP
Sorry about that! Fixed. I am open to any and all questions.
Can you speak to the background of your fellow interns? What were their sophomore SA? Did they do IB?
Honestly, it is a mix. There are some who come from an IB background but RE is different from Corp PE.
There are people who have had SA in previous real estate investment roles, RE consulting, and RE Tax/ accounting.
When did recruiting take place? Summer? Fall? It seems like it’s all over the place. BX, Starwood, and Ares are already done for 2021, but other places haven’t even started yet aside for some banks.
Did they mention how competitive it was to get an interview and eventually the offer? It seems like REPE is catching up to IB in terms of how much of a shit show recruiting is. I thought I was pretty qualified (Harvard, ec concentration, 3.7+ GPA, top 20 REPE), but I haven’t even gotten interviews for the top REPE shops. Any tips on how to stand out? Most of my networking emails get ignored, plus it’s hard to network effectively across over 50 firms.
Congrats on landing a MF by the way, couldn’t have been easy.
I recruited in march/ may the year prior. From what I recall the firms were all over the place in terms of timing and just being on top of when they might start interviewing was key.
My process was pretty competitive from what I could tell. I actually initially interviewed for one group at the firm but did not get it. Luckily, I think I impressed an MD/ VP and was invited to interview with the group I ultimately ended up at.
You seem to have the pedigree and the experience to land a MF role, so I would say really divert your time to networking. I probably sent out 300+ cold emails to people at various firms and given you are coming from a target I would look to leverage the alumni connections.
When you get the interview I would be prepared to show your genuine interest in RE and the firm. That means finding a reason for why RE that is beyond the "tangible" aspect or at least coming up with a unique way to frame that type of answer. And an answer to why firm X that cannot be substituted for some other firm across the street.
I hope this was helpful and good luck!
Very helpful, thanks a ton. Jeez... 300+ networking emails. I definitely have a lot of work to do.
Good luck with your internship and securing the full time offer.
I just want to say great job. We hammer the importance of this here but I always feel like most people don’t understand the scale required. Well done.
What does your day-to-day look like (along with the analysts you work with)? What do hours look like?
Well given the virtual format it is quite interesting. One day I might be logging off at 5-6pm because my team says they do not have any work for me and on other days I either push a little more to get involved or they assign me with a task and I am up until 11pm-12am.
I am usually getting on around 8-9am and I check emails and let my team know I am online.
Finish any work from the previous night and make sure I am ready to get the day started.
My days are pretty varied from assisting with memos, putting together some models, listening in on calls (Investment Committee, Brokers, clients, etc.). The firm has also been really proactive in getting us meetings with MDs from other parts of the RE business which has been great.
We also have a capstone project that we are meant to work on for the duration of the internship and present in the final week.
Speaking with other interns it has been similar. I quickly picked up that I had to be a little bit more proactive in making sure I was not sidelined, which is understandable because the virtual format. I wish I could give a more straight forward answer but there really is not one.
Hope this helps.
what was the interview process like? what kind of technical questions were you asked?
Lasted about a month and was 3 rounds.
In terms of technicals it was your typical questions regarding cap rates and other RE metrics.
If property X and property Y are identical and across the street from each other but one has a higher cap rate why might this be the case?
I was also asked to work out some cash-on-cash mental math, a few brain teasers, and a paper LBO/ acquisition model.
I would say there was more emphasis (and I saw this across all interviews) on the classic question: "If you had 100mm to invest where and why?"
I had 2-3 real estate focused ideas and 1-2 non-real estate for some diversity. This question was basically an opportunity to show genuine interest as well as knowledge in real estate/ what ever you choose to talk about. Know everything about what you decide to pitch and be able to answer the most nit-picky follow up questions and be able to stand your ground.
Something to add to that, I avoided pitching industrial RE unless you know of a specific REIT or property since everyone is going to be pitching industrial.
Lastly, knowing my resume cold was super important and being able to speak to every single bullet I listed.
What is some feedback that you received from your interviews and what do you believe is the GPA threshold?
However cheesy it may sound the same piece of advice I got everytime I asked for feedback was "be yourself." Granted, this was in the later stages of the interview process, so they knew I had the baseline technical skills.
GPA threshold I am not sure. I would say 3.5-3.6 depending on your school. Coming from a non-target higher is probably necessary. Once you are in the room GPA is not really a topic.
I think they are going to interview someone with RE experience/ interest and a 3.5 GPA over someone with no RE experience and a 3.9.
How are you enjoying the bitch work?
Someone's gotta do it!
How did you prepare for the interviews? any specific guides or did your experience make you knowledgeable enough?
No guides specifically. I did have a prior real estate investment internship, so I would say I did a lot of learning there.
I would say google is your best friend. Unfortunatley, I have not found a guide akin to the M&I 400 questions.
ladning the internship prior to my current one, I would attribute a lot of my learning to: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXVLLaHBapDimnNzS1wx2qw
I personally found his videos super informative and when I wanted to learn more I would do further research on the topic.
Awesome, thanks for the help
Anywhere online you can find the M&I 400 for free? I looked and it's sketchy websites asking you to download it.
Sorry, I am late for the party.
What do you think about the future of KKR real estate team?
Without any doubt, all the members of their team are all super stars with a shining track record. The problem is the track record of KKR real team is not so well known.
Maybe we can say this is because the team is new. But this saying has been there for many years.....
Any thoughts would be helpful! Thank you.
From what I understand, you hit the nail on the head. Not as well known for RE as BX or Starwood, but solid name and they recently acquired a hefty industrials portfolio. So it's not like they arent a big player, just not the firm's primary focus.
Thanks!
There is news that KKR is trying to expand its REPE business.
Do you think KKR will do some unique strategies to grow their REPE business? Like applying the LBO strategies to acquire companies that have good assets but are undervalued.
I have experience in both RE and IBD (not REIB but have participated in some real estate company deals). REPE combined with PE strategies is quite interesting for me, but the mainstream still seems to be asset acquisition.
So NYU
nope.
What’s your favorite type of food?
.
What does compensation look like for 1st year analysts in acquisitions at these shops (BX, Starwood, KKR, etc...)
Similar to banking
Did you secure the return ?
Yes I did :)
What’s the comp like? And is it AM or Acq
Do you know what AM gets paid?
From what I understand it’s the same base and bonus but the gap becomes larger as you move up the ranks with Acq > AM. AM usually has better hours tho.
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