Rank Life Co’s

AUM is likely the only differentiating factor. They all have similar-ish strategies so there’s little variation there. PGIM is likely the most recognized name of the bunch - followed by MetLife. That doesn’t necessarily mean I would rank them in that order though. As @CRE said don’t bother trying to rank them.

PGIM --> MetLife --> Allianz --> USAA --> All State --> NW Mutual

Allianz/USAA are even to me

I lost a JV equity deal to Northwestern Mutual a few months ago so fuck those guys.

Exits Ops??  HA.  They're called life companies for a reason.  People stay there forever!   Honestly though, working for a life co was probably the lowest stress job I've ever had.   You can't go wrong with any of those names either so go with the highest pay or the best team fit.  Rankings are stupid in RE        

All the same and same exit ops. No rankings here. AUM is irrelevant.

Make your decision on fit with the group and location preference.

It looks like PIMCO is taking over Allianz's equity real estate investments. https://www.pimco.com/en-us/our-firm/press-release/2020/pimco-to-assume-oversight-of-allianz-real-estate

As others have said, focus on the culture of the team and the focus of their CRE / CML portfolios. For the publicly traded stock companies (PRU / MET), you should be able to look at the 10-Q or 10-K and see what their portfolio's focus is (I.e. sector & geographical focus of portfolio). Look at recent earnings for what's happened on forbearance for the CML books to get a sense as to what areas are being focused on in the current environment. For the publicly traded LifeCo's, look at what's happening with their direction their General Account has been going - is it growing or shrinking? What is the biz mix I.e. are they going to sell a business with a large GA book associated that's going to kill your AUM or are they doubling down on spread & risk based businesses? Ask yourself these questions when making your decision instead of prestige / exit opps as realistically, you want to find a place where you'll create a reputation and grow instead of bouncing around every few years. Investment team tenure is important for these types of companies - these companies have a different investment philosophy than a hedge fund for example given you're managing the assets that correspond to long-dated liabilities like life insurance, long-term care, and annuities. 

All of the Life CO’s are fantastic starting points. The amount of deal flow you see is huge compared to other firms (and the PE shops and operators you may exit to know this and view it as a positive). They have tons of resources to throw at things. As an acquisitions professional, it’s one of the best places to work because the firm literally has “unlimited” capital and as long as you can find good deals, you will generally do them. Additionally, all the strong operators are constantly trying to stay in the loop with you because they know you have the cheapest cost of capital in the business - AKA you’ll do monster deals for lower returns and the operator can get paid their fees. In terms of pay, it’s generally 20% below market, but your hours are 45-55 per week, and it’s not nearly as stressful as the private equity firms. Many people who work at Life Co.’s value their life and hobbies outside of work and will make sure that the analysts and associates take time for themselves. 

RE folks we're not doing fucking lists don't indulge them

Just going to say that USAA gets an A rating from me. Our office has worked with their equity & lending teams.

Any color on Manulife/John Hancock? Their AUM is in the trillions and are huge in Canada but in terms of real estate, their portfolio appears to only be in the 60MM SF range which does not look like a lot to me. Are they in the same tier of Northwestern Mutual/Nuveen so a tier 2 life co in terms of RE? Thank you.