Ranking of PERE 50 firms for Acquisitions Analyst out of UG?
Looking to get people's opinion on which of the PERE 50 firms (outside of Blackstone/Starwood) are best to start a career in acquisitions. Of the PERE 50 (2019) firms, ive found that the ones that have analyst positions out of undergrad are AEW, PGIM, LaSalle, Harrison Street, Crow Holdings, MSREI, Greystar, Bridge Investment Group, Walton Street, Rialto, Heitman, and JP Morgan.
But it seems that these companies' rankings of AUM don't really reflect which is best to start a career in acquisitions since companies like PGIM are more core-focused whereas ones like Harrison Street/Walton Street are more opportunistic. How would you rank them in order of which is best for experience/exit opps/reputation? Thanks.
The one that gives you a job offer
Get this ranking shit outta here, this ain't the IB forum
Salty IB bois throwing MS
Not gonna do a ranking but would take MSREI/Walton Street/Harrison Street/Rialto over the others
What an odd grouping of funds you have there
I can give a first hand account of a Rialto acquisitions team member showing up to a buyer interview, in which they were the potential buyer, wearing a fucking pooka shell necklace. Probably the most offensive thing I’ve seen in my short career thus far.
This is true for pretty much any field, but soo much depends on the group you're placed in and the relationships you make, most of which just comes down to luck. If you joined a Greystar development team or PGIM's multifamily investment team in 2012, you had the benefit of seeing incredible deal flow and a run up in valuations in apartments. All your deals were hits. On the flip side, if you joined an Ares or RREEF team that focused on value-add suburban office around that same time, you had to work your ass off and get creative to get deals to work, and most of your acquisitions probably under performed.
I tell anybody who is pursuing a career in RE to judge opportunities based on the chances that you'll get a diverse set of experience (reps both across the asset spectrum and the spectrum of risk/reward profile), and the chances that you'll actually vibe with the people you work with. If you're on the same wavelength as the dudes on your team, you'll find yourself with much more latitude to make decisions, insert yourself in different parts of the process, and have a voice in which deals you get staffed on.
Given you had the opportunity to choose between a few of those firms you named (unlikely because their recruiting is all over the place), looking at AUM wouldn't be helpful because a $25B in value-add aum could be generating more fees than $50B in core aum (just an example). Also, at my firm, acq analysts are silo-ed into a specific fund/risk/product/region and most of those firms don't have actual rotational/training programs like PGIM/AEW/BX.
Correct me if i'm wrong, but people don't go to these firms to do their 2 years while looking at the door. There is real value is in being able to learn from and work with class-A people, developing an investment thesis, and preparing yourself to climb the latter or go off on your own.
Like I said, if you have the liberty of choosing, I would try to hone in on a specific fund (risk level and product type) that interests you to pursue. Also, getting the FT offer also requires you to mesh with your team well.
Some funds that look interesting might be: - Firms with Opportunity Zone funds / pure development - Affordable Housing - REIT buyouts/carve-outs - not acquisitions, but distressed debt funds (Kayne Anderson just raised a $1.2B fund in 2 weeks)
Throw in Related Companies, Hines, Goldman AIMS, UBS Asset Management, KKR, Tishman Speyer
Why would that get a downvote?
respond with an intelligent reply you fucking morons lmao
I wouldn't focus too heavily on AUM and Rankings. There are numerous middle market firms where you can make more money, get more experience, have more upward opportunity, AND a better work life balance.