RE Platforms

I browse WSO more than I should and I think that there is quite a negative view on platforms. I would like to hear other's experience of platforms and how they are structured for both firm & employee. I am still rather junior (associate) and don't want juniors to overlook platforms as they have some real value and money.

Partner: MF

Sector: Industrial & Logistics

Pay: Market Standard (below MF but standard for local REPE), bonus min 50%

Promote: All investment team gets promote. Promote is based on 2-year vintages across funds for anything we buy 

Business Fees: Acquisition, AM, DM, and promote 

Origination: Platform

UW: Platform

IC Pack: Platform (we develop but they present)

IC: Partner

Pro: At the junior level you do the same as in a PE firm with discretionary capital, you source, UW, create IC packs, do market research etc. You see every deal thats brought to market but we only present the best deals to our partner. Team gets promote at all levels which is unheard of for analysts and some associates. I think I have better connections with brokers than my mf counterpart due to push for origination. 

Cons: You don't know how much or where the fund is deployed in other sectors which can cause certain markets to be paused if there's an over-exposure or a halt on acquisitions if they are conserving capital. Target changes based on what the fund has aggregated (beds>sheds). We can source debt but all debt has to be run through the partner's CM team. Partners get a bigger promote and we only get our portion of it. Target returns are higher since there is another layer of partner fees on top of our fees.