REIB vs Investment Sales for REPE?
Hi everyone,
Having interned in REIB this past summer, I noticed that, at least at my shop, the work was heavily focused on REIT analysis. A significant portion of our time was spent on NAV valuation and other capitalization models specific to REITs raising capital. While we did assist REPE firms with capital raising and occasionally worked on portfolio-level property analysis with private REITs, I felt that the exposure to individual property transactions was somewhat limited.
In contrast, it seems that working at a brokerage like CBRE, JLL, or Eastdil gives you exposure to a much higher volume of property-level transactions, which I believe is more directly applicable to REPE, given the focus on property acquisitions.
For those who have experience in both, do you think an investment sales role at a brokerage provides better experience for transitioning into REPE compared to REIB, considering the number of property-level deals you’d work on over a typical two-year analyst stint?
Based on the most helpful WSO content, transitioning into REPE from either REIB or Investment Sales depends on the type of experience you want to leverage. Here's a breakdown:
Investment Sales (Brokerage):
REIB (Real Estate Investment Banking):
Key Takeaway:
If your goal is to work in REPE acquisitions, investment sales might provide more directly relevant experience due to the property-level focus and deal volume. However, REIB can still be a strong path, especially if you’re at a shop that offers exposure to property-level transactions or if you can demonstrate transferable skills like LBO modeling and deal execution.
As one WSO user mentioned, "An analyst from Eastdil will have more directly transferrable skills to most REPE shops, but IB analysts are often hired for their technical rigor." Ultimately, it depends on the specific REPE firm and the skills they prioritize.
Sources: Real Estate Investment Banking, Investment Sales Vs. Debt/Equity Brokerage, Ask Me Anything: REPE Investment Professional, Military to RE via MBA, Real Estate Private Equity Technical Qs
Go ahead and define what you think REPE is first
You raise capital from investors to acquire properties using leverage, aiming to generate returns through annual cash flow and the eventual sale of the property at the end of the holding period. Your analysis primarily focuses on the property level, including leveraged IRR targets, entry and exit cap rates, debt coverage ratios (DCR), and property-level discounted cash flow (DCF) models.
My argument is that real estate investment banking (REIB) leans more toward REIT NAV valuation and modeling metrics like FFO and AFFO, which I believe are not entirely transferable to real estate private equity (REPE). In contrast, brokerage is more directly involved in the acquisitions and dispositions of REPE property deals.
Yup. So you wanna be at the property level doing deals rather than operating/portfolio level. In that case I think a high calibre investment sales group is a solid bet. And I’ve seen people move into the principal side from brokerages before. However if you want to be on the operating company/large portfolio side, I’d say IB is your best bet.
Not sure why my comment got MS. There are different ideas of “REPE” is so any advice needs to be tailored to what specifically you want to go into.
Agreed wholeheartedly with this response. The one thing I’ll add is if you interned in IB you are likely a strong candidate for any analyst role, so you should also consider recruiting for acquisitions or asset management roles with owner-operators. Go look at the PERE 100 or 200 beyond the mega funds to get a sense of who that is. You might not need a two-year stint in IS
This is easy to figure out. Go on LinkedIn and search everyone who left the IB role you could potentially go into and see where they exited too. I guarantee that 99% ended up in better seats than people in investment sales. You can always learn the property level stuff, as your first job you should focus on the name and which client firms you could go to after two years in that seat. You’ll never see a JLL/CBRE/Newmark guy at one of the MF type shops, there are a few ES guys but there’s a ton from REIB. It’s always easier to go from REIB to IS or REPE but not as easy doing the opposite. That’s my opinion but honestly I think it’s the best one. Most people on the forum have good intentions and give good advice but they give the 20 year down the line advice when the first 2 years of your career out of college can be a huge shift in your career prospects. Choose REIB, until you’re ft practice modeling tests as much as you can so you can ace the property level UW tests, then do 2 years and you’ll be fine after
Well said, this is 100% true. Doesn’t mean IS is worse path to go down, i’ve seen a lot on LinkedIn move to REPE from those roles but it would have to be a reputable high dealflow environment. However they’re not moving to massive REPE firms, i’d see a lot of moves to family offices and smaller REPE firms which still can be very rewarding.
Will agree on this one as well. I have the same goal as OP and I have chosen to go down REIB -> REPE path. Reason? Like mentioned above, just check LinkedIn. You will see people from REIB go to top tier MF / UMM REPE funds like blackstone / Bain / TPG / centerbridge / Oaktree / rock point / Brookfield / etc… u get the point. Now the only thing about these funds are that because of how big they are, they might choose to take-private an entire REIT as opposed to just buy single assets. However, for me personally, I like this mix more and am fine with.
Now does that mean an IS guy can’t go to the funds above? Maybe but chances are very small. Good luck finding someone from JLL at blackstone RE acquisitions team. So to top it off, I think it’s a better bet to go through REIB route. And hey, u make more bread as well starting off haha
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