REPE Tier List

I will be interning at a REPE fund doing acquisitions this summer as a sophomore. I've been attempting to research where my next steps should be, whether it's staying at the firm for FT or going to the "best" opportunity.

Investment Banking and Consulting has unofficial tiers that make it helpful in deciding what are the best opportunities to pursue, but it seems that Real Estate doesn't have such a ranking.

What are some of the ways to determine the quality and opportunities of a fund? Brand-name firm, AUM, 5-year fundraising total, deal flow?

Also, how would you classify the following firms in terms of tiers and opportunities?

Goldman Sachs JP Morgan Morgan Stanley Blackstone Tishman Speyer PGIM Harrison Street Starwood

I picked these firms because it seems like they are the top REPE firms that hire summer analysts. Are there other firms that belong on this list too?

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I think you've got the right categories. Brand name and AUM should be heavily considered. Fundraising and Deal Flow are harder to gauge from the outside looking in, but I'd say growth should be considered as well. A couple that I'd add to your list, Hines, LaSalle, Prologis, TH/Nuveen, CBRE Global Investors, UBS Asset Management, Clarion, Allianz, Invesco, Colony, Heitman, MetLife, DWS, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Barings, Bentall Greek Oak, BlackRock, Greystar, Carlyle, Angelo Gordon, Ares Management, Kanye Anderson, Crow Holdings, and Walton Street. Believe all hire summer analysts, and if they don't they definitely hire analysts with experience in general finance. There are a bunch more, and these are by no means ranked in any particular order. Generally speaking, you'll see rankings by AUM and AUM in specific geographic locations.

I'd take a look at the following for rankings, and track them in the news as well. -https://realassets.ipe.com/top-100-and-surveys/top-100-real-estate-inve… -https://irei.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018_PFR-IREI-REPORTUS.pdf

Some good resources for AUM and general firm tracking... -https://www.pionline.com/ -https://realassets.ipe.com/

 

I would also consider the type of funds your firm has in the market. Since you’re looking for another SA stint, I would try to get in front of some value-add, opportunistic, or distressed deals. As you work your way down the REPE 50/100 list, you get into some interesting players who specialize in these areas, and within certain product types. They won’t have the AUM or the core/core plus players and are more lean, so you get more hands on experience with deals/investment process. I would rather be looking at %12-15+ IRRs, but that’s just me.

 

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