REPE vs Equity Research

Hi All,

Currently I'm about to finish undergrad and have offers from top BB ER (JPM/GS/MS) and a REPE firm I have been interning at (both outside of the US). The REPE firm is a domestic player, but has a very good name and is growing quickly (~$5bn AUM currently). Comp is fairly similar on both ends.

The people at the REPE firm are very nice and I like the trajectory of the business which is experiencing a lot of growth in its credit and equity funds - it has some really great sticky clients (major sovereigns and pension funds) who are keen to help the business ramp up further. Junior staff have made exits to BX, MSREI etc. 

Some people have cautioned me against going down this route given I have an offer to go down a canonical path at a prestige BB, arguing it would pigeon-hole my career straight out of undergrad, whilst the REPE firm lacks the international 'presence' and training programs of BBs

Keen to hear some thoughts on the pros and cons of each, particularly going into REPE straight out of undergrad.

Thanks!

 

The country probably matters here more than anything else. I have heard salaries can be very low in Canada / UK for entry level REPE. The US just pays more across the board for entry level finance.

Most people on the forum are American and can’t really weigh in on what it’s like to have two job offers in two totally different countries (myself included). I’d have to be paid an insane amount of money to move to another country - I love the us too much 

 

Not sure I made it clear - I'm not from the US so both my ER and REPE offers are in my own country - I'm in Asia/Oceania. 

 

Sounds like its Australia if you're talking about a domestic REPE firm in Asia/Oceania that has $5bn of AUM. Since I know the market quite well, happy to give some advice.

If you want to stay in real estate, its pretty much a no brainer to take the REPE role - $5bn in a great size in the local market and you'll be exposed to a lot of good on the job learning experiences.

I don't really rate equity research as a comparable stepping stone if you want to do real estate in the long term. The skillset you develop there are fundamentally different.

Happy to answer any more specific questions here or through a DM. I started off a few years ago direct to REPE straight out of undergrad
 

 
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So, given that you are coming out of UG, knowing what you want to do the rest of your life is not realistic... those on this board or god-forbid the IB board are just fooling themselves to think its all so easy to map out... So... congrats on the two offers, I'm sure your life/career will be just fine whichever you take. 

For me, and I think a good deal of those in this forum, real estate is interesting, cool, and something we have just found to our "world". So, real estate is kinda like a one way trip, you get here, you don't leave... but this is by choice for the vast majority. Pigeonholing is generally bullshit, not going to elaborate, I've said it before, what "pigeonholes" a person is their own desires to optimize their career (hence they "self-isolate" to their field/specialty as it pays more to do so!). 

BUT, here is the funny thing, a lot people "discovered" real estate accidentally.... some its a random internship, or maybe taking an RE course, getting assigned to an RE coverage desk. Those who "know" from HS, probably had close family or friends in the business and thus had early exposure (seriously, I bet its one or the other for like 90% of people in this field). So, you have the offer.... if you want to jump down this rabbit hole, there is a decent chance you will like it. But that is for you to decide.

Personally.... equity research sounds miserably boring, I wouldn't even apply for the job... but that is ME, I'm sure some think what I do is boring. 

Given that you are outside the US (and I'm that familiar with BB ER platforms anyway), I'll stay away from guessing at lifetime earnings/wealth potential of the two routes. I'll just say that pay and prestige are probably the absolute worst metrics to condition a career choice upon (not to say they shouldn't be considered, just mean taking the higher pay/prestige route over the more interesting one is a bad idea). If you are strictly money motivated... go the BB world, if you care about what you, then think about each closely!  

 

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