Stay at corporate or move to boutique? (REPE)
I could really use some advice about whether to stay at my REPE corporate firm or move to a boutique based on an offer I got.
I’m currently pursuing an MSc in Finance and working as a Working Student in Portfolio Management at a large REPE firm in Europe (>€30bn AUM). My background includes several internships and part-time roles in asset management, mostly focused on the operational side of the business. This is my first analyst-level position, and so far, I’ve been learning a lot about portfolio management on a complex real estate portfolio.
The challenge is that my current firm is a large corporate organization with a highly structured hierarchy. While it’s a fantastic place to learn portfolio analysis, there’s limited scope to explore other areas, especially investment activities, as those are handled centrally by the holding company in another country.
My goal is to transition into real estate investments after I graduate. To that end, I’ve been networking actively, which recently led to a coffee chat with the founder of a boutique investment firm that manages €600M, with an additional €500M in dry powder set to deploy next year. They’ve offered me a working student role where I’d gain exposure to underwriting, transactions, investor relations, asset management, and more—a chance to get hands-on experience across the investment side of the business.
I’m in doubt about whether to take this offer. On one hand, it aligns perfectly with my goal of transitioning into investments and would give me a chance to explore different aspects of real estate investing. On the other hand, leaving my current role means stepping away from a complex portfolio and potentially missing out on building a strong foundation in portfolio analysis, which I think is also valuable for a career in real estate investments.
Another factor to consider is the timing. If I leave now, I’ll have only spent six months in my current role, despite signing a one-year contract for a position they created just for me. While I don’t think this is a major issue as I’m still a student, it does weigh on my mind.
I’d love to hear your perspective. Should I stick with my current role to continue learning portfolio analysis at a big REPE firm, or take the leap to join a boutique and gain broader exposure to investments?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Based on previous WSO threads, here are some key considerations to help you decide whether to stay at your current REPE corporate firm or move to the boutique:
Questions to Ask Yourself:
Long-Term Goals:
Current Role:
Boutique Opportunity:
Trade-offs:
Pros and Cons:
Staying at the Corporate REPE Firm:
Moving to the Boutique Firm:
Timing Considerations:
Conclusion:
The decision ultimately depends on your long-term career goals and what you value most in your current stage. If your primary goal is to transition into real estate investments and gain broad exposure, the boutique firm might offer a more aligned opportunity. However, if you value building a strong foundation in portfolio analysis and prefer the stability of a large corporate environment, staying at your current firm could be beneficial.
Reflect on these questions and weigh the pros and cons to make an informed decision.
Sources: Building Personal Real Estate Portfolio, Stay at Big 4 or jump to boutique?, Development vs. REPE, Need some advice on breaking into REPE, Regional Boutique vs. F15 Tech PM
Without going into the nuances of the actual work you are doing at your current role vs the one you have an offer from, I’ll say the following. It’s been my experience that while the lifestyle might not be as good (I.e. longer hours) and the work may not be as interesting (I.e. repetitive), if you don’t spend enough time in a position at a big shop then you won’t ultimately get credit for it in the future (I.e. usually 2+ years or having gone through a promotion). Smaller shops generally don’t have the resources to train, so they are going to allocate projects to you that you can handle with your current experience set with less room for growth, unless you are (i) truly a go-getter/entrepreneurial yourself or (ii) already in a revenue generating position. There are always exceptions to the rules, but I just see more often than not that (i) it’s difficult to switch back to a larger firm if you do your analyst/associate years at a boutique shop and (ii) the people that advance at smaller shops either have proven themselves via performance and/or have been given more of those opportunities to advance because they have that more institutional resume.
Long-winded way of saying that the new grads I have hired at our small shop do not do as well with our resources as those two come with a few years of high-level experience. Educational is just not equivalent to work experience and offers very little real world perspective.
Good advice - thank you. The point you touch on is one I'm still very much in doubt about.
However, I plan to finish my degree in the coming summer. My term as a working student would be until I graduate. After that, they told me, I can either join as an investment analyst or I can just evaluate my experience and decide to start my full-time career elsewhere.
Until now, I've only worked at big corporates. This makes me want to experience how life is at a boutique. The point you're making is definitely what I'm thinking about as well: will the learning opportunities in a boutique equal those at a corporate? I think it might, but in a different way. The thing that excites the boutique opportunity for me is the full range of possibilities: acquisitions, investor relations, fund management etc. I could never do all of that at a corporate (at least, not at the same time). The flipside of that is that a boutique lacks the prestigiousness on a resume and that oorporate will probably have a better lined out career path.
I mean deal role vs portfolio management. Answer is obvious to me. But you need to decide what you want out of your career.
$600M is a lot to deploy in a year for a small firm - you need to make sure this guy isn’t BSing you. If he’s not, that’s going to be great experience that you can build off of IMO.
I say this while agreeing with the above.
I don't think I can predict what I want with my career at this point in my life, as I have yet to leave uni. What sparks me the most at this stage would be either fund management / acquisitions / capital markets (sell/buy side). With these things in mind, are there fields I'm missing out on?
I've always thought of PM as a great way to start a career in real estate investments, because you learn a ton about what KPIs to manage in a portfolio. But reading the comments here, it seems that PM is regarded as less prestigious as investments. Is that true?
Sounds like you're in London. Beware of cowboys who claim they have equity backing but in reality do not have anything beyond an intention to look at deals together.
In this situation you may as well work for a broker.
Thanks for leaning in. I've thought about joining a capital markets team as well, but I think I'm not the type to be a broker.
If you want to be on the investment side, your offer is 100% a better opportunity. The longer you stay in portfolio management, the more you are going to get pigeonholed into it. I started my career at a $250M REPE fund, worked there on the investment team for 2.5 years, then was able to switch to a megafund’s investment team after that experience. If your long term goal in REPE investment team and this group has actually raised a $500M-$600M fund, I agree this sounds like a no brainer. Only major thing to consider is that I would hope this is not the group’s first fund. The $250M fund I joined, this was their 2nd fund that grew from a first fund of $125M aka showing a successful first fund and the ability to grow/scale/fund raise.
Reiterating that if this is an acquisitions role at a reputable fund that you are excited about and will learn a ton, this is a no brainer and will absolutely set you up for success! Hope it’s multiple asset classes too as that’s always best earlier in your career (fine to specialize as you move up).
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
I always thought of portfolio management as a good start for a career in real estate investments, as it teaches you the foundations of what to look for in managing a portfolio. What are your thoughts on that?
This is the third fund they raised, so that should be good. They offered me the chance of becoming an investment analyst once I'm done with my studies and we deem eachother to be a good fit.
The only doubt I've got left is whether starting my career (after studies) at a boutique is a better choice than working at a big corporate shop. You made a great transition, but I'm wondering if this is a normal path to take. And aren't opportunities for career progression a bit limited at boutiques?
Very happy to help you out here! Maybe I am biased, but I don’t see as much value for portfolio management experience relative to deal-level investment experience regardless of company pedigree. I would 100% hire from a boutique with relevant experience over someone at a megafund on their portfolio management team. The skills you’ll learn are more valuable and applicable (mainly the technical side but also learning how to pitch deals/put memos together/decide if a deal is worth stretching for).
Good to hear this is their third fund. I would hope each fund size has grown and it’s more than one asset class.
To your last concern, I don’t follow this at all. You have MORE room to run at boutique shops if you are successful given these companies are smaller teams and more entrepreneurial. If you crush it, they’ll continue to promote you and you’ll get carry. Of course, compensation for a like-for-like investment side role at a mega fund will be more, but this role would put you in position to get there.
As I said, I worked at a “boutique” for 3 years and learned SO MUCH (way more than any investment banker or investment sales analyst; it’s just a fact that the skills I learned were so overly relevant and I had was easily able to recruit when I wanted to) Have since done very well at my mega fund all because of the incredible skills I learned at my boutique.
If you have conviction in getting a great experience at this boutique, I strongly encourage you to consider the switch and am happy to answer anything else! :)
Are you sure it's not Paloma Capital?
You said 600m AUM = checks out
500m dry powder = checks out
3rd fund raise = just hit react news, third fund, so checks out
Is this paloma capital?
No
Assuming it is Paloma Capital (it certainly sounds it), just make sure you're happy to buy logistics/light industrial as that's been a big focus of theirs.
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