Non Chicago Midwest location. Current REPE shop work on small investments team but last few years work has moved to really only working on dispositions / capital raise for fund but unsuccessful so far putting acquisitions at standstill. Super diverse spectrum across all asset types (MF, office, retail, etc), REPE space where we occasionally look at larger company and portfolio take downs, just not apart of much growth with no current capital to work with.
Well known REIT move wouldn’t have any near term capital constraints working on investments team so would likely be apart of $100MM+/year but is retail specific and unsure if it would be boxing me in on this end.
Comp relatively the same around 130k base with discretionary bonus 20-30%+ with REIT having much more flexible WFH side (multiple days per week vs REPE shop 5 days in person).
Generally coming down to more work flexibility on in office paired with ton of exposure and experience through massive growth push while only being one asset specific (as well as name brand) vs continuing the sole disposition and capital raise side for the near term to keep diversity of investments to my resume and day to day open, staying in PE type space, but missing out on near term growth and exposure.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s how you might weigh your options:
Staying at the Small REPE Shop:
Pros:
Cons:
Moving to the Well-Known REIT:
Pros:
Cons:
Key Considerations:
Recommendation:
If the REPE shop’s capital constraints persist and acquisitions remain stagnant, the REIT might be the better move for now. The name brand, large-scale deal exposure, and flexibility could outweigh the risk of asset specialization. However, if you’re confident the REPE shop will secure funding soon and you value the diversity of asset types and PE experience, staying could be worthwhile.
Sources: REPE vs REI, Investment Sales or REPE?, Better career path: associate at REIT or small PE shop?, Ask Me Anything: REPE Investment Professional, Career Advice: Acquisitions vs. Development
(If it were me:)
Pros of REIT:
Name brand / familiarity (if publicly traded) - can be very valuable on resume for young professional for future opportunities
Lots of reps / deal experience in a specific area - again, very valuable to young'ish professional
Cons of REIT:
compensation is stable but very limited upside (unless you stick around two decades and become CIO>CEO)
Pros of staying at small REPE:
Future upside
Cons of staying at small REPE:
You run out of runway and are out of job with limited deal experience.
Personally, I like stability of REIT with the future upside of really knowing specific asset class, with upside of moving to REPE in that asset class in the future. FWIW, I've heard that there's a lot of people trying to place money with funds deploying in retail. If you'd been at the REIT for the past 3-5 years, you'd be a hot commodity for someone who raises this money and needs to scale up.
Best of luck.
Appreciate the insight very much here thank you!
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