Transitioning to REPE from top investment sales

Hi All,

Curious to hear from anyone who has been able to transfer to the principal side from brokerage. For context I am associate level at a big 3 brokerage working on a national investment sales/structured finance team. Anyone with similar experience have advice on making the transition?

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Yes, you can do it. In fact, most of my analyst class are on the principal side. I worked at a big 3 and got poached to the client side. No interview required.

Again, build relationships and rapport on the street and you’ll be fine

 

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What type of firm do you want to work at? If you want to move to a shop that's focused on property-level transactions, then experience at a top brokerage is pretty much as good as IB experience in terms of getting a foot in the door.

If you're more interested in the Blackstone's of the world where you're more focused on investing at the OpCo and portfolio level, it will be tougher to break in for sure, but not impossible (I know more than a handful of guys working at pension funds and large REPE funds from a brokerage background).

 

You’re in a good position. I did the same thing. I was able to beat out multiple people with more experience on paper with the translations I’ve done, and the Argus modeling / structuring of transactions. It’s basically as good of training as it gets. There’s no homework to be done by the hiring firm, because if you’ve lasted at a top shop / group, you’re clearly capable of the responsibilities. I would just highlight what you’ve worked on and skills gained.

 

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