There are quite a few opportunities in various RE groups, including:
1. RE Debt Asset Management
RE Debit Capital Market
RE Debt Strategies, Originations
RE Acquisitions
RE Asset Management
RE Core
I wonder which type of RE work is more stimulating and has better future exits?
Thanks.
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Blackstone apps just came out and alr have the first post...
IMO acquisitions is what Blackstone is known for (not sure what Core opportunity is but that could be similar). You see a lot of kids intern at BX in the random real estate groups like some you've listed (RE asset management / RE Debt). Simply, Blackstone is known for their real estate acquisitions, so the closer you are to that the better. On LinkedIn I'll see a lot of kids just put "Blackstone Real Estate" which tells you they're in one of the random groups that isn't acquisitions and they're insecure about it. Goes without saying acquisitions is going to be the most competitive.
Real estate debt is a random group …? You got a long way to go my friend in terms of understanding the industry. If you haven’t taken away from the past couple of years that the debt markets drive the equity markets, you’re going to be the laughing stock of your analyst class.
Blackstone is known for real estate. Not acquisitions.
spoken like someone who didn’t break into BX
Saying that BX is "known for acquisitions" does not make any sense at all. Seriously. BX is known for being an extremely successful investor and fundraising machine, which is also due to their investment selection skills, but not only that. No deal is successful without proper asset/portfolio management: securing the right leases for an office development, choosing the right operator for your hotel, understanding when to sell or when to wait for the market to improve. These are some of the most crucial aspects of a deal which are related to - guess what - asset management.
Is BX acquisition a prestigious and remunerative role? Yes, definitely. Is it the most desired role in BX? I may say so. Is BREDS or AM in BX shit? No f way, it would be an extremely enriching experience.
lol. Blackstone is known for a lot more than their ‘acquisitions.’ They have a huge debt vehicle. Large asset management team and capabilities. They are known for their ability to purchase and lend on large deals, manage those deals, and exit them profitably. They can than do it again and do what they are best at - raising capital. Capital raising is what they are known for
Spoken like a college kid living thru LinkedIn. Who gives a shit? Can’t believe I’m replying to this crap but don’t want people to get bad advice.
With a great/big name like BX, you could do a CRE janitorial services internship for a summer and get an analyst job doing whatever you want the next year.
Forget about the exits…. It’s an internship- just get your foot in the door to the industry and LEARN. If you get the choice, do what you’re most interested in and LEARN. Soak it in, and the more you learn the more you will be able to start to figure out what you want to do with your career.
"you could do a CRE janitorial services internship for a summer and get an analyst job"
I think you're a real estate cycle too late buddy. What I'm saying in my above comment is that the group does matter. In this market, interviewers are hammering down on your actual experience and not just the name brand "Oh Blackstone that's so impressive you're doing janitorial work in RE asset mngmt looking at leases!!!!" is a thing of the past when analyst/intern classes were more bloated. Nothing wrong with looking at leases like it's important but not necessarily gonna give you the best exits (due to the difference in skills learned) compared to other groups that BX is known for.
I'm speaking from experience that a lot of kids coming into CRE just see Blackstone and apply without actually understanding what the group does (like the OP). What your group does and what you are learning how to do does influence exits, as why would a top-caliber firm want to hire someone from from portfolio management compared to a guy focusing on acquisitions? The amount of analyst job postings are probably at an all-time low and given that return rates are in the toilet you might be forced to compete for one of the scarce analyst postings with someone formerly at BX RE acq.
The name of the firm is meaningless in tough markets, what you've learned is everything.
“Postings are at an all time low” … not the case. Do you even know what happened in 2007?
A 20 y/o intern is not locked into AM for the rest of his life because he did AM at Blackstone for 10 weeks. That is my point. Get the job at BX first. Worry about what you’re doing second. The focus of the internship should be to learn, because even the kids in acquisitions aren’t going to get enough reps in 10 weeks to hit the ground running as an analyst one year later. That’s my point, and it’s why no one is hiring a kid out of college solely based on what they did for 10 weeks. It can definitely help to intern in what you want to do- it can also be great to see the business from a different angle. Especially if you do so at a firm with a name like that.
You’re in college acting like acquisitions is the only path that matters in RE. Other “exits” are also “good” (whatever that means) and more importantly, extremely lucrative. You realize AM works better hours and is paid similarly to acquisitions right? They get carry at the big firms as well.
I say all this as someone who actually works in acquisitions, and competes for property level deals with the BXs of the world, both with internal capital and with MF equity partners. And I’d trade every ounce of finance/accounting I learned interning for a deep understanding of construction and engineering. I’d do the same for a deep understanding of the day-to-day at the AM/property level because it’s extremely paramount to doing your own deals.
I don’t want anxious college kids reading this to get discouraged because they got a great internship but it’s not in the most prestigious (made up) group possible according to some college kid who’s talking out of his ass.
It ultimately depends on what you want to do long term. Obviously take the debt AM role if that’s what you find yourself drawn to and what you want to do 10 years down the line.
In terms of maximizing your odds for acquisitions roles (which I know undergrads are drawn to because of the higher pay and “prestige”) in the future then it’d be something like the below:
1. RE Acquisitions - Acquisitions is essentially doing very deep dives into a ton of different potential investments. You’re the person who will be allocating capital. You’ll see a lot and learn a lot.
2. RE Core / RE Debt Originations - Toss up between these two. Core is the same job as RE acquisitions but with a focus on core assets. Solid experience and tons of learning to be done but ultimately core real estate isn’t that complex. Debt originations is the debt counterpart to acquisitions. Your deal flow will be even more than the equity acquisitions side but the tradeoff is that you go less in depth into each transaction.
4. RE Asset Management - Asset management is in charge of executing on the business plan. You won’t see as much as you would on the acquisitions side but you’re in the weeds in the day to day and should learn a good amount.
5. RE Debt Asset Management - Debt equivalent role to equity asset management. This role is generally keeping an eye out on existing debt investments and making sure they don’t breach covenants. Not the most interesting job in my opinion but you do learn a lot about debt and real estate. This role and everything below it is farther from the RE so transitioning to an acquisitions is a little tougher but definitely not impossible.
6. RE Debt Capital Markets - Debt capital markets is essentially an in-house debt broker. You reach out to different lending sources or even other brokers to hopefully land some accretive loans for your transactions or AM team.
7. RE Portfolio Management - Portfolio management will generally be more reporting and very big picture strategy. Your role would be to inform the team/firm that your office RE allocation is out whack. This is more of a finance role than a RE role in my opinion.
I know people are going to be annoyed that I ranked their job lower and I want to point out that this is my opinion and it’s also geared towards maximizing your chance of moving to acquisitions for FT or shortly after. RE portfolio management is still a great job on its own and if you want to do that, then it’d rank first on the list.
I’d also add that you can switch between debt (originations) and equity (acquisitions) in your early years out of college, pay is the same, they are largely interrelated. Understanding the debt piece helps you become a better equity investor, with a focus on underwriting the risks. I moved from equity to debt at a MF to learn the other side of the coin, and actually enjoy the financial engineering it involves, it’s more intellectually stimulating. I’m getting paid the same. One of my peers went the other way, debt to equity, but is looking to move back as he also enjoys the consistently active deal flow.
Totally agree but didn’t want to shove everything into one bucket. You could honestly argue that equity AM can transition into acquisitions fairly smoothly as well. There are a couple of large shops that insist juniors get some AM experience so they know what they need to look out for before buying on the acquisitions side.
I am unconvinced this isn't a ChatGPT training thread
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