Why the WSO Obsession with Acquisitions?
Damn near every post I see, someone is mentioning acquisitions being their long-term goal, their next move, their dream job, etc... But do these people even know what being in acquisitions is like? How can you have a dream job but have no idea what they do on the day-to-day?
Why are acquisitions the end all be all on this site? Everyone can't get into acquisitions in the first place. I don't know why asset management doesn't get more love too. My AM colleagues are super chill and get out earlier all the time before our group. Even an acq role at a pere 15 like mine is not all it's hyped up to be.
I'm not sure if it's all the users from the IB forum coming in and obsessively discussing acquisitions or not, but you guys should learn about other career paths. Half of you won't get the role in the first place, and the ones who do half of your illusions will be shattered within your first week on the job. Find something you really want to do, not what you constantly see on WSO. /end rant.
My dream is to adjust exit caps bro. get off my back
Why do people want to do IB instead of corporate banking? Why do people want to do PE instead of private debt? Why do actors want to be in movies instead of TV shows? Why do politicians want to work on Capitol Hill instead of being a state senator? Why do doctors want to be brain surgeons instead of primary care physicians?
People go after high-paying / high-prestige / high-stress jobs across all industries. It’s not really unique to the RE forum
I'll answer this from perspective of someone who hears this from students at networking events and other venues outside of WSO (admittingly a lot less often due to COVID...)
People on the outside looking in, just don't know that much about the industry. So, they hear that "acquisitions" is the top spot, and just want to do it, but really do not know why. It's just honest ignorance, don't think any deeper analysis is needed.
In fairness, "deal making" is cool, but also stressful. BUT, it is a small part of the real estate business, and not one you need to start in to have a good career. Again, people don't really understand the business, so the more or less accidentally come to think of asset management as "back office" in essence, even though this is completely not the case.
I've always figured people just figure this out as their career progresses, and frankly, those people really are no longer coming to WSO to post or ask questions. So, WSO is dominated by questions from those on the outside looking in, the real world is a different place (I mean, a similar question I'd ask is "Why is everyone so fixated on REPE? Do you even know what you are talking about?")
From reading more posts (and commenting on some) this past year, I am more worried some take "WSO rules" to heart and may actually be totally fucking their own careers. Seen some weird statements, hopefully, people aren't narrowcasting their job hunts as much as they claim. Or even just thinking they are some sort of "failure" for taking a role in AM at a place like PGIM or Nuveen (an amazingly great job btw).
Even the whole fear of niches, or just the whole "piegonholing" concept in general. I mean, for fuck sakes, people post like "if I take this INTERNSHIP in XYZ, am I piegonholed in XYZ, what if I want to do ABC, should I hold out?" How can people hold such crazy thoughts! Equally nuts for ANY first job out of UG or even grad school, yet it might as well be WSO wisdom that..... "Hey if I make too many posts about debt market roles, am I piegonholded as a WSO debt market poster", if can see how dumb that sounds, let me just say that is how I feel when I read these narrowcast search and/or niche/pigeonholed fear based posts.
Rant over, but seriously, take a wide look at the world, it's fine to be "non-standard" or whatever. There is ZERO chance everyone who wants an acquisitions role at a "mega fund" will get one, there are really very few relative to qualified applicants, just fact of life. TONS of great jobs/career tracks beyond that thought process, live a little!
Because people who are interested in investments want to make investment decisions?
As a young acquisitions person, you don't make any investment decision. Yay/Nay is voted by an investment committee. All you're doing is gathering data, coordinating deal DD materials and backing into a discount rate determined by your fund structure. Sometimes you get a voice on changing proforma assumptions, which is based on someone else's research, but again that decision is ultimately made by your manager. Most of the time, acquisitions assumptions ending up being incorrect and that's where exceptional operations/management determines whether or not you beat the benchmark/hit the hurdle to achieve your incentives. To be quite frank, the whole DD process is a charade to appease your money source and make it look like you did you homework - the real magic comes from the operations team.
A highly paid acq professional isn't good at "making investment decision". No one knows whether the deal is going be good or bad with certainty (look what happens to funds/proforma assumptions made before March 2020 and how they're doing as result of COVID). A highly paid/senior acq professional is good at handling broker relationship, dealing with brokers bullshits, negotiations, structuring and solving deal related problems and having great people skills. THOSE are the things you'll be learning as a young acq analyst.
Not trying to shatter your dreams nor do I care to argue on what's better. Just wanted you to know the truth from the inside.
I would say the obsession with exit ops is more infuriating.
”Hi, I have an offer from BX/Starwood/Hines, but I am concerned with what the exit ops would be. Thanks!”
Some good responses here. Another aspect: very few "moguls" are AM guys. You look at Jon Gray, Sternlicht, Bluhm, Zell, Roth, etc, they're all acq guys, which prob adds to the allure. There's a reason Trump's book is "Art of the Deal" and not "Art of the Business Plan Execution." Granted, they all made their bones in a less institutional world with less acq / AM segregation. But even today, if you look at the RE heads at every PE / dev / bank, the heads are usually acq guys (rightly or wrongly). Kinda similar to how in corp PE, they're never run by operating partners.
Because asset management sucks