Brookfield Properties - Portfolio Management Analyst Interview
I recently landed a first round interview at Brookfield Properties as a Portfolio Management analyst in the Chicago office. Does anyone know about the interview process at Brookfield Properties in general and could shed some light on it? Furthermore, any information regarding a portfolio management position OR additional info regarding Brookfield Property (work culture, main business lines, etc.) Cheers.
About me: I am a recent college graduate with internship experience in debt capital markets, investment sales, and development. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
I’m currently an intern at BP, though not in Chicago. My interview was super relaxed and took place between me and a senior Vice President. It was only around 20 minutes long and completely behavioural. No crazy questions, I assume that if they’re giving you an interview they already know that you’re smart enough/“accomplished enough” for the job, and they just want to make sure you’ll fit the culture.
Speaking of culture, I’d say it’s really good. Everyone’s really friendly and open to help you out, and everyone seems very smart. Overall it’s so far been a great place to intern at (you should note that I’ve been a remote intern for obvious reasons, so it’s possible culture differs in-house).
I work with some managers at Brookfield and they're very very sharp, at least the one I've dealt with.
Congrats, interview process was with a different group outside of PM but this is how my process went: 1st round: HR phone screening, 2nd round with team/manager, excel test and formal HR interview, 3rd round with execs/office leadership. This was all pre-covid but I was in person for the second two.
Still very new and have been working remote since I started but culture and people have been great. Hard to know what you'd be working on in the Chicago office but you can check on linkedin and see what type of prior experience the team has which would give you insight into what type of assets you'd be managing.
Portfolio Managers in REPE are, on a high level, responsible for: (1) producing portfolio analytics/reports that drive executive decision making, (2) having an excellent understanding of financial engineering to create value with creative equity/debt management strategies, and (3) executing said strategies. This is a role that is actually quite niche in REPE as most shops aren't even big enough to necessitate such a position. I don't know how the Brookfield PM team functions specifically, but I can give an educated guess based on my own experience at another top MF.
As a PM you will likely be working with Asset Managers very often, aggregating data from the asset level and rolling it up into a portfolio view. From there, you will be reporting on the performance on your fund(s), each investment within your fund, and quarter-end NAVs/return metrics. On an ad-hoc basis, you will likely be responsible for running sensitivities on buy/hold/sell scenarios, directing the use of available cash, and managing the use & paydown of the subscription line(s), otherwise known as the credit facility or revolver. Your value-add as a portfolio manager really becomes critical to the fund's success when it comes to financial engineering. Having a strong understanding of what drives portfolio-level returns is absolutely crucial for decision-making. There are a number of returns-accretive strategies you can employ as the PM to increase the net IRR to LPs; for example, you can use the credit facility as both a ready source of cash (generally a good idea to maintain equity liquidity) to make acquisitions as well as a buffer to smooth out capital calls to LPs (ultimately increasing returns to LPs).
Other responsibilities you may have include strategizing portfolio allocation for new funds, creating/maintaining partner or LP presentations for your fund(s), and reporting asset-level updates that significantly affect portfolio-level returns. Everything is this post barely scratches the surface of what portfolio managers do, but hopefully gives you a high level overview of what your responsibilities might include. Good luck with your interview.
Also for Brookfield...does the PM team do disposals as well? Understand in BX that they do so it's a bit like 'sell-side' banking + AM/PM which sounds...interesting.
Thanks for the consideration & input. Super informative.
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