Debt Underwriting or REPE Fund Mgmt
Currently working in debt underwriting at the analyst level and I have the opportunity to either move to an associate position in debt underwriting at a debt fund or to an owner/operator to work with their equity fund, both are great firms.
I have a clear understanding of debt underwriting and the career path, but moving over to the equity side, (especially in fund mgmt, capital raising, investor relations, etc.), is opaque. I know people will say it depends on what you want to do, but I'm interested to hear other people's perspectives as I don't fully grasp the career path or skill set that is developed in working with equity funds.
Would you rather continue to underwrite debt deals for a debt fund or move to a portfolio mgmt role at an owner/operator equity fund?
Hi Analyst 3+ in RE - Comm, whoops, looks like nobody chimed in here.... maybe one of these discussions below is relevant:
More suggestions...
I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.
Bump
Do you like doing deals? If yes, don’t do portfolio management.
It is not a deal role. Often times it’s an administrative / quarterly reporting role
The reason the career path for those roles is opaque: senior leaders in those roles often come from the deal side (vs senior leaders who began their careers as a portfolio management associate)
I do like doing deals, which is the main reason I'm unsure.
I'm wondering if switching will be good experience for my overall career and to learn about the equity side, or if I'm better off staying in my lane with a path I know I enjoy and continue building my skill set instead of learning something different.
Stay in debt uw. You’ll be able to switch to an actual equity investment side role if you want… keep learning / networking etc. I wouldn’t jump to fund/portfolio mgmt … don’t jump to this role bc “it’s equity”. You’re not a deal side / investment team member at all… tbh might be miserable
is debt uw considered "front office" in real estate? kind of seems like those who source/originate loans are the "front office" (i.e. actually bringing in revenue) while uw is considered 2nd-class
They’d both be investment team / front
How realistic/plausible is the jump from multifamily underwriting to equity investments in industrial & office? Do you think a direct switch is doable? Or would an intermediate step be needed (i.e. underwriting industrial & office before equity investments)?
Also, how are exit opps, comp, lifestyle for multifamily vs industrial & office?
You’d need to go somewhere in between. Would need an understanding of commercial UW/investments. Modeling / sensitivities are all different. Would try to get to a bank/debt fund working in all assets… can move from there… that should be doable (or move internally if you’re just at a multi / agency team). Should be plenty of options… most groups do most/all assets.
Idk on comp/lifestyle. I personally hate multi … so boring, and only have worked at 2 places … both doing all assets. Can’t imagine comp being too far off… but this really depends on the type of shop vs what asset type (equity, larger REPE or niche investor, if debt - what kind - agency/bank/local bank / lifeco/CMBS/ debt fund/ etc… pay could be meh or on par with banking etc)
My experience in debt UW (MF) was learning a ton while also lacking the “deal” side of RE (by the time a deal gets to formal credit UW so much has happened) with no operational knowledge gained. The biggest pro from my experience in that space was deal flow- easily saw $2bn in transactions with the biggest con being the “fill in the box” approach to credit approval.
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