Ranking of PERE 50 firms for Acquisitions Analyst out of UG?
Looking to get people's opinion on which of the PERE 50 firms (outside of Blackstone/Starwood) are best to start a career in acquisitions. Of the PERE 50 (2019) firms, ive found that the ones that have analyst positions out of undergrad are AEW, PGIM, LaSalle, Harrison Street, Crow Holdings, MSREI, Greystar, Bridge Investment Group, Walton Street, Rialto, Heitman, and JP Morgan.
But it seems that these companies' rankings of AUM don't really reflect which is best to start a career in acquisitions since companies like PGIM are more core-focused whereas ones like Harrison Street/Walton Street are more opportunistic. How would you rank them in order of which is best for experience/exit opps/reputation? Thanks.
The one that gives you a job offer
Following
Get this ranking shit outta here, this ain't the IB forum
Salty IB bois throwing MS
Amazing.
Not gonna do a ranking but would take MSREI/Walton Street/Harrison Street/Rialto over the others
What an odd grouping of funds you have there
When I grouped Rialto with the others I was referring to their NYC team that does CMBS B-pieces/mezzanine/pref equity, and is a team silo'd from their equity acquisitions in LA/Atlanta and Special servicing in Miami. The teams outside of NYC do not seem to be on par to the NYC office
I can give a first hand account of a Rialto acquisitions team member showing up to a buyer interview, in which they were the potential buyer, wearing a fucking pooka shell necklace. Probably the most offensive thing I’ve seen in my short career thus far.
This is true for pretty much any field, but soo much depends on the group you're placed in and the relationships you make, most of which just comes down to luck. If you joined a Greystar development team or PGIM's multifamily investment team in 2012, you had the benefit of seeing incredible deal flow and a run up in valuations in apartments. All your deals were hits. On the flip side, if you joined an Ares or RREEF team that focused on value-add suburban office around that same time, you had to work your ass off and get creative to get deals to work, and most of your acquisitions probably under performed.
I tell anybody who is pursuing a career in RE to judge opportunities based on the chances that you'll get a diverse set of experience (reps both across the asset spectrum and the spectrum of risk/reward profile), and the chances that you'll actually vibe with the people you work with. If you're on the same wavelength as the dudes on your team, you'll find yourself with much more latitude to make decisions, insert yourself in different parts of the process, and have a voice in which deals you get staffed on.
Given you had the opportunity to choose between a few of those firms you named (unlikely because their recruiting is all over the place), looking at AUM wouldn't be helpful because a $25B in value-add aum could be generating more fees than $50B in core aum (just an example). Also, at my firm, acq analysts are silo-ed into a specific fund/risk/product/region and most of those firms don't have actual rotational/training programs like PGIM/AEW/BX.
Correct me if i'm wrong, but people don't go to these firms to do their 2 years while looking at the door. There is real value is in being able to learn from and work with class-A people, developing an investment thesis, and preparing yourself to climb the latter or go off on your own.
Like I said, if you have the liberty of choosing, I would try to hone in on a specific fund (risk level and product type) that interests you to pursue. Also, getting the FT offer also requires you to mesh with your team well.
Some funds that look interesting might be: - Firms with Opportunity Zone funds / pure development - Affordable Housing - REIT buyouts/carve-outs - not acquisitions, but distressed debt funds (Kayne Anderson just raised a $1.2B fund in 2 weeks)
There are a few funds playing in capital A Affordable housing right now. Based on where I see them pushing pricing, I suspect a lot of them will get burned for not knowing what they don't know, particularly when they are buying into the GP entities of LIHTC deals.
Can you elaborate on firms getting burned for “not knowing what they don’t know” please?
Agreed - they are very complex animals.
There are also a bunch of these guys who did really well in the space 5-10 years ago and are raising larger and larger funds to do more of it (good on them) without realizing that the field is becoming more crowded and yields are dropping at exactly the same time they need to be putting out 4-5x the capital. Not to mention the fact that the political left wing has woken up a bit over the last 4 years and that's causing pushback in a lot of urban areas.
I have partners who tell me they were had more deals at 30%+ IRRs six years ago than they had the cash to buy, and now they're happy to see deals at half that.
Throw in Related Companies, Hines, Goldman AIMS, UBS Asset Management, KKR, Tishman Speyer
Why would that get a downvote?
respond with an intelligent reply you fucking morons lmao
Kkr isn’t in pere 50
yes, yes it is. sheesh
I wouldn't focus too heavily on AUM and Rankings. There are numerous middle market firms where you can make more money, get more experience, have more upward opportunity, AND a better work life balance.
Greystar is a top player. Their team is really good in multi family and student housing. You can learn a lot over there.
.
ares?
Deleniti impedit vitae magni libero. Et dolor ea earum et.
Doloremque quaerat omnis consequatur dolorem aspernatur dicta. Beatae ea unde sit quia alias id optio. Voluptas totam eius corrupti ut perspiciatis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Et accusamus nostrum optio ut. Eum totam minus dicta et rerum facilis est. Beatae atque sint cupiditate debitis numquam temporibus ut. Recusandae sit placeat mollitia quaerat.
Temporibus molestiae sed iste minima rem quod. Aut rerum sunt iste repellendus eius sit. Nostrum consequatur qui voluptate. Et sit labore optio sapiente nihil debitis.