For any real estate folks out there, I’m wondering what the typical advancement track is after a couple years of experience with an investment manager. I’ve been working as an analyst working on acquisitions and I’m wondering how I should position myself to get the experience I need to be a portfolio manager. Is it typical to work on acquisitions for a while before taking responsibility for a portfolio or is it better to start as a portfolio analyst and move up within that group?
RE is pretty diverse field, especially the finance side of the business. are you talking from the perspective of a bank/lender? mezz lender? jv or preffered equity syndicate type deal-y? developer? investor? real estate operating co.? reit? advancement track can vary, sometimes greatly, between different types of orgnaizations in the business and the size/scope of the group. i dont really get what youre asking, either. typically if you start out in re acquisitions, you progress from analyst to director of acquisitions, sourcing potential deals. and typically, portfolio managment is handled by asset management staff. it is not typical to go from acqusitions analyst to asset management. but some skill sets over lap and it is not impossible to make that kind of a switch.
direct investment (PE). i work on a value-add fund right now, development/rehabs. JV structures w/ development management partners. It’s starting to look like i’ll have to make a decision soon about where i want to end up. i like working on acquisitions, and being a director of acquisitions would be great except for the travel. but i also am thinking i may want to get some experience on the asset/portfolio management side. putting together new product offerings could be interesting too. I’m in a small organization so i think crossing over between functions might be easier than in a larger firm, but i was just wondering if it’s typical for analysts to move around between functions before picking a track for advancement.
the fund/portfolio manager typically has many years of experience on the investment team. asset management (running the property and strategic asset positioning) would help you more if you intend to stay in the investment team, not so much as a fund manager.
thx for the info. so as i understand it, i should stay in acquisitions and that could eventually lead to an opportunity to run a fund or stay on as a director of acquisitions? not true with asset management?
RE is tricky, no set tracks and in times like this, Asset Management positions is by no means a dead end. The advice people at NAIOP give up here is to go work for the best developer you can and tell them you’ll take whatever position is available no matter how tricky. It’s rough out there. Heard a story the other day about a guy in his 40’s with a very successful development background aplying for Senior Analyst jobs… I guess my point is there isn’t really a typical track…
Brother, there aren’t any (as in, there are very few) developers hiring for office positions. So until that day comes, that advice, unfortunately, is moot.
huh. it sounds like you work for a smaller, more entrepreneurial type investment group. career tracks in re are VERY tricky, especially now. assuming you want to work for a brand name, larger re investment co., developer, national reit, or a legit repe AND you want to be in the asset management side of the business, then it would make sense to make the transition now b/c when you do look for jobs down the line at this level in the business, then it does matter very much that you have DIRECTLY RELEVANT skill sets and EXPERIENCE in the asset management side. the companies i am refereing to are the tishman speyers, blackstones, msre funds, rreefs, maguires, canyons of the re business world. assuming you want to work for a company that is similar to size and scope to where you work right now, then it matters much less so. you sound pretty young and inexperienced in the field, which is ok. so you say you want to run a fund? but what kind of responsibilities do you want 2/5/10 yrs out?
oh ya and this dude does bring up a good point. i was at a uli event recently. among MANY of the scary issues and concerns being raised, one was that new re development will be non existent for atl east 2, maybe 5 yrs out. one guy kind of jokingly said that if you are a developer or work for one, find a new career for a couple of yrs. i am surprised naiop would advise to work with a developer. but you dont want to work for a developer, so whatever.
^i’m not that young just late to the game. yes i’m in a small entrepeneurial firm – grand total of 6 employees. but the 3 principals all came from a large institution and we manage institutional money so i think it’s a pretty good place to be. Honestly, after thinking about it some more i’m not sure moving to a larger organization anytime soon would be the best move – i may have a golden ticket of being in at the ground floor close to the inception of a company with experienced institutional players. great upside if we ‘make it’. all that changes if our first two funds fail. 10 years down the road? not sure; being head of acquisitions for fund X could be a pain in the @ss if the geographies aren’t close to home. seems the portfolio manager here has a much easier schedule.
mr1234 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > oh ya and this dude does bring up a good point. i > was at a uli event recently. among MANY of the > scary issues and concerns being raised, one was > that new re development will be non existent for > atl east 2, maybe 5 yrs out. one guy kind of > jokingly said that if you are a developer or work > for one, find a new career for a couple of yrs. i > am surprised naiop would advise to work with a > developer. > > but you dont want to work for a developer, so > whatever. yea this is bad for our fund strategy. our response has been to focus on empty existing assets. looks like there is currently a big premium in the market for having a lease in place so the deals we’re looking at fit the return criteria even though there’s no development risk. not sure how long that will last. if development is dead for an extended period in my market i’m dead.
I think if you want to manage a real estate fund, you should manage your own fund. I am in the preliminary process (and this is going to take a long time) of raising funds for my own RE fund focused on single-family infill development. Of course, the first think I’m working on is successfully managing, with my own money, the development of half a dozen or so infill lots, maybe getting my MBA, and building my resume (currently). Doing your own fund would be more profitable with roughly the same work. And there is no “track” for that.
i’ve thrown around the idea with a few friends of mine in the industry. could be a good time to get some friends & family money together and go from there. we’ve been scanning the foreclosure auctions, but mainly we’re just seeing a bunch of junk in the deal size we’re looking for. it all starts w/ the first deal though. i suppose if you find the right deal the capital will be there. my coinvest would be a couple shiny nickels… the deal killer for guys just starting out today is the fact that lenders will only give money to experienced managers.
Anyone ever thought of managing a REIT fund down the road, particularly global? Decent runway abroad for the tax shelter…
jbald, I guess I’m a little luckier because I’m in a pretty decent market (DC market) where there is very little “crap” (I wish there were!). Thanks to some family money, a good job, and a strong mortgage product, I am able to acquire land and build (even in this market!). You’re 100% correct–it’s that first deal. A homerun will set you up for life as there will be the cash to go on to the next deal until it snowballs. The problem is, I see a lot of nice, stand-up doubles, but very few homeruns. There seems to always be a catch with the potential homeruns (zoning, title issues, sells too quickly, way overpriced for the location, etc.).
DC is turning out to be the only recession-proof economic engine in the U.S. gotta love uncle sam. g/l with your projects. i gotta say i imagine doing a successful development on your own has to be one of the most rewarding experiences you can have. you can always drive by it and say “i did that”. just don’t build a piece of crap 
definitely something i’d like to do down the road.
in short, yes. but i wouldn’t go so far as to say that being in RE asset management is a “dead end”. it’s just that in general, rightfully or otherwise, RE asset managers are viewed to be more suited for execution detailed operational work vs running a RE fund which requires a deep understanding of financial/structuring/strategic aspects of the property portfolio (along with some asset management skills). jbaldyga Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > thx for the info. so as i understand it, i should > stay in acquisitions and that could eventually > lead to an opportunity to run a fund or stay on as > a director of acquisitions? not true with asset > management?
I say just go blaze your own trail. I left asset management and starting buying houses on foreclosure and haven’t looked back.
how is the RE development market these days? I have a friend who is a RE develop in Socal. Apparently he is doing fine by snatching up half-done projects from banks and filling in the rest himself. I find it hard to believe that there are opportunities in RE development despite the continuous slump in RE nation wide.
Oddly, I have met 5 people in the past 6 months that are in RE. One is the president of one of the largets Comm. RE development companies inthe US (met him on a flight to Miami, he was going sailing in the Bahamas for a week). One worked for Lauth as an SVP. One is a lawyer specializing in Comm RE litigation. One is trying to raise a RE P/E fund. The last one is a passive RE investor who “is thinking about buying a few apartment buildings in Miami.” All of them except the Lawyer and the President seem to be a little weary of the market.