BX RE Acquisition vs. BB IBD
Hi guys,
Title says most of it. If you were to choose between SA offers from a top BB IBD (think GS, MS, JPM) and from BX REPE (acquisition team), which offer would you take?
Personally, I have never done stuffs related to real estate, so taking a BX offer might be risky. But still, as BX repe is definitely considered as exit option for many bankers. starting my career in BX sounds not that bad.
I am really considering both options and I am really not sure which choice will make me the happiest at an undergrad level. Landing at a mega corporate private equity fund is my middle-term goal but I am really opened to other career paths too. In that sense, I am worried that if I take BX offer, it will be very difficult for me to leave RE. (Not sure being from BX REPE makes a difference relative to other REPEs) In terms of optionality, IBD clearly seems to be a better option. But still, I have to say that I hardly see myself declining BX offer.
Would appreciate anyone's thoughts on the above.
Do you have both these offers in hand ?
Yes I do. I am based in Asia.
U are applied acquisitions for HK?
Keep in mind that BX Acq team is oftentime underwriting company acquisitions, large portfolio acquisitions, and has less of a focus on single assets (when compared to other repe firms). This skill set translates well to banking and I would imagine you could easily go back to banking or a strong PE shop. If you ended up liking real estate you can go anywhere from here: mm repe, top developer, debt fund, structured finance roles (cmbs, rmbs, cre clo, ctl, synthetics, etc). In my mind take the BX role no question. I am biased because I actively chose not to do banking to peruse re development for what it’s worth
Do you think real estate is interesting? Just curious.. I don't have real estate guys around me..
Yeah I do. I get paid well and have promote in our developments, my shop is young and entrepreneurial, get access to top LPs in the world, heavily involved in structuring complex deals so get to be creative and deal with the best structuring minds in the business
I love the fact I start with a piece of dirt (or an existing building to be torn down) and then build an asset there. I work for what most would consider a really sophisticated institutional developer and we have all the top pe shops and pensions as investors, so I scratch my finance itch. We also utilize a lot of structured credit and derivatives for interest rate hedging so I am heavily involved there as well. My shop is relatively young so I work closely with the c suite and have a lot of latitude in terms of biz dev and entrepreneurial endeavors. Also, if you get to participate in promote from a fund or developments you can far eclipse pay from pe shops at a young age.
Sorry my thoughts are kinda jumbled. Busy day but want to help you out here. Happy to address anything else
I see. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I thinks it is just that I am quite concerned if I end up finding out myself not liking the real estate investing. To be honest, I have done off cycle internships at BB IBD, but corporate was also not that interesting to me. That is why I am leaning toward taking BX offer. But also some kinda perception that real estate is less prestigious than corporate is the one factor that makes me hesitate taking BX offer. What is your thought on this?
I’m assuming you’re 20-21ish, so will try to provide advice as if I were in your shoes. The prestige thing is bullshit. You have to do what you like or what interests you otherwise you are going to hate your life. You could easily get 2 years into either of the jobs you have offers for, decide you hate finance, and decide to go to med school or become a lawyer or maybe you just want to go travel the world and be a vagabond. I wish I understood I didn’t know shit when I was your age. You have to dive in and give it your all, but don’t get hung up on prestige or the perfect fit. Chances are you either option you take you will end up at a different job by the time your 26.
Back to the re vs Corp, that’s a decision only you can make. I think (and I think most would agree) that BX is the best brand name you can have on your resume period if you want a finance career, no matter the role (assuming front office). I can assure you if you want to leave the BX acq role and go to corp ib or pe you will be able to. Hell you could probably go to a hedge fund that invests in real estate if you wanted to get into public markets. Also it will allow you to get into the best MBA or JD programs in the world if you need a pivot or a burnout break. It’s freaking front office Blackstone man, you have the offer that everyone would die for straight from school.
I personally don’t see why this is a question or why you would forgo BX.
When they call you usually answer
First of all, I think its because of optionality. I heard from my seniors that if you first start your career in real estate, it is very difficult to leave RE (even though the franchise is BX). I have actually never thought about doing real estate stuffs and I dont know whether the work will fit me or not. In that sense, I just thought that if I take BX offer but end up finding myself not interested in the RE field, it would be really painful.
Of course, I know even if I go to BB IBD, there is absolutely no guarantee that I will be able to move to mega corporate PE fund or to places that are better than BX REPE.
Also all of this is based on the fact that I am based in APAC. So, it might be different to US or Europe.
Isn't MF recruiting for APAC even more unstructured? You should take BX and if you don't like RE PE you should push to move to buyouts or another arm of the firm.
You are right. Recruiting is definitely unstructured in APAC. But I am not so sure how easy it is to shift to buyouts from REPE
I was in the same spot as you are and I ended up taking the BX offer and I feel like i made the right choice.
1. You are going to do more interesting work at BX and I believe that you develop a more useful skillset
2. You will work somewhat similar hours but will have more ownership of your time in BX
3. You will get paid significantly more
4. Culture will probably be better at BX
5. You will get looks from every HH for MFPE roles, HF and so... Every year there is people leaving BX REPE for other top MFs and I don't believe that many people aim for this.
There are obviously some disadvantages, you may be worse at corporate LBO modelling than some IB peers (you can certainly make up for this) and the other BB names are better known across industries if you decide to leave finance.
Thanks for your thoughts.Blackstone opportunity is certainly more appealing I guess. Do you know whether BX REPE sponsors MBA? I think their corporate PE does
My guess is that if you are a good performer and want to get an MBA they'll likely sponsor you... However, I'm not certain, since you can promote without an MBA it is not common for people to go to business school.
You seem like a smart kid - if you got a BB and BX REPE offer it’s likely you will be able to make the move in the future to PE in the industry you are looking for from IB.
The gamble is obviously if you do like real estate your missing out on the best team. If you don’t it’s true you will be labelled as a real assets guy but still the BX name will still be able to carry you out to other industries.
Do you have no indication if you are more interested in energy, infra, tech or more consumer/retail?
I usually go with the path of most resistance , never be complacent.
Do you plan to stay in Asia for long, though? Assuming we're talking about HK, the acquisition deals get a lot of exposure to the mainland.
I think it's pretty obvious that the Chinese housing market is about to get F'd
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