Position Overview & Specifications
Starwood Capital’s hallmark is to invest opportunistically, moving between asset classes, geographies and positions in the capital stack as the firm perceives risk/return dynamics to be evolving. The firm has invested in nearly every class of real estate on a global basis, including residential, hotel, office, retail, industrial and student housing assets.
Opportunity
As part of the ongoing growth of the business, Starwood is seeking to hire an entrepreneurial, analytical, commercial and outgoing individual to the Asset Management team to help drive the pan-European real estate equity strategy. Reporting to Nicholas Chadwick, Managing Director and Head of Asset Management, Europe the position will work with the existing Asset Management team in London to develop and execute the business plans for Starwood’s Corporate and Industrial real estate investments across Europe.
Asset Management at Starwood is a very hands on investment role that covers all aspects of the real estate ownership life cycle, from the day of acquisition to the eventual sale of assets and includes, but is not limited to leading the analysis and then the execution of sales, re-financings, (re)developments, setting goals for operating partners and negotiating key legal documents. The team is very flat and entrepreneurial; a high degree of intellectual curiosity and resourcefulness is required. With this comes the opportunity to gain diverse experience through managing single asset investments that provide direct real estate experience, to managing large platforms that require leading and overseeing experienced management teams.
The Asset Manager will work with all Starwood teams (legal, tax, acquisitions, capital markets); excellent communication skills are critical to provide leadership across groups to achieve our investment and asset management goals. The role holder will also work with Starwood operating partners and take a leading role in strategic asset management and the active management of portfolios and corporate transactions.
Responsibilities
- Work with senior members of the asset management team to help set the strategy and implement business plans for transactions for Starwood’s European Funds
- Transactions will include corporate transactions, public company investments (privatization and PIPE), portfolio, single asset and distressed debt/restructuring transactions
- Strategically review business plans on an ongoing basis
- Execute asset/portfolio repositioning including capex, development, leasing, driving cash flow growth
- Develop and maintain complex financial models to monitor key performance indicators and run sensitivities
- Perform quantitative and qualitative analysis of risk and return with respect to leasing, capital investment, development programs and disposals
- Identify and monitor key market trends and transactions
- Coordinate operating partners and service providers
- Build and maintain active and productive working relationships with joint venture partners, lenders/financial institutions, brokers and legal/tax advisers as well as key tenants and other stakeholders
- Perform quarterly investment reporting
- Support disposition and portfolio sales processes
- Participate in SPA, JVA, AM and lease negotiations
- Prepare materials for internal and external use (management reporting packages, investor day presentations, lender reporting, etc.)
Profile
- Extremely strong financial and analytic skills, with a mastery of Excel and ability to create in depth financial analysis via models (this will be tested in the hiring process)
- Bachelor’s degree or higher with strong results from a top tier university or college
- Fluency in English and at least one other European language would be preferred (but a second language is not essential)
- An entrepreneurial thinker with an ability to build strong internal and external relationships
- Results focused with exceptional written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills
- Outstanding initiative and the drive, energy and proactiveness to be an effective self-starter
- Team-oriented and collaborative with strong integrity as well as a high degree of professionalism
- Ability to actively contribute to a positive culture
- Strong work ethic with the ability to work unsociable hours
Key Requirements
- Analysts are likely to have minimum 12-18 months relevant experience with a top tier real estate private equity investor, Big 4 accountancy firm, investment manager, investment bank or investment adviser
- A strong understanding of the European real estate market, ideally across geographies but not essential
- Experience underwriting and evaluating commercial real estate asset and portfolio level dispositions
- Experience working with operating assets as well as development projects
- In addition to strong experience working with single assets; experience in managing large, complex real estate portfolios and corporate investments would be an advantage.