Samir

Right now I’m leading the acquisition of a large portfolio of difficult real estate loans where the collateral is spread across 11 different countries comprising over 1,000 individual buildings. This is very challenging work because of the variety of the real estate, the difference in legal structure of each portfolio and the acquisition of loans rather than assets.

The most challenging party of my day is thinking laterally and trying to go at problems from different angles (numbers, legal, business case, etc.). Aside from building industry knowledge and networking, my job really requires a full command of technical analysis and modelling skills as well as the understanding of the different products (types of real estate, structured vs. asset deals, different countries, etc.).

Managing these large and complex transactions is a lot of work, but very rewarding. Every deal you are staffed on is yours and you must commit yourself to it. You take part – first hand – in the general discussion about the merits and pitfalls of the opportunity and you don’t have the same distance you would find in an advisory business. This sense of ownership also comes from the fact that I am now expected to follow and oversee some of the completed investments I contributed to in the first place. It’s really exciting work and I’m enjoying everyday of it.