Samir

I work in London as a member of the Real Estate Principal Investment Area (REPIA) team. Our job is to deploy the firm’s capital as well as third party money, raised through the Whitehall Funds, in the real estate space. Every large real estate investment opportunity for the firm across the globe goes through our group.

We cover all European countries including Russia and the ex-CIS space, as well as India and the Middle East. My role on the team is to lead the acquisition underwriting process when a new deal comes along. This entails coordinating the more junior resources within the team and the entire set of advisors hired by us. I am also responsible for all numerical analyses, developing the presentations and expanding relationships in different markets to attract new business.

Teamwork is key to my function. Even though I have a lot of autonomy to handle it the way I see fit, the scope is usually defined by the overall team. This gives me visibility and allows me to focus on the areas of the business that I truly enjoy. Because a typical project will have a dedicated team of 4 people, everybody on the deal understands what is going on and gets exposure to the different aspects of the transactions they undertake.

What I enjoy most about my job is the diversity of markets we cover. I get to travel a lot and have the opportunity to understand all of the different sub-segments of the industry.