Real estate
Buildings and land, and the companies that own, develop and manage them.
Real estate coverage in London investment banking spans six categories you'll see on any job posting, REITs, private property companies, developers, housing associations, property services (agency, facilities), and emerging PropTech. The work sits across office, logistics, retail, residential build-to-rent, student accommodation, healthcare, data centres, self-storage, and housebuilders.
The sector is different because it combines tangible, long-lived assets with observable cash flows and hard-asset leverage. RE investors use 60-75% LTV debt. Cycles run 7-12 years, driven by rates and occupancy, not earnings surprises.
The language is yield, not earnings multiples. You'll work with NAV (property valuations minus net debt), the Investment Method (Property Value = Passing Rent / Initial Yield), EPRA metrics (NTA, NDV, NRV, Earnings), and four yield concepts, initial, reversionary, equivalent, true equivalent. The gap between passing rent and ERV tells you whether a property is cheap relative to future earning power.
UK REITs pay no corporation tax on rental income if they distribute 90% of taxable earnings and meet the 75% property asset test, creating a 40%+ valuation premium over non-listed property companies.
London market structure matters, prime West End and City office yields sit at 4.25-4.75%, secondary at 5.75-6.50%, logistics 4.50-5.00%. Watch WAULT, CVA tenant risk in retail, and rent cover in healthcare.
Rate sensitivity is brutal. A 50bp rise can drop property values 5-10% in a quarter through cap rate expansion. Interview prep means speaking yield, running residual land value appraisals, and stress-testing covenants.
Open jobs
| Job | Firm | Level | Stage | Posted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real estate · Direct |  Pictet Group | Associate | 2 to 4 years | 8 days |
| Real estate |  Intermediate Capital Group | Associate | 2 to 3 years | 2 weeks |
| Asset management · Real estate |  Morgan Stanley | Off-cycle starts Feb 2027 | Recent graduates | 2 weeks |
| Investment banking · Real estate |  Evercore | Analyst | Up to 2 years | 3 weeks |
| Real estate |  Carlyle Group | Summer | Second-to-last year at university | 3 weeks |