Director, Investment Strategy & Research

Greystar is a leading, fully integrated real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development, and property management of rental housing properties globally. 

The European business is rapidly growing with existing operations in the UK, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain and France. We provide multifamily (purpose built, large scale rental housing with onsite service and amenities), student and young professional homes.

Our employees are the key to the success of our business with exemplary service at the heart of everything we do. This level of service is a result of their expertise, a solid understanding of the markets they operate in and a passion to provide outstanding experiences.

Our aim is to further expand across the UK and Continental Europe by hiring local talent and staying true to Greystar’s core values of integrity, respect, professionalism, accountability, service and team work.

Role Summary:

The Research and Strategy Group is focused on the formulation and capitalization of new investment strategies as well as overseeing Greystar’s ongoing market research across the globe. The team also works to create new underwriting tools, synthesize proprietary data to formulate “House Views” and improve the global investment process. The team works closely with senior management on business development opportunities and interacting with external capital partners. This role will be focused on leading research and strategy coverage for Europe.

Key Responsibilities:

• Market research and strategy formulation for prospective investment ventures with a focus on: the analysis of the rental housing market (transactions, relative rents, pricing metrics), demographic trends, real time benchmarking of performance of assets / funds across the continent, and the impact of political and regulatory environment.    
• Partners with portfolio management teams to maximize performance of portfolios / funds through the creation and management of an optimized allocation strategy.
• Works closely with local investment team to validate individual deal assumptions and provide a wider pan European context to evaluate relative risk / return.
• Creating tools to value and underwrite new geographies, products and investment opportunities.
• Coordinate with capital raising to support the pursuit of new business opportunities in Europe.
• Financial modeling and analysis; working with large amounts of data to formulate into actionable insights to communicate internally and externally.
• Preparation and delivery of marketing materials and conference presentations.
• New investment idea generation/vetting as well as the strategic and operational analysis of existing venture performance.
• Thought leadership in cultivating the “House View”.
• General research and analytical support for Greystar Investment Group.

Role Scope:

• Reports to the Managing Director, Investor Relations and has a dotted line to the Strategy & Research team in the US.
• The post holder will have the opportunity to influence strategies of the Company’s investment projects in the Europe.
• The incumbent must develop a deep understanding of Greystar’s Europe operations, as well as building relationships with UK, EU and US leadership and Portfolio Management teams.

Knowledge & Qualifications:

• Educated to a degree level or equivalent in a relevant subject such as business or finance and/or equivalent experience.
• MBA in real estate, business or finance (desirable).
• IT literate and fully conversant with all Microsoft packages including Excel (Advanced level) and PowerPoint (Advanced level).

Experience & Skills:

Essential:

• Prior investment banking, equity research, private equity, or management consulting experience.
• Demonstrated interest in real estate and experience investing and/or market research within Europe (essential) and internationally (desirable).
• Expert financial modeling and extensive experience with various forms of valuation analysis.
• Expert ability to work with, manage, and analyze large amounts of data.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with strong attention to detail along with the ability to quickly interpret complex written and financial data.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to prioritize and work on multiple projects simultaneously.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to establish and maintain positive relationships and act with impact and influence at all levels.
• Self-motivated and proactive, both with respect to managing workload and own professional development.
• Fluent in English (written & verbal).

Desirable:

• European language – ideally Spanish, German or French.
• Relevant experience in the student accommodation, residential or hotel sectors.