Assistant Vice President, Investment Research

Heitman•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a Chicago-based Assistant Vice President to join the firm’s Investment Research group. This position involves conducting research into economic, capital market, and property market trends in support of the firm’s investment strategies in private equity and private debt. Research is an integral part of the investment process at Heitman and the focus of significant corporate resources. Members of the department engage in top-down and bottom-up work designed to maximize investment performance for the firm’s clients.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in real estate, urban studies, economics, finance, econometrics, statistics, data science, geography, or a related field.
Minimum 5 years of direct experience in analyzing real estate investments. This could include work in real estate research, consulting, finance, or appraisal.
Excellent communication, organizational, and analytical skills with a passion for writing and presenting.
A highly developed ability to juggle multiple assignments simultaneously.
Fluency in Excel, PowerPoint, and data visualization.
Comfort with creating, maintaining, and manipulating databases.
Willingness to work independently on short deadlines.
Intellectual curiosity and integrity.
Candidates applying for roles requiring travel must hold a valid, non-expired driver’s license.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree, CAIA designation, or CFA designation is a plus.
Candidates with other backgrounds that demonstrate strong research, analytical, and communication skills will also be considered.
Programming experience or Power BI a plus.

Responsibilities

Tracking market conditions across primary and alternative property sectors.
Synthesizing data from a range of sources (including third-party market data providers and Heitman’s own portfolio) with intel gathered from industry sources, market tours, and resources within other groups in the firm to create a house view on property sector fundamentals and opportunities.
Analyzing data and creating models to formulate investment strategies and direct capital deployment related to individual property sectors and broader portfolio construction across a variety of equity and debt strategies.
Using the above inputs to formulate and communicate investment strategies to capitalize on opportunities created by economic, demographic, capital market, and property market conditions.
Likely areas of focus include, but are not limited to, global capital markets, US debt markets, and the US retail and self-storage sectors.
Working alongside the acquisition and debt teams on prospective property acquisitions, including assessments of local market conditions and trends, competitive properties, and identification of risks/opportunities.
Supporting the portfolio and asset management teams with timely strategy recommendations, evaluation of investment performance, and hold/sell analyses for properties within the Heitman-managed North American portfolio and identification of risks/opportunities.
Writing white papers and short articles for the Heitman thought leadership series on new investment markets or strategies, as well as current market trends and their investment implications.
Creating content such as presentation slides and short videos for social media.
Presenting to internal clients including senior management, the Investment and Valuation Committees, portfolio managers, and the acquisitions and debt teams about market trends, investment strategies, and the merits and risks related to individual investments.
Interacting with clients in person and on conference calls.