Career Advice Request - Asset Management
I'm an asset management analyst working on the west coast for a publicly traded institutional firm and I'm seeking career advice from my more experienced peers here.

I've worked in this space since 2016 after graduating college, this is the second company I've worked for, the first being a small boutique PE shop (\~$1bn aum). My early career plan was to gain experience in a few roles within CRE, and having been focusing on asset and portfolio management for about 2.5 years now I would like to move on and gain some experience in acquisitions. Ultimate goal is to open my own fund/shop someday and I want the generalist background and training. However, during these times acquisition opportunities have dwindled, and for good reason.

I feel like I may be overstaying my time in asset management (over 3 years out of school), and the longer I'm here the more difficult it seems to pivot to an acquisitions role, especially since my current role is for a pretty niche asset type and I feel I may get pigeonholed in this space. I've been made senior associate and my comp is pretty decent for the role and area considering my experience (&gt;$100k), and changing roles will almost certainly require a pay cut with longer hours, especially now. The pay cut wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have personal investment activities that require capital.

For the more experienced CRE professionals here, would you take the risks of changing roles at a time like this and taking a pay cut for this idea of gaining other skills/experience? Or would you stay until the market is less volatile and evaluate later (who knows when that will be)?
[{"id": "fxchp04", "text": "Congrats on the promotion.\n\nHonestly transitioning from AM to acquisitions is not that hard as an analyst/associate. You will not be expected to have a network of sellers/brokers/etc. like you would at the VP and Director level. You just have to be able to understand the fundamentals and what makes a good deal (along with the investment committee\u2019s own quirks - which you have to learn on the job anyway). Being on the AM side, your skill set might be more valuable since you can better scrutinize a deal\u2019s potential pitfalls. \n\nI\u2019m a senior associate on the acq side at a private equity firm, we have hired people on our team from the AM side all the time, and have had Acq people go to AM. It\u2019s not as uncommon as you would think.", "replies": [{"id": "fxcj8ov", "text": "Seconding this guy. I actually would say the inverse is true- a lot of acquisitions people end up in asset management during times of uncertainty. My firm moved the young acq guys into am roles for now.", "replies": [{"id": "fxd2z2n", "text": "You know what, I started as a general financial analyst helping out both functions and was moved to AM after a slow year with low cap rates everywhere (shop focused on distressed assets), so I definitely understand what you mean.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "fxd2res", "text": "Thanks for the response, this is the kind of advice I'm looking for. I'm gearing up to make that switch, I think it helps that I'm willing to relocate just about anywhere (not from the US originally). My reservations come from 2 interviews I had prior to COVID where in both cases they went with someone who came directly from acquisitions after the last round, despite my supposedly strong interviews.\n\nIf you were the hiring manager evaluating an applicant from AM for a role on your team, what aspects of AM experience should they play as their advantage? I'm thinking of talking about my personal real estate deals a little more, I own and syndicated a few small single family and multifamily deals - would that help me or just come off as cocky?", "replies": [{"id": "fxd31jx", "text": "Yeah steer away from personal investing. I would focus on all the problems/fires you\u2019ve seen on the AM side. Show that this experience enables you to identify risks of new acquisitions, and how to mitigate those risks when pitching to IC.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]