The company is run by Kenneth Tan and has one other shareholder. They got into the shophouse market 10 years ago. The role is a one year contract following a three month internship at USD1,000 pay.
To qualify for the internship you go through a process which involves.
1. An introductory interview with the HR manager, who doubles as a manager in the operations arm, at their office.
2. An interview with the investment team head, likely at one of their properties.
3. A video interview with the founder who is based in New York.
4. Two introductory calls with current interns/contract staff.
5. A complicated investment pitch assignment to be done in a week. You are to pitch a shophouse investment.
6. A two day job shadowing with the Head of the investment team with no guarantee of getting the internship
7. Following which you are given the internship for three months.
The company has a modest, but still sizable, AUM of >$500 but all locked into low yielding real estate properties with an ultra low rental yield of 2-3% that cannot be levered up in Singapore. Business prospects in Singapore are not good owing to this. Most of the IRR is obtained via the exit price, which is contingent on further asset appreciation.
In the US, the property prices are much lower but the yield is unknown. However, it is real estate and expected to be a stable career.
No financial modeling work is involved and as such cannot be seen as a conventional private equity role. Low brand equity for a company and intentionally keeps its brand low profile but behaves as though they are a large one in the way they structure the hiring process. You are not compensated for the fact that being part of this firm will compromise your future marketability as you do not develop any proper deal experience, financial modeling experience and lack of branding. The PE analyst title is misleading in that aspect.
USD5,000 promised pay is misleading and is actually ~USD4,600, with the difference deemed as “rent” held by the company and given only at the end of the contract as a gratuity, which typically is not put into the base quoted pay. Pay is also much lower as it is inclusive of CPF paid by employer on top of what is paid by you. The number is in favour of the firm. Actual pay normalized for CPF is therefore USD3,873 not USD5,000. Firms usually provide a housing allowance to account for lodging. As such it is an attempt to push cost of relocation to the employee.
Lodging will be in the low value windowless basement of a brownstone shophouse, likely a shoebox unit. Heating, air-conditioning not promised. You will have to live in that condition for all 2 years.
Lunch is provided, but not dinner. No relocation allowance and per diem. After readjusting for the opportunity cost of taking USD1,000 pay for three months, the effective monthly pay is ~USD3,500 assuming a 24 month contract. Even lower if you receive the one year contract. The cost of living in New York is entirely borne by the employee outside of the two items aforementioned.
The pay is taxed at USD and subject to social security if collected in US. The pay is taxed at SGD and subject to CPF if collected in Singapore. The employee will pay USD5,000 as per stated in both cases inclusive of these government imposed deductions. It is reported that they were unable to attract candidates in the New York labour market, likely because of the clearly unfavorable employment terms. As such, it is a cost saving strategy to market to the Singapore market as a relocation to NY knowing such experience is desirable, and then to offer a Singapore market pay to “arbitrage” between the two labor markets for cost savings.
Don’t take the seemingly higher pay at face value. Apply only if the information above makes sense for you. Otherwise it is a complete waste of your time. You will spend 2 weeks doing a meaningless investment pitch, 2 days shadowing to 8-10pm and 3 months for an internship known to reject candidates at high rates for a cheap pay only to get a contract at a rate which you are clearly misled into. The only consolation is being able to work in New York, which can be a life-changing experience.
The early comment from the intern is confirmed. They have extremely high expectations that a first class honors close to perfect GPA, IBD analyst type cannot fulfill. As such, it is of my guess that the hiring strategy is to intentionally running people through the internship to extract cheap labor and then rejecting the for the full-time role as a cost saving measure.
Two other former contractors left after 6 months into the job. You are to make an informed decision.
