Front Office Investing interview prep.

Senior real assets coach across real estate and infrastructure.

What interviewers look for

  • Does the candidate underwrite the cash flows first. NOI / contracted revenue, and know what drives them (rents, occupancy, contracts, inflation linkage)?
  • Do they understand cap rates, value = NOI / cap rate, going-in vs exit, and the relationship to interest rates and the risk-free rate?
  • Can they decompose returns, how much of the IRR comes from income (cash-on-cash), rent / NOI growth, cap-rate movement, and leverage?
  • Do they size leverage to the asset. LTV, DSCR, debt yield, and understand refinancing and rate risk?
  • Can they place a deal on the risk spectrum. RE core to opportunistic; infra availability vs demand vs merchant, regulated vs contracted, and target the right return?
  • Do they think about the exit from day one, hold period, the buyer, and the exit cap / multiple assumption that makes or breaks the return?

Behavioural questions to expect

  1. Walk me through your CV.

    What it tests: Story coherence + fit for hard-asset investing. Funds value real-estate / infra / lending / development exposure and a cash-flow underwriter's mindset, not generic finance.

  2. Tell me about your most impressive deal or underwriting.

    What it tests: Depth of underwriting + return thinking. Tests whether the candidate decomposed the return (income, growth, cap-rate, leverage), not just modeled a base case.

  3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.

    What it tests: Self-awareness + underwriting humility. Cross-role canonical. Fake weaknesses downgrade immediately. Real-assets returns hinge on assumptions (exit cap, rent growth), over-optimism is the classic error.

  4. Why real assets / real estate / infrastructure? Why not corporate PE or credit?

    What it tests: Authentic interest in hard assets vs cycling buy-side recruiting. Tests whether the candidate is drawn to tangible, cash-flowing assets, the role of leverage, and the local / operational nature of the work.

  5. Why this firm?

    What it tests: Whether the candidate has done the homework. Bar: firm-specific evidence from asset class, strategy, recent deals, and people, not generic 'great platform'.

  6. Why {core / value-add / opportunistic}, or why {real estate / infrastructure}, over the alternative?

    What it tests: Whether the candidate understands the risk / return trade-offs across the spectrum and has chosen deliberately.

  7. How would you describe this firm's strategy and edge in your own words?

    What it tests: Whether the candidate has internalized HOW the firm makes money, sourcing, underwriting, value creation, not just WHAT it owns.

  8. What's your view on the {firm's asset class / market} right now?

    What it tests: Whether the candidate follows the market, cap rates, rates, supply / demand, and the sector's cycle, and can take a view.

Technical concepts to master

The real-assets underwrite, the workflow

Cash flows / NOI
The asset's operating income (NOI for RE; contracted / regulated revenue for infra) and what drives it.
Entry + going-in cap
Purchase price and the going-in cap rate (NOI / price); the entry yield you're buying.
Business plan
How value is created over the hold, lease-up, rent growth, development, or operational improvement.
Leverage
Debt sized to the asset. LTV, DSCR, debt yield, and its cost relative to the asset yield.

Cap rates + value

Cap rate = NOI / value
The unlevered income yield; rearranged, value = NOI / cap rate.
Going-in vs exit cap
The cap rate at purchase vs the cap rate assumed at sale; the exit cap drives the terminal value.
Cap rate vs interest rates
Cap rates broadly track the risk-free rate plus a risk premium; rising rates pressure values.
Spread to debt
The gap between the cap rate (asset yield) and the cost of debt; positive spread = positive leverage.

Return metrics

Unlevered vs levered IRR
Unlevered = the asset's return before debt; levered = the equity return after debt.
Cash-on-cash
Annual cash flow after debt service divided by equity invested, the current cash yield to the investor.
Equity multiple
Total equity returned divided by total equity invested over the hold.
Return decomposition
Splitting the IRR into income (cash-on-cash), NOI growth, cap-rate movement, and leverage.

Leverage + debt

LTV
Loan-to-value, the debt as a percentage of asset value; higher LTV = more leverage and risk.
DSCR
NOI / annual debt service; the cushion the cash flow provides over the debt payments.
Debt yield
NOI / loan amount, the lender's return if it took the asset, independent of rate and cap rate.
Refinancing + rate risk
The risk that debt can't be refinanced, or only at higher rates, at maturity, squeezing or wiping equity.

Strategy + risk

RE core to opportunistic
Core (stable, leased) -> core-plus -> value-add (lease-up / reposition) -> opportunistic (development / distress).
Infra: availability vs demand
Availability / regulated assets have contracted or regulated revenue (low demand risk); demand / merchant assets bear volume / price risk.
Inflation linkage
Many infra (and some RE) revenues are explicitly linked to inflation via regulation, concession, or contract.
Key risks by type
RE: rent / occupancy / supply / exit cap; infra: demand, regulation, contract counterparty, construction.

Practical drills

  • Walk me through how you'd underwrite an acquisition in the firm's asset class. 5 min prep, 5-7 min delivery. Be ready to be probed on the cap rate, leverage, exit, and where the return comes from.
  • An asset generates $5m NOI. (a) At a 5.0% going-in cap, what's the value? (b) You grow NOI to $6m over the hold and sell at a 5.5% exit cap, what's the exit value? (c) What if the exit cap instead expands to 6.5%?
  • You buy an asset for $100m at a 6% cap ($6m NOI) with 60% LTV debt at 5% interest. (a) Annual cash-on-cash? (b) Is this positive or negative leverage? (c) If you sell in 5 years for $120m (NOI grew), roughly what's the equity outcome?

Smart-question anchors

  • Sourcing, where the firm's deals come from (off-market, relationships, development pipelines, platforms) and how an analyst contributes
  • Value creation, the firm's approach (core income vs value-add / development) and the asset-management capability behind it
  • Underwriting discipline, how the firm sets exit caps, rent / revenue growth, and leverage, and how it stress-tests
  • Capital + risk, the firm's leverage philosophy, debt sourcing, and how it manages refinancing / rate risk
  • Market view, how the firm sees cap rates, the rate environment, and supply / demand in its sectors

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