Associate, Investments

About Cottonwood Group: Cottonwood is a vertically integrated and diversified real estate investment management company with robust in-house asset management and development capabilities. We are headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Boston and New York, and an AUM of over US$3 billion. Our private equity roots and extensive institutional relationships provide our investors unique access to superior real estate opportunities across the entire capital stack from equity positions to senior debt investments. Our leadership team has over 100 years of combined experience in structuring, funding, closing, and developing some of the largest real estate projects in the United States.

About the Job: The Associate within Investments will primarily be responsible for supporting the Investments team in identifying, underwriting and executing key investment opportunities. This job is ideal for someone who is highly analytical and detail oriented, an effective communicator, excels at multi-tasking under pressure, and is able to effectively prioritize workflow and assignments. We are looking for an individual who has a solid understanding of the market fundamentals that ultimately influence how the Firm structures and executes investments. A successful Associate is eager to further their knowledge, skills, and abilities to take on new challenges to progress their professional growth.

Core Responsibilities:

• Due diligence, including analysis of entitlements and environmental issues, construction budgets and schedules, financial projections and appraisals, market reports and feasibility studies
• Developing cash flow models and valuation analyses
• Assisting in the development and documentation of transaction rationale and investment strategy, including preparation and presentation of investment memoranda and investor presentation materials
• Perform competitive market analysis and demographic research to assess real estate trends and identify opportunities
• Reviewing transaction and capital agreements, including purchase and sales agreements, joint venture agreements, loan agreements, co-lender agreements, asset management agreements, and development agreements
• Facilitating pre- and post-closing transaction processes, coordinating with legal counsel, appraisers, auditors, consultants, and other deal service providers

More About You: You are passionate about Real Estate and looking to continue to grow in your career with a growth-focused Firm. You are inquisitive and motivated to expand your business acumen, including in respect of geographies and deal structures/opportunities and are continually engaged in self-improvement. You are a naturally disciplined individual, which enables you to work comfortably in a fast-paced, complex deal/transactional environment. You are an excellent communicator and have a natural ability to network and build strong relationships within the industry. You have an appreciation for deadlines and a strong ability to not only meet your own but help your team and fellow collaborators meet theirs. You have an excellent ability to use sound judgment and work independently. You have strong attention to detail and accuracy. You are someone who exhibits a strong sense of ownership for your work product and continuously seeks to understand how your contributions add value and lead to high success within the Firm in reaching its overall business mandates and objectives.

All of Cottonwood's employees are expected to demonstrate a high level of integrity, mutual respect, professionalism, and a commitment to working in partnership with our key stakeholders (guests, clients, business partners, and co-workers).

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Real Estate, Economics, Finance, or related focus of study preferred or a minimum of 4 years in a related field
• A graduate from a top-tier college institution, a plus, but not required
• Minimum 3-7 years’ experience working in real estate investment management, conversant with either private equity or loan transactions
• Experience analyzing and underwriting ground-up developments and value-add redevelopments, multifamily and/or for-sale residential experience is a plus
• Strong knowledge of financial accounting; strong analytical/modeling skills
• Expert in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; experience working with Argus a plus
• Ability to travel as needed for diligence of investment opportunities and asset management of existing investments
• Exceptional business writing skills; ability to navigate through complex legal documents an advantage
• The employee must have the physical capability to perform all the core functions of the position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the core functions of the job.

APPLICATION MATERIALS REQUIRED: All applicants should submit at a minimum a up-to-date resume and deal sheet.

Deal Sheet Requirements:

• Deal Name, Property Type, Geography, Size, Deal Description and Status (Closed or Pending), Role i.e. Deal lead vs. providing support on financial analysis, due diligence, etc.