The Wisconsin Real Estate Program is proud to announce the University of Wisconsin-Madison has formally approved a new Real Estate Private Equity (PE) Program starting in the Fall of 2020. Designed as a one-year track within the Real Estate MS and MBA, this unique initiative culminates a multi-year effort to construct four real estate private equity courses and create an Investment Fund into a “best-in-class” learning opportunity for our graduate students.
The 12-credit program will be led by Mike Brennan, Irgens Executive Director of the Graaskamp Center and Chairman and Managing Principal of Brennan Investments. Mark Eppli, Director of the Graaskamp Center, will teach the Introduction to Real Estate Private Equity Investment course and assist Brennan with the other real estate private equity courses. We believe that we have the best curriculum and best applied and academic team to deliver the best curriculum in the world.
The importance of the Real Estate Private Equity track to the commercial real estate industry cannot be overstated as three-quarters of the $16 trillion in investable commercial real estate (CoStar data) is privately held. Much of the remaining investable commercial real estate is publicly held, which makes the PE Track a great complement to our established Applied Real Estate Investment Track (AREIT) and the general Commercial Real Estate Development Track.
How does the new Real Estate Private Equity Track work and what are the benefits?
Beginning in September of the academic year, students who are enrolled in the Real Estate MBA or MS Programs are eligible to apply for the PE Track (students will need to take a real estate private equity prerequisite workshop scheduled for August). Teams of four graduate students will form an investment management team that will review prospective private placement memoranda and analyze the property, property-market fundamentals, investment capital stack, property management team, and investment sponsor.
The teams will then present their property investment analysis to the Investment Board of the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association (WREAA) Investment Fund for approval. Private placement memoranda are expected in all major asset types including office, retail, multifamily, industrial, hospitality, self-storage and student housing (it should be noted that Private Placement Memoranda are likely to arrive on an intermittent basis and require students to analyze prospective investments with compressed time horizons). The risk profile of Fund Investments will be established at the beginning of the semester and revisited during the semester and is expected to include investments across the risk spectrum, including core-plus, value-add and opportunistic investments.
The PE track will provide our graduate students with targeted expertise and real-world skills in real estate, including:
- How to analyze and underwrite equity investments in commercial real estate
- The steps needed to set up a real estate private placement office
- The ability to generate annual reports and monitor property investments
- The development of investment pitch materials to raise investment equity
- The honing of presentation skills and client interface experience
Application Information – There is still time to apply for the Fall Semester!
Students enrolled in the Real Estate MBA or MS Programs can then enroll in either in the PE or AREIT Tracks. Enrollment is subject to prescribed prerequisites, a personal interview with the instructor(s), demonstrated ability to work with others in a team environment, GPA, GRE/GMAT scores (as applicable) and a written essay conveying why PE candidates wish to pursue this track. For more information, contact Greg Reed, Associate Director of the Graaskamp Center.
Due to the challenging circumstances created by COVID-19, applications for the Real Estate MS will now be accepted now through July 15, 2020. In addition, real estate/WSB undergraduates can apply for the GMAT waiver if they meeting the following criteria: (1) 3.5 GPA or higher and (2) Grade of B or higher in Economics and Statistics or one advanced math course. View the waiver criteria here.
About the Wisconsin Real Estate Program
The new Real Estate Private Equity Track will continue to build our overall academic reputation as one of the premier real estate programs in the world. Our goal is to seamlessly implement this new track while continuing to deliver high-level real estate education across our current BBA, MS, MBA, Global Real Estate Master (GREM) and PhD Real Estate programs. This new initiative will also strengthen the WSB’s total academic offerings in order to better meet the needs of diverse students and to recruit the best talent from around the world to Madison.
Thank you!
We are extremely excited about the future of the Graaskamp Center and the Wisconsin Real Estate Program and we could not have done this without the continued support of our alumni, board members and the Wisconsin School of Business leadership team. Thank you!
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