Associate, Morgan Stanley Private Real Estate Credit – Asset Management

Morgan Stanley Investment Management (“MSIM”), together with its investment advisory affiliates, has more than 1,300 investment professionals around the world and $1.7 trillion in assets under management or supervision as of December 31, 2024. Morgan Stanley Investment Management strives to provide strong long-term investment performance, outstanding service and a comprehensive suite of investment management solutions to a diverse client base, which includes governments, institutions, corporations and individuals worldwide.

Mesa West Capital, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, is a commercial real estate portfolio lender with over $8 billion in assets under management. Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in New York, Chicago, Houston and San Francisco, Mesa West has been a leading provider of commercial real estate debt since its founding in 2004. Mesa West provides non-recourse first mortgage loans for core/core-plus, value-add, and transitional properties throughout the United States. Its lending portfolio includes all major property types with loan sizes ranging from $20 million to $400 million. Since inception, the firm has sourced and closed more than 450 transactions totaling over $28 billion. Mesa West manages institutional capital through a series of private equity funds (open-end, closed-end and separate account mandates). This is an opportunity to join a successful, market-leading platform, and participate in the further growth of the company.

For more information, please visit our website at www.mesawestcapital.com .

Job Description

The Associate candidate will be a member of the Asset Management team based in the Los Angeles office and will support management of and will manage, loan assets originated from all Mesa West office locations. This person will be actively involved in all facets of asset management, including monitoring, reporting, restructuring, and modifying existing loans in the portfolio. The ideal candidate will be highly motivated, organized, and dynamic as the team interacts with all areas of the firm including Originations, Investor Relations, Accounting, and senior leadership. The candidate will also interface with the outsourced loan servicing team.

This role presents an excellent opportunity to join a high-performing firm with an institutional client base.

Primary Responsibilities

• Work within the Asset Management team that oversees a large institutional CRE loan portfolio.
• Support senior asset managers as well as directly manage a number of highly structured loans secured by commercial real estate located in various geographic locations.
• Perform quantitative and qualitative analyses of property and borrower performance.
• Become familiar with and ultimately implement loan structure as outlined in loan documents.
• Prepare Investment Committee memorandums for loan modifications, restructuring, or other deal-related items.
• Support negotiation of legal documentation for loan modifications.
• Maintain strong rapport and relationships with borrowers and sponsors throughout the life of a loan.
• Monitor property business plans, monthly operating performance, and capital projects.
• Manage draw/funding requests.
• Present quarterly asset reviews to entire firm.
• Interact with and direct third-party consultants including attorneys and inspectors.
• Periodic property inspections.
  
  

Requirements & Qualifications

Candidates for this position must have the following:

• At least 3 to 5 years of experience in an analytical role which could include real estate, finance, banking, equity, and corporate finance.
• An undergraduate degree in business, finance, economics, management, or real estate; real estate program or coursework a plus.
• Strong analytical and quantitative approach to business and problem solving.
• An understanding of financial modeling including discounted cash flows, IRR calculation and scenario analysis.
• Real estate underwriting and valuation experience a plus.
• Excellent Microsoft Excel skills with the ability to create models from scratch. Argus experience a plus.
• Ability to be dynamic and operate efficiently in a fast-pasted environment.
• The ability to effectively multi-task and undertake a large number and variety of tasks while maintaining high quality work product.
• Strong written, verbal communication, presentation, and management skills.
• Self-motivated, thoughtful, detail oriented and highly organized.
• Unquestioned personal and professional integrity and ethical behavior.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work in a collaborative environment.
  
  

What You Can Expect From Morgan Stanley

We are committed to maintaining the first-class service and high standard of excellence that have defined Morgan Stanley for over 89 years. Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren’t just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries. At Morgan Stanley, you’ll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There’s also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work.

Expected base pay rates for the role will be between $115,000 and $135,000 per year at the commencement of employment. However, base pay if hired will be determined on an individualized basis and is only part of the total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, incentive compensation, discretionary bonuses, other short and long-term incentive packages, and other Morgan Stanley sponsored benefit programs.

Morgan Stanley's goal is to build and maintain a workforce that is diverse in experience and background but uniform in reflecting our standards of integrity and excellence. Consequently, our recruiting efforts reflect our desire to attract and retain the best and brightest from all talent pools. We want to be the first choice for prospective employees.

It is the policy of the Firm to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, sex stereotype, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, disability, marital and civil partnership/union status, pregnancy, veteran or military service status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversifying its workforce (M/F/Disability/Vet).