Real Estate Investment MSc

at City University of London

Structure

Overall the MSc Real Estate Investment could be labelled as a degree in finance which is focussed on real estate. Since the topics and methods you study are of interest to all real estate businesses, including the mainstream employers like chartered surveyors, the MSc Real Estate Investment may give you a wider choice of the role you play but it does not pre-determine what sort of firm you work for.
 

Term 1 gives you a grounding in the core skills of the real estate professional. You cover basic appraisal methods applied to valuation, development and financing of investments, financial modelling plus an applied statistics module that incorporates econometric modelling with real estate data. Those techniques are put in a wider context through a module on economics and market analysis and an investment markets module which ranges across all asset classes and financial instruments.
 

Term 2 is more about applications of those core skills and principles. You look in more detail at the financial instruments and techniques to analyse the securitised equity and debt investment markets, private debt market, portfolio risk and property futures.  In Investment Vehicles you cover the different forms of indirect real estate – REITs and property funds: core, opportunistic, value add. In Debt Finance and Investment you take in mortgage lending, mezzanine finance, mortgage-backed securities.
 

Portfolio and Asset Allocation deals with the role of real estate in investment portfolios and the mix of assets within real estate portfolios. Applied Financial Analysis furthers your analytical skills and equips you with more tools to address real world and topical issues in the investment segments of the market.
 

Induction weeks

All of our MSc courses start with two compulsory induction weeks which include relevant refresher courses, an introduction to the careers services and the annual careers fair.

Term 1

• Investment Markets

  Investors measure the performance of real estate and decide how much to invest in it against other asset classes. This module sets that context, covering market structures, pricing and performance measurement across equities, bonds, derivative and currency markets.

• Applied Statistics

  Across all modules in this course you will need good skills in data analysis and an understanding of the statistical methods used in performance analysis, portfolio modelling and risk analysis. This module covers those general techniques, and also shows one major use of those techniques as build a model to forecast rents and development.

• Appraisal and Financial Modelling

  We begin with the foundations of financial principles and mathematics which apply across all asset classes. You then learn how those techniques are used in cash flow modelling, valuation and investment decisions for real estate investments and developments, both in the UK and around the world. Since real estate is often financed with debt, you will apply financial modelling to understand how senior, junior, equity and mezzanine debt affect returns and risks.

• Economics and Market Analysis

  A course in economics is standard for all Business School students. Here you will learn not only those general economic principles but also how they apply to real estate: what determines rent in different places, how differences in rent shape the skyline of our cities, why real estate development notoriously swings from boom to bust.
   

Term 2

• Portfolios and Asset Allocation

  Two of the biggest questions in real estate are show investors decide how much to invest, and then how they spread their portfolios across markets to deliver target returns and risks. You will learn in depth the performance measurement and portfolio construction techniques which drive those decisions, and how to apply them to portfolios spread across countries, sectors and regions. This module builds on the understanding of drivers of real estate returns from different types of investment vehicle covered in other Term 2 modules.

• Investment Vehicles

  Investors buy into real estate in a variety of forms – by buying buildings directly, through fund managers’ vehicles like Property Unit Trusts or Private Equity Funds, or buy buying shares in listed companies like Real Estate Investment Trusts. In this module you will cover the structures of these different vehicles, how they are modelled and priced, with the costs, returns, risks and liquidity they offer to investors.

• Applied Financial Analysis

  The objective of the module is to develop and understanding of theoretical and practical understanding of key techniques in real estate analysis, centred on topics drawn from published research and embedded in other modules in the programme. It will equip students with the skills needed to produce their own analytical models, and to critically evaluate industry and academic research publications.

• Debt Finance and Investments

  Debt finance in real estate is a critical factor for investors and for lenders – indeed as the Global Financial Crisis showed, for the financial system as a whole. This module looks at real estate debt from all those angles, exploring with you the impacts of debt on investor returns, the types of debt offered by lenders and the underwriting criteria they use, the debt explosion and Mortgage Backed securities of the mid-2000s, and the post-GFC world of new regulations and new types of real estate lender.
   

Term 3

• Business Research Project

  The last block of your course, the Business Research Project (BRP), is the one you design and build for yourself. It takes the form of a report of around 8,000 words submitted in August. We see the BRP as your opportunity to have a showpiece which shows potential employers what you know, what you can do, your ability to produce good-quality individual work.
   

  BRP's come in the full range of forms.  To give a few examples:

  • Some are mostly about technical methods (a forecasting model for London offices, REITs and asset allocation in the USA)

  • Others review trends and prospect in specific real estate markets (like housing in Hong Kong, investment in Africa)

  • Or look at topical questions (like the impact of e-tailing on real estate, sustainability and building values)

  • Or look in-depth at specific development projects (Kings Cross in London, a resort in Montenegro).
     

• Term 3 Electives

  In term three, you also pick a set of three elective topics from around six modules specific to real estate plus a range run by other Bayes Masters programmes – some of them taught on trips to locations outside the UK. So you can focus on:

  • Added core real estate topics like building management, sustainability, residential markets.

  • Or on the investment aspects of the industry like REITs, real estate funds and portfolio construction.

  • Or pick up on more general topics such as private equity and project management taught by experts from other Bayes programmes.
     

Electives offered in 2021

• Private Equity Investment

• Visual Basics in Finance

• Residential Investment

• Sustainability in Real Estate

• Hedge Funds

• Mergers & Acquisitions

• Project Leadership
   

International electives

• International Real Estate Markets (taught in Amsterdam)

• Project Finance and Infrastructure Investment (taught in Madrid, Spain)

• A UK upper second class degree or above, or the equivalent from an overseas institution.

• Applicants for MSc Real Estate Investment will be required to have a broader background in quantitative techniques and finance

• Work experience is not a requirement for this course
   

GMAT

• Highly recommended, especially for students without a quantitative background

• A well-balanced score in the range of 600-800 will significantly strengthen your application”

• If you have been studying in the UK for the last three years it is unlikely that you will have to take the test
• If you have studied a 2+2 degree with just two years in the UK you will be required to provide IELTS results and possibly to resit the tests to meet our requirements.
   

IELTS

The required IELTS level is an average of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in the writing section and no less than 6.0 in any other section.

UK/EU/International
£25,000
Tuition fees are subject to annual change
Fees in each subsequent year of study (where applicable) will be subject to an annual increase of 2%. We will confirm any change to the annual tuition fee to you in writing prior to you commencing each subsequent year of study (where applicable).
 

Deposit: £2,000 (usually paid within 1 month of receiving offer and non-refundable unless conditions of offer are not met)
 

First installment: Half fees less deposit (payable during on-line registration which should be completed at least 5 days before the in-person ID–checks)
Second installment: Half fees (paid in January following start of course)

Career pathways

Graduates from the MSc Real Estate Investment go into a wide spread of firms and roles – some into the graduate entry schemes of the chartered surveyors in the UK or abroad. Most are best suited to analyst, strategy or research positions major fund management houses and investment banks, or smaller private-equity type real estate funds, rating agencies and specialist research firms. Many will go on to professional qualifications outside real estate, such as Chartered Financial Analyst Institute.
 

Class of 2020 profile

Recent graduates from the MSc in Real Estate Investment degree have seured positions with companies including:

• Global Graduate Programme - Strategy - Allianz Global Investors

• Off-Cycle Analyst - Merchant Banking Division - Goldman Sachs

• Investment Analyst - Portfolio Management - Hines

• Senior Consultant - Real Estate  - Deloitte

• Capital Markets Executive - Capital Markets - JLL.
   

Connecting with employers

• From week one, we host recruitment visits from all the largest real estate employers – like CBRE, JLL, Cushman Wakefield, Savills – plus other firms in real estate fund management, development, finance.

• Our real estate specialists in the Bayes Careers Service hold contacts with businesses across the industry, and will notify you of job opportunities as they come in through the year.

• You will have un-matched opportunities to network with professionals and employers across London’s vibrant real estate industry at seminars and an annual conference run by our students’ Real Estate Club, and through our mentoring scheme which matches you up with a Bayes graduate, and through industry events outside Bayes.