At this point in the year, we tend to have a lot of conversations with clients and candidates asking the same question: how are we seeing the market shape up for the year ahead?
I canโt take every call, so a short summary of what weโre seeing on the ground felt useful.
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐
Hiring in real estate continues to be led by lenders, particularly those focused on short-term and development finance.
Challenger banks and bridging lenders remain the most active, with consistent demand for experienced loan originators and underwriters.
Mid-market credit funds, by contrast, have generally found fundraising more challenging. Capital is available, but investors are more selective, which has slowed deployment and, in some cases, hiring plans.
๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฏ๐๐-๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ?
Buy-side hiring in 2025 was sporadic.
Activity was largely confined to sector-specific strategies (the usual โbeds and shedsโ) and family offices that donโt rely on third-party fundraising. Many institutional investors remained focused on asset management rather than new acquisitions.
More recently, weโve seen lenders financing a greater number of new acquisitions rather than pure refinancings, alongside early signs of renewed fundraising activity.
If capital deployment continues to improve, buy-side hiring should follow โ but itโs likely to be measured rather than aggressive. Platforms with clear strategy and conviction will move first.
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น:
โก๏ธ Head of Portfolio Management for a challenger bank
Looking for somebody with 20+ years of UK property lending expertise and 5+ year of managing a team
โก๏ธ Non-Exec Director for an alternate lender
Looking for an experienced NED with a bankground in real estate transactions (debt or equity)
โก๏ธ Loan Asset Manager for the real estate debt team of a global fund manager
โก๏ธ Asset Manager for a REPE firm
Based in Frankfurt and managing a portfolio of German CRE assets
โก๏ธ VP for a REPE firm
Unusual skill set as they want somebody with a corporate credit analysis skill set, likely from a lev fin or private credit team
โก๏ธ VP for a real estate debt fund
Need solid experience of leading large ticket development finance transactions
โก๏ธ Head of Unregulated Bridging for a challenger bank
โก๏ธ Associate for the real estate finance team of a challenger banks
Looking for 3+ years of UK REF experience
โก๏ธ Associate for a real estate debt advisor
Looking for 3+ years of UK REF experience
โก๏ธ Analyst roles
We have 3 analyst roles for PE / fund managers
