Acquisitions & Investment Analyst
Job Overview
The Acquisitions & Investment Analyst is responsible for managing incoming information about potential acquisition and investment opportunities, properly entering them into (and maintaining) the CRM system, and performing various analysis and due diligence tasks. The Acquisitions & Investment Analyst may proactively interact with deal sources, such as brokers and listing and news sites, to stimulate deal flow (including, if applicable, marketing automation) and to respond to incoming communications. In addition to managing deal-specific information, the Acquisitions & Investment Analyst is also responsible for the health and tracking of the deal pipeline overall, including data quality, compliance, KPIs, and reporting. ACTIVITIES ALSO INCLUDE TO SIMILAR ITEMS FOR DIVESTMENTS AND DISPOSITIONS, ALTHOUGH NOT LISTED HERE.
Organizational Impact
The Acquisitions & Investment Analyst enhances the organization’s ability to identify good investment opportunities and to make sound decisions. From increasing the number of deals analyzed to ensuring that information is properly evaluated and presented, this role directly improves the ability to execute on investment strategies and generate competitive returns. Producing detailed, orderly presentation of due diligence, data, related analyses leads to better decisions about the allocation of capital, which is critical for the long-term health and success of the enterprise.
Key Systems
The Acquisitions & Investment Analyst works closely with the organization’s CRM system or Deal Pipeline Management system to track contacts, sources, and opportunities, and may also interact with a Document Management (or Enterprise Contact Management or File Share) system to manage deal-related content and agreements. An industry-specific Financial Analysis or Financial Modeling tool is often used in this role to provide pro-formas and analysis of opportunities. If the organization has a unified Task Management System or generic email inbox for deal-related activities, the Acquisitions & Investment Analyst will access those systems to identify new leads and updates to enter into the system. If the organization has a Data Visualization or Business Intelligence system, the Acquisitions & Investment Analyst will engage with that for the purpose of preparing or running reports.
Inputs
A key form of inputs are individual leads or updates forwarded for review and entry by colleagues and senior members of the Acquisitions & Investment team. Examples include forwarded emails and attachments, deal packages and presentations, due diligence items, and other similar items. The Acquisitions & Investment Analyst may also be the initial recipient of deals and opportunities from external sources, such as brokers, public-facing web form submissions, and emails to generic email addresses (such as acquisitions@company.com). Deal content from listing sites and subscription services also constitute inputs. From an analytics standpoint, scheduled or ad-hoc requests for analyses or reports arrive from internal colleagues.
Outputs
The Acquisitions & Investment Analyst’s output generally relates to updating information about prospective acquisitions and investments, both in profiling new entries and in making updates to reflect new activities and communications. As related information is created or received, they are outputted either as system updates or as communications to relevant parties. An important form of output includes the results of ingesting and synthesizing new content, such as due diligence packages, underwriting in the Company’s format, and investment memos. Outputs also include responses to scheduled and ad-hoc reporting and analytic tasks. In addition, the Acquisitions & Investment Analyst may output reminders and suggestions to team members, such as notifications of open tasks or items requiring follow up. Finally, the Acquisitions & Investment Analyst may be responsible for preparing and transferring post-investment information to relevant downstream teams, such as Legal, Contraction, Operations, and Accounting.
Activities
- Receive incoming offering packages
- Create new or update existing CRM records
- Engage with deal source and log contact information
- Create records as needed for market, deal source, auction, and related metadata
- Execute and save nondisclosure agreements
- Maintain deal room login information
- Review incoming emails and attachments and update system
- Plan due diligence
- Obtain and organize due diligence items
- Perform standard initial underwriting per company standards for first draft of deals in company-specific format
- Generate relevant deal-specific KPIs per company standard
- Use financial modeling system to abstract and value leases and other customer contracts
- Respond to internal team, buyer and lender questions.
- Coordinate information and processes across all stages, including: initial Look, preliminary underwriting, site visit, pre-contract due diligence, departmental audits, in-contract due diligence, pre-closing, closing, post-closing handoff.
- Regularly review listing sites, auctions, and subscription services to identify new opportunities
- Prepare initial recommendation of purchase price and deal terms
- Assign and track due diligence items to internal and external resources, such as lease abstraction, legal, engineering, title, and insurance
- Enter coordinates and validate geolocation and geofencing
- Identify and research opportunities relating to special opportunity zones or tax treatment if applicable
- Prepare packages for sales and investment opportunities
- Document control / administration of deal documentation overall
- Schedule and attend Deal Committee meetings
- Prepare and circulate acquisition & investment pipeline report
- Maintain deal source data
- Follow-up on what happened with deals not consummated and on later performance
- Check in regularly with deal sources
- Review and Package Sales Information for Downstream Teams
- Kickoff On-Boarding Process
Recommended Items
- Due Diligence Checklist
- Investment Proposal Template
- Financial Modeling Guidelines
- Market Analysis Framework
- Risk Assessment Checklist
- Valuation Methodologies Guide
- Investment Committee Presentation Template - Portfolio Performance Review Template
- Deal Structuring Guidelines
- Post-Investment Monitoring Checklist
Content Example
- Incoming Emails and Queries
- Real Estate Investment Sales Package
- Investment Pitch Deck
- Online Listing Site
- Nondisclosure Agreement / Confidentiality Agreement
- Preliminary Underwriting / Proforma
- Investment Memo
- Comps Analysis
- Due Diligence Checklist
- Investment Opportunity Pipeline Report
-Post-Investment Handoff Package / Checklist
Sample Event-Driven Tasks
- Process Incoming Acquisition and Investment Opportunities
- Create New Records or Update Existing
- Add or Update Metadata
- Communicate with Deal Sources
- Execute NDAs
- Manage Deal Room Access
- Respond to Internal and External Questions
- Traffic Incoming Requests and Emails
- Plan Due Diligence
- Assemble Due Diligence Items (including 3rd party reports, title work, site and floor plans, survey and easements, insurance, contracts, leases, permits and warranties, environmental, public filings, intellectual property, zoning, expense history, capital expenditures, online reviews, budget, financial statements, tax bills, receivables, customer list or rent roll, and other relevant documents on the Due Diligence Checklist)
- Organize Due Diligence Materials
- Perform Initial Underwriting
- Perform Financial Modeling
- Abstract / Evaluate Leases or Contracts
- Perform Competitive Assessment
- Coordinate Information and Deal Evaluation Processes
- Prepare Initial Recommendations & Draft Deal Memo
- Prepare Ad-Hoc Analyses as Requested
- Process Internally Forwarded Updates and Documents
- Kickoff On-Boarding Process
Sample Scheduled Tasks
- Data Quality Audit
- KPI Calculation / Analysis / Dissemination
- Acquisitions & Investment Pipeline Reporting
- Document Control Review / Retention
- Review and Close Deal Rooms and File Shares
Sample Infill Tasks
- Follow-Up on Dead / Lost Deals
- Check for Duplicates
- Look for New Deal Sources
- Compare Existing Deals vs Other Examples
- Contact Deal Sources for Prospects
- Review Process Documentation and Update