| Program start date | Application deadline |
| 2023-09-01 | - |
Program Overview
Who is it for?
The postgraduate degree in Real Estate Investment is your gateway to a successful career in property and real estate, or in financial services. Choose this course if you’re looking for roles and a career in real estate investment strategy, capital markets and fund management, real estate finance and investment research but also in all areas of real estate including professional services.
You’re a graduate with the equivalent of a UK upper second degree with a good background in quantitative techniques. You may be looking to boost your real estate career, or just starting out – either way, you already have an interest in real estate and you’re ready to develop strong analytical and practical skills that are in high demand across the real estate profession.
Objectives
On the Bayes MSc in Real Estate Investment, you’ll learn at a faster pace than on the master’s in Real Estate, so you’ll need a good understanding of quantitative methods, or have work experience within the industry.
You’ll start with the core skills of valuation, financial modelling, development appraisal, market analysis and statistical applications to the real estate market and investment. You’ll then take on advanced methods in financial modelling, forecasting, debt finance and investments, portfolio analysis, and examine in more detail the financial markets created by Real Estate Investment Trusts and Mortgage Backed Securities.
You’ll learn in a robust framework of quantitative methods and financial and economic theory and acquire up-to-date industry techniques and practical tools hands-on in computer labs.
The MSc Real Estate Investment course requires an aptitude in quantitative methods. The MSc Real Estate equips you for roles across all types of real estate business and is open to those with previous degrees or work experience in any discipline.
Program Outline
Structure
- Learn from expert teaching staff, active researchers with senior-level industry experience, and from industry professionals from London, a global real estate and finance hub.
- Choose a course that’s valued by major employers in real estate and finance and accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), enabling graduates to enter the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence (APC).
- Gain the theoretical understanding and practical skills that industry employers are seeking.
- Match your course to your ambitions, including international electives and a business research project that you design.
- Build your professional network in a global real estate hub, close to London’s financial core, and through our students’ Real Estate Club, our mentoring scheme and industry events.
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. Examples include assessing the impact of building green features on values and forecasting.
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 leading to assess relationships empirically and build models to forecast take up, 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 – business cycles, inflation, interest rates, government and central bank policies - but also how they apply to real estate: drivers of demand for real estate and supply of space, rent determination and property yield movements. The module also covers the urban hierarchy, location, agglomerations and government intervention in the real estate market.
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 an 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, conduct and assess forecasts, evaluate the information content of investment ratios and blockchain in real estate investment and overall to critically analyse 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 and the features of securitised debt - CMBS and convertible bonds. Extensive use of Excel is made to illustrate the impact of leverage on performance, loan payments, calculate lender risks and default adjusted lender IRRs and to structure a CMBS deal.
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 2022
- Behavioural Finance
- Ethics, Society and the Finance Sector
- Hedge Funds
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Private Equity Investment
- Visual Basics in Finance
- Family Business
- Project Leadership
- Advanced Modelling and Risk Analysis
- Building Project Management and Procurement.
International electives
- International Real Estate Markets (taught in Dubai, UAE)
- Project Finance and Infrastructure Investment (taught in Madrid, Spain)
Please note that electives are subject to change and availability.
With our master’s in Real Estate Investment you can choose from a wide spread of firms and roles. You will be well suited to analyst, strategy or research positions in major fund management houses and investment banks, or smaller private-equity type real estate funds, rating agencies and specialist research firms. Or you could go on to professional qualifications, joining the graduate entry schemes of chartered surveyors in the UK or abroad or stepping outside real estate, such as the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute.
The real estate specialists at Bayes Careers Service use their industry contacts to arrange recruitment visits from the largest real estate employers throughout your course, and send regular job alerts. You’ll also get support and advice from them, and through our Bayes graduate mentoring scheme.
Class profile
Recent graduates from the MSc in Real Estate Investment degree have seured positions with companies including:
- Real Estate Analyst - Principal Finance - Macquarie Group
- Analyst - Residential Investment and Development - Savills
- Analyst - Investment management - Hines
- Analyst - Tristan Capital Partners
- Investment Analyst - Real Estate Private Equity - GWM Capital.
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 industry events outside Bayes.
Previous graduates have gone on to work in property and real estate across the UK, Asia and the EU.
(Data provided from alumni who completed the annual destination data survey for 2020/21 and 2019/20).
Bayes Business School: A Summary
Overview:
Bayes Business School, formerly known as Cass Business School, is a renowned business school located in London. It is part of City, University of London and boasts a rich history of over 50 years in business education. The school is known for its commitment to providing world-leading education and fostering a culture of "always learning."
Services Offered:
Bayes Business School offers a comprehensive range of services to its students, including:
Academic Programs:
Undergraduate, Master's, PhD, MBA, Executive Education, and Degree Apprenticeships.Student Hub:
A dedicated online platform for students to access resources and information.Alumni Network:
A strong network of graduates providing support and opportunities.Staff Hub:
A platform for staff to access resources and information.Student Life and Campus Experience:
Key Reasons to Study There:
Triple-Crown Accreditation:
Bayes Business School holds the prestigious triple-crown accreditation from AMBA, EQUIS, and AACSB, signifying its high standards of quality.Top Rankings:
Consistently ranked among the top business schools in the UK and Europe, including 2nd in London and 5th in the UK according to the Financial Times European Business Schools 2023 ranking.Global Women's Leadership Programme:
A dedicated program designed to inspire, equip, and connect women leaders.Focus on Innovation:
Encourages students to think critically and creatively about the challenges of the future.Strong Industry Connections:
Provides opportunities for students to connect with leading businesses and professionals.Academic Programs:
Bayes Business School offers a wide range of academic programs across various disciplines, including:
Undergraduate:
Bachelor's degrees in Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Marketing.Master's:
A variety of specialized Master's programs in areas such as Finance, Management, Marketing, and Data Analytics.PhD:
Doctoral programs in various business disciplines.MBA:
Full-time and part-time MBA programs designed to develop leadership skills and business acumen.Executive Education:
Customized programs for professionals seeking to enhance their skills and knowledge.Degree Apprenticeships:
A combination of work experience and academic study leading to a degree.Other:
Research:
Bayes Business School is known for its strong research output, with academics contributing to the advancement of knowledge in various business fields.Location:
Situated in the heart of London, providing students with access to a vibrant business environment and numerous networking opportunities.Global Reach:
The school has a strong international presence, with students and faculty from around the world.Entry requirements
- 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
- GMAT is not required for application, but may be requested as a condition of offer at the discretion of the Admissions Panel.
English language requirements
If you have been studying in the UK for the last three years it is unlikely that you will have to take an English language test.
If you have studied in the UK at degree level for less than three years (e.g. 3+1, 2+1, 2+2, etc.) you will be required to provide the results of an approved English language test and possibly resit the test to meet our academic entry requirements.
It is essential that all students have an excellent command of English as we welcome students from around 100 different nations to study with us here at Bayes. In order to participate fully in the collaborative learning process, all students who have not previously studied at degree level in a majority English-speaking country as defined by the Home Office* must sit one of the approved English language proficiency tests listed below.
*see
