Main Purpose of the Role

The Business Development Analyst will play a key role in supporting the firm's investor relations and capital-raising initiatives across a diverse range of investor channels, consultant relationships, and prospective client opportunities. Working closely with senior members of the Investor Relations team, the Analyst will contribute to fundraising efforts, investor engagement, business development strategy, market intelligence, and relationship management across the firm's global real estate investment platform.

This is a foundational seat designed to build the skills, market knowledge, and relationships required to develop into an institutional sales professional over time. The ideal candidate understands that the first several years involve significant foundational work, approaches that work with curiosity and ownership, and is committed to learning the institutional sales process from the ground up. Success in this role requires patience, intellectual humility, and a long-term mindset. Advancement is earned through demonstrated mastery of the foundational work, not tenure.

Responsibilities

• Partners with senior team members to support fundraising and client engagement efforts across all investor segments, including institutional asset owners, insurance companies, investment consultants, and private wealth distribution partners, helping to identify opportunities, deepen relationships, and advance business development priorities.
• Monitor industry databases, consultant platforms, and market resources for fundraising opportunities, active searches, and RFP/RFI activity.
• Research prospective investors, consultants, and competitors to identify key decision-makers, track allocations and fundraising trends, and surface targeted outreach opportunities and themes.
• Prepare investor profiles, meeting briefs, and market intelligence summaries for senior team members in advance of meetings, conferences, and roadshows.
• Coordinate follow-up activities resulting from investor and consultant meetings, including drafting correspondence, tracking action items, and facilitating responses to information requests.
• Support sales team with fund-specific marketing efforts by identifying appropriate contacts for marketing distributions, including webinar invitations, pipeline updates and thought leadership papers, while helping ensure outreach is appropriately targeted and compliance approved 
• Assist in preparing recurring pipeline updates and internal reporting for fund-level capital raising efforts
• Partner with investment, research, portfolio management, legal, compliance, and operations teams to gather information required for investor communications and due diligence requests.
• Maintain the firm’s prospect pipeline and CRM system, ensuring accurate tracking of investor interactions, pipeline activity, and business development opportunities, and proactively flagging stale relationships and follow-up opportunities.
• Analyze marketing campaigns, distribution lists, and investor engagement metrics to identify opportunities for enhanced outreach and relationship development.
• Monitor inbound investor and consultant inquiries and help ensure timely and high-quality responses.
• Support conference preparation, consultant meetings, investor events, and other business development initiatives as needed.

Skills/Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business, Marketing, Real Estate, or a related field.
• 1–3 years of relevant experience preferred, ideally on an internal sales desk or in a comparable institutional sales support, investor relations, business development, or client service role. Strong recent graduates will also be considered. 
• Coachable, humble, and team-oriented, with the maturity to take direction, accept feedback, and put in the foundational work required to develop into a senior institutional sales professional over time.
• Genuine interest in working with industry data sets and translating raw data into actionable insights and prospect themes. 
• Ability and willingness to obtain FINRA registrations (SIE, Series 63, and Series 7) within the first couple of years of employment.
• Interest in pursuing additional professional designations such as the CAIA and/or CFA is strongly preferred, reflecting a commitment to continued learning and professional development. 
• Understanding of, or strong interest in, institutional fundraising, investor relations, and the investment management industry, with a particular interest in real estate, private markets, private equity, or alternative investments.
• Strong analytical and research skills, including the ability to synthesize information into actionable insights.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Highly organized with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively across teams.
• Strong client service orientation and commitment to handling confidential information with discretion.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook.
• Experience with CRM platforms such as Salesforce, Juniper Square, Dynamo, DealCloud, or similar systems preferred.
• Familiarity with industry databases and research platforms such as Preqin, Burgiss, S&P Global Market Intelligence, Money Market Directory (MMD), WITH Intelligence, or similar resources is a plus.

Please Note:

We encourage candidates to use AI thoughtfully - as a tool to refine their work, not replace their voice - and we use AI responsibly in our hiring process to support fair, human-led decisions.

AEW is unable to consider candidates for employment who currently need, or will need, sponsorship to be employed in the United States.

Compensation 

At AEW, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package.  The base pay for this role is between $75-85K.  Your actual base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, location, internal equity, and market conditions.  Additional compensation and benefits include: