Mackenzie Moores-Sipos isn’t a property professional – but that didn’t stop her from enrolling in the Master of Real Estate Investment program at UTS. Could real estate investment study work for you too?
A corporate lawyer for real estate fund manager Charter Hall, Mackenzie has found herself working on a range of commercial property matters during her five years with the company.
Course content spans everything from capital markets and investment asset allocation to property transactions and real estate economics and equities. It’s an opportunity for Mackenzie to explore the sector in which she works, as well as to get to know her property industry peers.
I thought it was important to obtain a deeper understanding of the commercial drivers of the business which lead to the investment decisions I’m being asked to document.
By enrolling in the course, I knew I would be in a better position to provide commercially astute and relevant advice and become a trusted advisor to the group.
"The best thing is I’ve made a core group of four people who I work with on assignments, so I think as a networking opportunity, it’s been great to meet more people in industry," she says.
Another benefit of the degree so far is having access to teaching staff who are also working in industry. Learning from people with hands-on experience keeps the course content relevant and up to date, and lecturers can also show students how to apply their learning in specific workplace contexts.
"They understand that work actually comes first, because that’s who’s paying us, and they tell us to make assignments apply to what we do at work," Mackenzie says.
Juggling study with full-time work can be a challenge, but the degree has been structured to recognise the competing demands that postgraduate students face. Course content is delivered via block mode, which means lectures are delivered in a two-week period at the start of the teaching session. The university remains flexible during times of uncertainty – during COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, all classes were made available online.
And Mackenzie also has the support of her company: Charter Hall sponsors a scholarship in the UTS Bachelor of Property Economics, which means they’re already aware of the value that UTS can offer their current and future employees.
"Charter Hall has been really supportive of me doing this – they give me five days’ study leave a year," she says.
"They obviously see value in me doing this course, both to increase my impact at work and enhance my future prospects."
