Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
Today’s episode unpacks how to build a private equity firm within one of the largest and most unique investment platforms in private markets.
We sat down in Brookfield Asset Management’s Brookfield Place office in downtown NY with David Nowak, the President of Brookfield’s Private Equity Group.
David and I dove into a conversation about the private equity industry, Brookfield’s approach to private equity, and how the firm’s culture and DNA shapes how they work with portfolio companies and LPs.
David has overall responsibility for the Private Equity Group’s North American business. He also serves as Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Private Equity Fund. He joined Brookfield in 2011. He holds a MBA degree from Duke University, where he graduated as a Fuqua Scholar, and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario.
David and I had a fascinating conversation about private equity and the Brookfield platform. We covered:
- How Brookfield’s owner-operator alignment informs how they approach private equity investing and their partnerships with portfolio companies.
- How the industry has gone from “roll your dice private equity to roll up your sleeves private equity.”
- Why and how the firm has a “blue collar work ethic.”
- The firm’s flat structure and a culture of collective effort, humility, and “earning your seat.”
- Why Brookfield’s private equity business focuses on complex carve outs.
- Why it’s important for investors to “think like an operator.”
- How the firm approaches value creation and the importance of understanding value creation levers even before making an investment.
- How Brookfield’s broader platform provides the private equity business with insights and subject matter expertise.
- The story behind Brookfield’s Westinghouse investment.
- What it means to look for “unloved businesses.”
- Why private equity is an apprenticeship business and how AI might impact the next generation of private equity leaders.
Thanks David for sharing your expertise, wisdom, and passion for private equity and company and culture-building.
Show Notes
00:00 Cold Open
00:51 A Message from our Sponsor, Ultimus
01:48 Welcome to Alt Goes Mainstream and David Nowak
03:30 Brookfield Culture is We Not I
04:48 Leadership Succession and Humility
06:22 Earn Your Seat Mindset
06:30 Owner Operator Alignment
08:23 Maax Bath Case Study
09:34 Roll Up Your Sleeves Private Equity
11:31 Operators on the Team
12:06 Secondments Train Investors
12:53 Underwriting with Reality Checks
13:58 Platform Advantage and Insights
16:46 How Collaboration Actually Works
18:56 Long Term Patient Capital
21:07 Value Creation Playbook
24:38 Contrarian Deals and Valuation Nuance
27:41 Underwriting Operating Change
27:55 Fixable vs Hard Problems
29:16 Winning Management Buy In
30:00 Early Wins and Focus
30:25 Humility on the Ground
31:06 Listening in Founder Talks
32:09 Stretching Young Leaders
33:23 Flat Structure Decision Table
34:24 Scaling Without Losing Culture
35:06 Open Space and Mobility
35:50 Cross Office Deal Teams
37:20 Fund Size and Return Pressure
38:23 Shift to Quality Businesses
39:25 Good Business or Cheap
40:13 Risk First Capital Protection
41:50 Graphite Electrode Auction Win
43:45 Diligence - Then Move Fast
48:14 Curiosity Apprenticeship and AI
A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus
This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.
That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.
Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.
We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.
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