Case Study

PROBLEM

BCI’s private equity team managed a $21 billion global portfolio of diversified and high performing investments in privately held companies (directly and indirectly via private equity fund commitments). The firm’s private markets business, of which direct PE was a significant component, sought to build on its strength as an investor and build out its direct investing capabilities at the senior level. We were hired to attract two Senior Principals into the Consumer and Industrials teams, respectively. The key challenge was to identify individuals who would move to Victoria, BC on a permanent basis, whose backgrounds and abilities were refined enough to give comfort to the senior investment team that s/he could hit the ground running (sourcing transactions, leading investment due diligence, serve as a team lead and managing assets post-investment).

APPROACH

DES targeted candidates in private equity, pensions, corporate development teams and investment banking firms in Canada, the UK and the US. We focused on candidates with 12-15 years of experience in investment and advisory roles. Our efforts yielded a Canadian who had studied and worked in the US before moving to Calgary; his firm had been part of a high-profile M&A transaction and his wife had family in Victoria, making this an elegant solution.