The World of Private Equity

The volume of private equity investments has exploded of late, with heavily capitalized pension funds joining the fray to seek the better returns afforded by this sector combined with an appropriate risk profile. This industry was really launched in Canada by ONEX  in 1986. In Quebec, Novacap and Schroder Ventures were the first entrants, along with Caisse de dépôt, but newer PE firms abound. A current trend in candidate specifications, as bargain assets become harder to find, is to put the accent on post-investment operating expertise more than financial engineering, in order to wring greater productivity out of investee companies and enhance the prospects of disposing of them at desired rates of return.

We find ourselves working extensively in this sector, searching for senior professionals to join private equity investors themselves and C-level executives and Board members for the companies in which they invest. These assignments are exciting, the stakes are high and top performers are increasingly attracted to this field due to the promise of considerably higher performance-based compensation.

We are energized by this additional development in our firm, as we continue to announce our clients’ new appointments at an accelerating pace, some of which can be found in the Blog section of our webpage. Our group of global affiliates is working closely together, as we in Canada are increasingly called upon to solve some of the domestic market’s most senior executive search mandates, with virtually every assignment having an international dimension to it. We are also identifying Canadians for mandates based abroad as this country’s executive talent becomes more highly prized.

Please accept our best wishes for continued success as we head into this active end of year period.