Throughout his career, David Aiken has accomplished more from throwing himself into the deep end than staying safely on familiar ground.
So, when Aiken, the managing partner of private equity at Brookfield, had the chance to spend three years restructuring the company’s Brazilian private equity team, he didn’t let his inability to speak Portuguese get in the way of a golden opportunity for growth.
“Throughout my career, I’ve always put my hand up for any challenge I thought was interesting and might provide an accelerated learning opportunity or differentiated experience,” says Aiken, who now oversees Brookfield’s global long-term private equity strategy from Toronto.
Role at Brookfield
“Fundamentally, my job is about working with my team to find interesting businesses to buy all around the world. We then try to figure out how to maximize a portfolio company’s value with their senior management team and help them define their strategy.”
Influential Concordians
“My education at Concordia was equal parts academics and athletics, I played football for five years in addition to getting a John Molson School of Business degree.
“Tony Proudfoot was my position coach and had a tremendous impact on me. He showed me that you need to be detail-oriented when teaching others and give very direct and fair assessments of their capabilities and what they can improve on. As a manager, I often think back to the advice and guidance that Tony gave me.”
“My mentors included Professors Monir Wahhab, Gregory Lypny and Abraham Brodt, who all helped develop my interest and understanding of corporate finance.”
Proudest accomplishment
“I’m very proud of our investment in BRK Ambiental, which Brookfield acquired in 2017. The company provides water and sanitation services to 15 million people in Brazil. It's an incredible business from an economic standpoint and, at the same time, we're improving peoples’ lives.”
Career satisfaction
“I enjoy watching people I've helped hire, train and mentor develop and succeed.”
Career advice
“The more risk you take early in your career, the better off you're going to be at the end.”