Bruce Flatt (born 1965) is a global value investor and since 2002 has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager with more than $250 billion in assets under management. He has been referred to as the “Warren Buffett of Canada” and has been said to share Buffet’s approach to investing by insisting on buying high-quality assets at a discount rather than subpar assets on the cheap. Flatt and a group of partners control Brookfield and own 20% of its capital valued at approximately $6 billion.
Early life and education
Bruce Flatt was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His father, Ian, was a senior executive at the Investors Group mutual fund empire for 43 years. At age 16, Flatt began his own company called the Student Lawn Service. It had roughly 30 employees and cut grass throughout Winnipeg. While studying accounting at the University of Manitoba Flatt won “entrepreneur of the year.” In 1985 he graduated with a business degree from the University of Manitoba, and received the second-highest scores in Manitoba on his accounting exam. After graduating he started his career at accounting firm Clarkson Gordon, which was later acquired by Ernst & Young.
Career
In 1990 he joined Brascan, which later, under his leadership, was renamed Brookfield Asset Management.
In 1993 Flatt led Brookfield in its bid to purchase prime office properties from Olympia & York Developments, which was in bankruptcy court. An employee of Olympia & York at the time, Tom Falus, described Flatt as a good negotiator, able to go “head-to-head” with real estate heavyweights. At the conclusion of the purchase four years later, Flatt was promoted to Chief Executive of Brookfield Properties in 2000. He became CEO of Brookfield Asset Management in 2002.
During his tenure as CEO, Flatt simplified the structure of the old Brascan holding company, turning the firm into a global alternative asset manager with four permanent capital listed entities: Brookfield Property Partners, Brookfield Renewable Partners, Brookfield Business Partners and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners all of which trade on the NYSE. “The management style changed under Bruce to looking to public markets as a partner,” says one analyst. Accessing both permanent capital through the public markets, and third-party capital in its private equity funds has provided Flatt and Brookfield the flexibility to pursue large-scale transactions.
Under Flatt’s leadership, Brookfield has maintained a focused and deliberate investment approach, investing in assets that form the backbone of the economy, in high-growth sectors that it knows well, and holding onto them. Utilizing its owner/operator expertise, Brookfield is able to extract value from the asset.
Flatt is a patient, contrarian investor by nature, stating, “We’re a net buyer in anything that’s out of favor.”
He also established investment funds for institutional investors. In 2016 Brookfield closed a number of funds, including $4 billion for its latest private equity fund, its second global opportunistic real estate fund at $9 billion, and $14 billion for its latest infrastructure fund.[18]
He has served as Chairman and/or Director of several corporate entities throughout the years during his career. Since November, 2010 Flatt has been the Chairman of GGP Inc.
Flatt has been called the Warren Buffett of Canada. Former Premier of Ontario David Peterson called Flatt “among a handful of the smartest people in Canada.”
Summary
| Bruce Flatt | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1965 (age 51–52) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Residence | Toronto and New York |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Education | Bachelor of Commerce |
| Alma mater | University of Manitoba |
| Occupation | Brookfield Asset Management, CEO GGP, Chairman |
| Website | www.brookfield.com |
- ruce Flatt is one of the biggest and best investors you’ve likely never heard of.
- Flatt runs Brookfield Asset Management, the $265 billion (assets) alternative manager with real estate, infrastructure and private equity operations.
- He helped revive Brascan through a series of savvy real estate deals and became CEO in 2002, refashioning the firm into Brookfield Asset Management.
- His winning deals include buying Olympia & York in 1996 and London’s Canary Wharf in 2015, and recapitalizing General Growth Properties in 2010.
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