Pitch Best Young PE Manager 2021: Sep de Baan, Capital A

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Company: Capital A Investment Partners 
Job Description: Analyst 
Age: 25 

What are the specialties of this talent? 
Sep is a very versatile, effective, and sociable private equity professional. With a less common background, having studied in Delft and having no specific finance background, he was determined to make his way into the private equity field and landed an internship with Holland Capital, after which he landed a job with Capital A. During his three years at Capital A, he managed to close 7 deals, successfully guide his portfolio companies through the Covid-19 crisis, all the while also graduating an executive MBA degree at Harvard University. Sep is analytical, always in control of the process and makes sure that everything is finished when it needs to be. Furthermore, he is mature in his contacts with managers and is therefore often the first point of contact for the managers of his portfolio companies. 

How does the talent distinguish itself from its peers? 
With a limited amount of experience, Sep quickly managed to learn all the skills necessary to become a well-rounded private equity professional. He taught himself the core competences of valuation, is able to quickly assess investment opportunities, has acquired the legal skills to structure a deal in a way that is necessary for a private equity investment and is mature for his age. At the age of 25, I believe that Sep has more experience and is further in his development than his peers were at his age. 

What impact does the talent have within the organization?  
Besides the above-mentioned work mentality, Sep also has a significant impact on the social dynamics of Capital A. Sep has often been responsible for organizing social events like the yearly Capital A off-sites, anniversary dinners or general drinks. Besides organizing social events, Sep is also always willing to help out if any problems arise. He can often be found helping other colleagues or guiding (new) interns through issues that they face. 

What impact does the talent have outside the organization?  
Sep’s ambition can also be noticed outside of the company, most clearly by looking at one of his more recent hobbies: mountain climbing. What started with a single trip, ended up being an ambition to continuously set higher goals and climb the highest mountains. His willingness to help also shows outside of the organization, as he is always willing to help friends and family with setting out strategies for their start-ups or scale-ups and even guiding them through their first merger or acquisition. Sep is loyal to his friends, but does not shy away to say what he thinks: you may not always hear what you want to hear, but you will always get his honest opinion, which is often more important. 

To what extent does the talent make the difference to clients?  
The way Sep acts within the company also represents his impact outside of the organizations. Sep will always pick up the phone and start helping out if any issue needs a solution.  
During the Covid-19 crisis, Sep has acted as an important sparring partner for many of his portfolio managers and ensured that his portfolio companies were in control throughout the periods of uncertainty. Sep can also often be found actively pursuing the buy and build strategy of a portfolio company, not just by identifying targets, but also by setting-up meetings and having these meetings together with the portfolio company’s management and often taking charge in these add-on acquisition processes. 

Why does the talent deserve this nomination? 
As mentioned before, Sep is the best young private equity manager of his age group. At 25, Sep has already analysed approximately 100 investment opportunities, of which he ended up closing 7 deals. For each of these 7 portfolio companies, he is actively pursuing a buy and build strategy and gaining more M&A experience every day. During his 3 years of private equity experience, he has also experienced – and managed to safely guide his companies through – a period of high uncertainty. Sep is someone that is highly ambitious, very eager to learn and stops at nothing to reach his goal. He truly deserves to become the best young private equity manager of 2021. 

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