Pitch Best Young Private Equity Manager 2022: Bart van Schuppen, AlpInvest

Company: AlpInvest 
Job Description: Vice President 
Age: 32 

What are the specialties of this talent? 
Since Bart joined our team in late 2018, he has demonstrated he has a broad range of talents which together with his strong work ethos makes him a top-performer in our team. Looking at his core activities, evaluating and monitoring co-investment deals, he has developed a well-rounded deal judgement and is a good sparringpartner in the deal team. Bart has evaluated 60+ opportunities over the recent years across multiple subsectors and to date has closed 15 (co-)investments representing over €500 million of invested capital (including companies with significant activities in the Netherlands such as Visma and Mediq). The deals he closed also include the largest value drivers in our two most recent funds and include some of our star investments with returns well above our expectations and target levels. Bart is able to combine his broad social-economic interests with prior industry insights, deal expertise and new information in a structured way and short period of time allowing him to prioritize on the relevant risks and opportunities. This efficient way of working allows him to quickly form a well-rounded view on a new opportunity and thereby able to steer the decision-making whether or not pursue a new investment. He combines the above with out-of-the-box analysis and well-supported arguments, which he articulates well both verbally as in writing. 

How does the talent distinguish itself from its peers? 
He stands out in his ability to bring together a huge amount of information down to the essential items and also underpin that with datapoints and analysis. Bart further combines this with strong project management skills. When you work with Bart on a deal you know he has full oversight, manages all the stakeholders and raises issues in time. Overall Bart is known for his desire to strive for the best demonstrated by quality outputs and at the same time efficiently managing both the junior(s) and senior(s) on the deal team. While he strives for high quality, he is still very focused on the development of juniors in the team. For example, when he was working with a new analyst earlier in the year, he identified some learning opportunities and subsequently developed tailored training sessions for this and future new hires. Also he is willing to work with new hires on time-constrained deals, despite that this means he has to do more himself. Next to the development of talent, Bart is also closely involved in our recruiting process and next to a good nose for talent he also has a strong focus on diversity in this process. He also raised on multiple occasions items where he believed our team and the broader organization could further improve in creating an inclusive and sustainable work environment, for example with initiatives to increase time face-to-face in a hybrid work setting post-COVID. 

What impact does the talent have within the organization?  
Bart’s talent and work attitude makes him ‘hot’ to work with. Juniors like to work with him because he is a real team player, but also because they can learn a lot from him and he is willing to invest time to explain things. Seniors similarly like to work with him because of his strong project management capabilities (delivering high quality work on time), and he is someone who knows what he is saying, well underpinned with strong arguments, and also not afraid of doing so.  

Next to the core activities within our team, Bart is regularly asked to support other projects in the organization. Examples include strategic initiatives like review of new adjacencies, fundraising and technology. With respect to fundraising, Bart is currently a core member of the team preparing and managing the fundraising for our next co-investment fund. With his talents he was able to drive new insights which are reflected in our marketing materials and overall story to (potential) new investors. On the technology side, Bart is actively looking into ways to further improve how we leverage the vast amount of information we have about private companies, for example with the help of machine learning / artificial intelligence. 

What impact does the talent have outside the organization?  
In recent years Bart has developed strong relationships with private equity sponsors with whom we co-invest. Besides his activities during the evaluation of investments, he is also (co-)responsible for the monitoring of 10 investments. This year he has taken on further responsibilities in sourcing of new opportunities with relationships such as Hg Capital, KKR and Charterhouse. Investment professionals at these sponsors recognize Bart as a sharp mind and value his insights and views. In many instances Bart further develops the thinking of these professionals. Besides deal acumen, other sponsors also value Bart’s broader experience and insights as demonstrated by a recent request by an East European relationship he received to learn more on the Dutch market and relevant players in light of new investment opportunity they are considering. 

To what extent does the talent make the difference to clients?  
As explained, Bart is a thought leader and has developed a sharp eye to select the best investments out of a broad opportunity set. However on top of his contribution to build a strong performing and diversified investment portfolio for our clients, he now also leverages his relationship to source new opportunities. As mentioned Bart pro-actively invests in the development of the juniors in our team and with a similar level of enthusiasm he hosted training programs for some of our key limited partners (i.e. strategy frameworks, modelling and structured writing). 

Why does the talent deserve this nomination? 
He perfectly fits the description of best Young PE manager as he demonstrates exceptional qualities, like deal judgment, out-of-the-box analysis and project management skills together with a sincere interest to help and train others and create a truly inclusive work environment. This makes that both juniors and seniors are keen to work with him. Bart’s talent is not only recognized in our global co-investment team, but likewise in the broader organization. 

Any references or recommendations from clients or (colleagues)? 
Bart was selected with broad consensus by the managing director group in Amsterdam. If helpful, our colleagues are available to act as a reference and/or we can make available client references.