14 Omiros, good to have you back. Please reintroduce our readers to Brookstreet Equity Partners. Brookstreet Equity Partners (Brookstreet) is an award-winning, Mayfair-based investment platform that seeks out global asymmetric opportunities in undercapitalised markets. We set up the firm with the intention to be a beacon in the industry and developed a solid infrastructure. By means of example, our legal counsel also advised on Softbank’s $100bn+ Vision fund, our administrators handle $1.3+ trillion, our senior professionals have worked at McKinsey, Bulge Bracket Investment Banks and top tier CrossBorder Funds, our teams were educated at Harvard, Oxford and London and train at the British Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (BVCA) and the CFA Institute. In the meantime, we have over 20 Experts as Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) including top CEOs and Chairmen in Shipping, Banking, Big 4, Corporates as well as Multi-Generational Legacy Families and Celebrities. What makes Brookstreet different? We differentiate and disrupt the market in many ways, including positioning and DNA. With regards to positioning, we invest in Growth which blends the excitement of Venture Capital (scalable and innovative firms with intellectual property potential) with the sophistication of Private Equity (detailed due diligence, commercial support, board/management enhancements, downside protections). We have commercial DNA and affiliate links with Candesic, a leading Management Consultancy owned by my partner Dr Leonid Shapiro, that supports us in Commercial Due Diligence and Corporate Strategy. Last year, we brought Lucia Labuzikova in-house, to leverage the talents of our teams across the firm and our investments. She has been a gamechanger in managing our people and our relationships with Portfolio CEOs and Founders. It is of note that our valueadding services are offered at no cost to investors or assets. What changed since COVID-19? Everything… The pandemic has influenced the investment management industry in many ways and transitioned everyone to their next stage of evolution. In business, the disruption to the supply chain, labour workforce and capital flows tested every organisation on the planet. In addition, many of us lost families, friends and colleagues. For me, that was a triple shock and more - a divorce at home, a pandemic at work, and the loss of George V. Bolos who was instrumental in my life – both personally and professionally, all while managing a physical disc injury. However, in such times you stresstest your mind, character, stamina and processes. Our business continuity plans kicked in as soon as the pandemic emerged and I recall we had an investment committee, with heavy heart, the same week that George passed away. During this period, we remained fully investment active, initiated weekly portfolio reviews, broadcasted motivational Brookstreet TV seminars with our leading EIRs and we partnered with Austrian Hedge Fund manager Gottfried Springer of QINO GS to exponentially expand our firm and offer our assets the security of strength and global reach. Meanwhile, the lockdowns accelerated our relationship with technology and remote teams. We invited fellow HBS alum Tom Sperry, CEO of Rogue Ventures USA, to enhance and advance our assets in the post-COVID Tech era and at the same time, we strengthened the European-coverage team with Spyros Papaspyrou, a C-level banking executive who used to manage $32bn, to steer all portfolio ships to safety. Unlike VCs who cover dozens, sometimes hundreds of firms, our thesis was to focus on a few assets with maximum attention. Then, diametrically opposite from Buyout funds, we do not use leverage in our deals, so our assets do not have to pay hefty debt burdens during periods of working capital constraints. Instead, we supported our assets operationally, provided liquidity and extended our investment programme with proprietary origination in targeted markets led by Kostas Maramenos and Vasilis Bolis. In the meantime, Kostas Tsitsis automated fund operations and, supported by Kostas Mitropoulos, developed the Brookstreet 2.0 Management systems. Natalia Bolou from Paris, George’s daughter and successful investment banker in her own right, shared with us ideas on ESG initiatives from the public capital markets. You will notice a few Greek surnames in our team as we heavily invested in tech opportunities in SE Europe, which is on track to produce a few Unicorns this year, with the recent Viva Wallet and JP Morgan deal being one example. To this day, we are particularly proud we never furloughed a single Brookstreet employee and we pulled together as one family - stronger than ever before. In the aftermath of COVID-19, the era of ESG, Diversity, Inclusion and Talent Management emerged. Tell us more about the era of ESG. In the last few years, we experience a tectonic shift by investors from focusing not only on risk and returns but also impact. The CFA Institute documented that 76% of institutional investors and 69% of retail investors declared an interest in ESG, because the pandemic and its harsh economic impact has underscored the need to reset longterm priorities and for the investment industry to restate its stewardship function, particularly within the context of Environmental, Social andGovernance (ESG) factors. The pace and momentum of change was dramatically influenced by COVID-19. Whereas for the Tech-VC markets the pandemic was a catalyst for hope, hype, and sky-high valuations, in the brick-and-mortar world, it was a time that urgently called for leaders to review, reflect and pivot. ESG investing has changed finance forever. ESG ratings make proprietary assessments of stocks and bonds. Banks are using ESG factors in their credit assessments. Investment consultants THE CEO INTERVIEW
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