James Brocklebank joined Advent in 1997 and is a Managing Partner in London, serving as Co-Head of Europe. He advises on investments in the business & financial services sector. James has advised on 22 investments while at Advent.
Prior to joining Advent, James worked on international mergers and acquisitions in the London office of investment bank Baring Brothers and its affiliate, Dillon, Read & Co., in New York.
James holds an MA in Geography from Cambridge University.
What advice would you give to a new hire at Advent?
I suggest two things. The first is always to ask questions. The second is to develop a specialization. Find a sector and sub-sector and become the expert in that area. In my case it was payments, but there are so many interesting areas across industries to explore. I recommend individuals get a really deep understanding of the value chain in that industry and identify the best companies and teams to engage with. Even more important than identifying great companies is being able to articulate the investment thesis, and practicing this is one of the best ways for someone starting out in their career to learn to become a great investor.
What aspects of your job inspire and drive you?
Three things. The first is that there’s never a dull moment in this job. It’s extraordinary – every day something comes out of left field you can’t predict. The second thing is the learning curve. You never stop learning to be a better investor, including through your mistakes. And third, I really enjoy leading an organization with a great heritage and a great group of people striving for continuous improvement.
How do you identify businesses that might interest Advent?
Advent looks for investments with clearly defined levers that we can pull to really drive transformation and growth. We avoid investments that are capped on the upside, where it may be an excellent company, but we can’t see a path to making it a better or faster growing business. And it’s no good if the company has too many diffuse value creation initiatives. You need a few clear, strong levers you know you can pull.
“There’s never a dull moment in this job. It’s extraordinary – every day something comes out of left field you can’t predict.”
James Brocklebank
Managing Partner, Advent International
What makes being part of a privately owned partnership special?
Being a private partnership gives us a kind of family atmosphere: we’re less institutional than many of the public firms and have a more entrepreneurial culture. Our heritage is in venture capital, not merchant banking.
Who has influenced you the most in business?
There’s a former colleague I worked with at Advent who is an extraordinary individual. I got to know him when I was an associate, and I learned an awful lot from him. Every time we spoke, he’d make me think in a different way. Sometimes it was about big topics, such as the characteristics of the best – and worst – business models – things that I found super useful. But he also had strong opinions on the smaller things, such as body language in a meeting setting.
