Brookfield CEO Connor Teskey on How to Invest With Less Risk and Better Returns

Eliminate market risk through simultaneous contracting

Brookfield commits capital only after simultaneously locking in construction costs, long-term offtake agreements, EPC contracts, and financing, creating inflation-linked cash flows immune to interest rate or commodity price volatility.

Target the evolving backbone of the economy

The firm consistently invests in critical infrastructure driving global productivity, evolving from hydro dams and railroads to data centers, fiber, and renewable energy as economic infrastructure needs transform.

Embrace execution risk while avoiding market timing

Teskey emphasizes taking operating and development risks where Brookfield possesses expertise while structurally avoiding market risk, applying this repeatable model across power, real estate, and digital infrastructure.

Expand from four flagship products to sixty strategies

Over the past decade, Brookfield diversified from four flagship strategies into sixty specialized products—including mezzanine debt, super-core, and retail wealth channels—packaging the same consistent investment approach for diverse client needs.

Deploy capital across sixty countries

Managing approximately $1 trillion, the firm raises capital worldwide with major concentrations in the US and Western Europe while aggressively expanding operations across Asia, India, the Middle East, and South America.

Adapt to new asset classes

Roughly seventy percent of Brookfield's current investment targets, including solar, nuclear, batteries, and data centers, were not investable asset classes fifteen to twenty years ago, requiring constant adaptation while maintaining the core investment thesis.

Decide at ninety percent certainty

Teskey learned that waiting for absolute certainty results in paralysis; making decisions at ninety percent confidence and executing consistently yields better outcomes than perfecting Excel models that create false precision.

Use distance to force initiative

Building the European renewables platform from London taught him that physical separation from headquarters forces faster decision-making and higher initiative, leading to unexpectedly strong results when trusting independent judgment.

Value communication over analysis

Early career feedback that analytical excellence meant nothing when presentations confused audiences taught him that simplifying complex ideas for clear communication is as critical as the underlying technical work.

Measure work ethic by availability

Teskey attributes his rapid rise not just to capacity for work but to being constantly available for colleagues at all levels, taking calls across time zones to provide advice and maintain team momentum.