A chance meeting at a charity event in the Windy City gave Rob Wildeman a competitive edge that helped him toward his goal of having a career in private equity.
While completing his MBA at the University of Chicago in 2003, he met one of the partners of Hilco Equity Management LLC, who happened to be an alumnus of the university. Despite studying full time, Wildeman was keen to do more. “He asked if I was interested in getting some private-equity experience, and I said absolutely. I met him on a Friday and got an interview on Monday. I ended up getting interviewed by all the partners, and they actually had me start working that afternoon.”
Wildeman ended up volunteering more than 40 hours a week gaining invaluable experience working on a few deals while completing his degree.
After graduating, he headed to New York and became an investment-banking associate for Citigroup Global Markets and advised on several multibillion-dollar deals. “Working on Wall Street at a very busy time, getting to see some amazing transactions and meeting interesting people you usually only read about was a huge highlight.”
Wildeman didn’t think twice when the chance came to return to Vancouver and join Tricor Pacific Capital Inc. in 2006. “Leaving Wall Street was a pretty big decision but, looking back, I couldn’t be happier.”
While he’s not working 100- to 120-hour weeks as much as he did while in the Big Apple, he’s certainly kept busy at Tricor, being involved in nine of the firm’s recent deals. Promoted as a director last year, Wildeman is now on the board and oversees Tricor’s investments in Advance Engineering Products and Expocrete Concrete Products Ltd.
As part of one of the largest private-equity firms in Western Canada, Wildeman couldn’t be happier professionally. “This is my dream job. There’s nothing else out there I can see myself doing.” •
