Background
Bruce Flatt was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His father, Ian, was a senior executive at the Investors Group mutual fund empire for 43 years.
Bruce Flatt was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His father, Ian, was a senior executive at the Investors Group mutual fund empire for 43 years.
University of Manitoba.
He has been referred to as the “Warren Buffett of Canada” and has been said to share Buffet’s approach to investing by insisting on buying high-quality assets at a decent price rather than subpar assets on the cheap. Mr. Flatt and a group of Partners control Brookfield and own 20% of its capital valued at approximately $6 billion. Flatt received the second-highest scores in Manitoba on his accounting examination
In 1990 he joined Brascan, which later was renamed Brookfield Asset Management under his leadership.
In 1993 Flatt led Brookfield in its bid to purchase prime office properties from Olympia & York Developments, which was debt-ridden and in bankruptcy court. An employee of Olympia & York at the time, Tom Falus, described Mr.
Flatt as a good negotiator, able to go “head-to-head” with real estate heavyweights. At the conclusion of the purchase four years later, Flatt was promoted to Chief Executive of Brookfield Properties in 2000.
He became Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Asset Management in 2002.
“The management style changed under Bruce to looking to public markets as a partner,” says one analyst. He also established investment funds for institutional investors. He has served as Chairman and/or Director of several corporate entities throughout the years during his career.
Since November, 2010 Flatt has been the Chairman and Director of General Growth Properties Incorporated.
Flatt has been called the Warren Buffett of Canada.
Former Premier of Ontario David Peterson called Flatt “among a handful of the smartest people in Canada.”
Flatt ranked third out of 50 of Canada’s most powerful business people according to ‘Canadian Business.’ Harvard Business Review ranked Flatt 57 out of the 100 “Best-Performing Chief executive officers in the World.
