Mike Beauregard
Talent is a homegrown concept at Huron Capital Partners.
The downtown Detroit-based private-equity firm finds most of its employees from one of two main sources. The first is through a newly-created internship and entry-level position pipeline that bridges the
University of Michigan Ross School of Business in Ann Arbor and Huron Capital Partners' office in the Guardian Building. The second is by recruiting experienced investment professionals with the some sort of history in the Great Lakes State.
"We use these programs as a feeder system for some good long-term employment candidates," says Mike Beauregard, senior partner at
Huron Capital Partners. He adds, "we look for those candidates that have a bridge back to Michigan. Ninety percent of the people here have that story."
Huron Capital Partners is currently on its fourth investment vehicle, which is worth $500 million. It has raised $1.1 billion since its launch in 1999. Its portfolio companies have employed about 7,500 people throughout North America, and its current company roster employs 2,000 people. A staff of 23 employees and a handful of interns from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business oversee this growing operation, including five recent hires.
Among those new hires are a few entry-level analyst positions. Huron Capital Partners created the entry-level analyst position about a year ago to help attract more premium talent from the local business schools, such as U-M's Ross School of Business. Entry-level analysts normally have a resume that consists of a couple of years of merger-and-acquisition experience after obtaining an undergraduate degree.
"We expect analysts to be here 2-3 years and then get their MBAs," Beauregard says. "Often they will be hired here as an associate. We look at the analyst position as sort of an extended interview."
Interns at Huron Capital Partners are normally MBA candidates at local universities, more often than not from the University of Michigan. Beauregard and his other partners see it as the easiest way to get in early on top-flight talent. Another way they are working to help staunch the local brain drain is recruiting talent back to Michigan.
"We look for candidates that will blend into our culture here," Beauregard says. "We look for talent that has a connection to Michigan. Either to keep talent in Michigan or recruit them back to Michigan."
Often that means finding people who currently live and work on the coasts with roots in Michigan looking to come back. More often than not those people are just starting a family and looking for the best place and value-propositon to raise their children. When those people plant their roots at Huron Capital Partners, they end up sinking deep into the Great Lakes State.
"There has been zero turnover in the last 10 years at the vice president level or above," Beauregard says.
- Written by Jon Zemke