Mar 17, 2026 · 1h 25m · knowledge-project
Beating the Market: Connor Teskey, CEO Brookfield Asset Management
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this in-depth interview, Brookfield Asset Management CEO Connor Teskey joins Shane Parrish to unpack how the firm manages over one trillion dollars across global markets. Teskey details Brookfield's disciplined underwriting and derisking frameworks, the evolution of essential backbone infrastructure, and the collaborative leadership culture driving its long-term compounding.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Shane holds 14.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Shane as informed peer 4.4 Guest teaching 4.0 Guest disagreement 0.9 Shane pushing back 1.9
speaking balance: gold is Shane, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 20:50 Connor defending tech counterparty quality
When Shane asks whether massive 10-year tech contracts carry serious solvency risks, Connor firmly counters that hyperscalers are the greatest credit counterparties in corporate history.
Hardest push from Shane ▶ 1:08:30 Shane pressing on private market value captureShane challenges Connor on how individual retail investors are historically boxed out from private giants like SpaceX and Stripe that create massive value before ever listing publicly.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 15:25 Connor explaining four-way contract deriskingConnor educates Shane on how Brookfield systematically eliminates power and construction market risk by locking CapEx, off-take, EPC, and financing simultaneously before breaking ground.
Shane holds their own ▶ 37:25 Shane diagnosing real estate leverage pitfallsShane articulates a sharp thesis on commercial real estate players getting over their skis by trading survivability across cycles for short-term leveraged returns.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Shane as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Shane pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookfield Overview and Global Capital Allocation Strategy | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Shane asks structured questions referencing Bruce Flatt's perspective and asking for specific differentiators. Connor Teskey answers with collaborative, high-level overviews of Brookfield's global asset base and investment culture. | |
| Consistency in Backbone Assets and Product Line Expansion | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | Shane probes whether Brookfield's investment style changed with more co-investing. Teskey gently clarifies that their underlying thesis remained steady while product packaging expanded from 4 to 60 strategies. | |
| Career Trajectory, Mentorship, and European Expansion | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Shane inquires into Connor's rapid career progression and assignment to renewables. Connor openly details early mentorship and the operational independence gained in London. | |
| Work Ethic Defined by Availability and Early Setbacks | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Shane invites Connor to reflect on his reputation for work ethic and early mistakes. Connor reframes work ethic around team availability and explains learning communication clarity. | |
| Derisking Strategies and Eliminating Market Exposure | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | Shane asks how Brookfield isolates variables to de-risk investments. Connor breaks down their 4-pillar contract de-risking structure for major infrastructure projects. | |
| Sponsor Segment: Granola and The League | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | Shane reads ads for Granola and The League, then transitions into asking about data center risk and long-term counterparty solvency, prompting Connor to defend hyperscaler balance sheets. | |
| Decentralized Sourcing and Centralized Capital Allocation | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | Shane asks how global sourcing information flows centrally to an investment committee. Connor describes the iterative capital committee structure and fluid communication across verticals. | |
| Downside Protection and Asymmetric Upside in Westinghouse | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Shane brings up Westinghouse as a seemingly non-consensus bet. Connor explains Brookfield's philosophy of underwriting downside protection while letting asymmetric upside take care of itself. | |
| Owner-Operator Heritage and Prudent Financing Strategy | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Shane explores post-acquisition turnarounds and quotes Brad Jacobs on operational value. Connor explains Brookfield's owner-operator history, non-recourse debt philosophy, and balance sheet liquidity reserves. | |
| Sponsor Segment: Shopify and ShopPay | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Following a sponsor read for Shopify, Shane probes talent dispersion and managing without directly experiencing historical downturns. Connor explains Brookfield's intergenerational pairing model. | |
| Internal AI Integration and Infrastructure Expansion | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Shane asks how AI is practically deployed internally and notes market cycle overbuilding. Connor describes portfolio-wide predictive maintenance, safety scanning, and long-term contracted capacity. | |
| Long-Term Growth Horizons and the Oaktree Acquisition | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Shane references Brookfield's $2T 2030 target, private market value capture versus retail S&P inclusion, and the Oaktree acquisition. Connor details retail expansion and the Oaktree deal origins. | |
| Work-Life Integration and Family Prioritization | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Shane asks Connor about maintaining work ethic after having children. Connor shares a candid personal reflection on prioritization and expanding emotional capacity without sacrificing work focus. | |
| Sponsor Segment: Accenture and Google Chrome | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | After ads for Accenture and Google Chrome, Shane asks conversational wrap-up questions about Connor's daily reading habits, memorable deals, and composure in a crisis. |
Statements from this episode (19)
Teskey: 70% of Brookfield's current investments did not exist 20 years ago
“We give the example that, you know, probably two-thirds, maybe even 70% of what we invest in today was not an investable asset class 15 or 20 years ago.”
Teskey: Brookfield expanded from four investment products to 60 over 10 years
“I'll give the example that 10 years ago, I think we had four products. Today, we have 60.”
Teskey: Excel models create false precision that cannot replace judgment
“There's almost a false degree of precision in, in today's world of Excel. The reality is so many times you just have to overlay good judgment and you have to recognize there are certain things outside of your control that, You know, your Excel model will seem …”
Teskey: Waiting for absolute certainty in deals guarantees zero completed transactions
“There's no absolute certainties in this business. So when something feels 90% right, you do that transaction or you do that deal. And the most important thing is you do 10 of them. And you're going to be right nine times out of 10. And that's really, really go…”
Teskey: Hard work is perceived more through availability than spreadsheet modeling
“Comment or dynamic that I think is sometimes underappreciated is just being available for other people on the team. And there's always people, both, both junior and senior to you that have questions, want to bounce an idea off you want career advice, deal spec…”
Teskey: Brookfield Only Invests When Four Key Contracts Are Locked
“Whenever we build a new project, we do not like to put capital in the ground unless we lock in our CapEx contract, our off-take contract, our EPC contract, and our financing contract all at once.”
Teskey: Brookfield Builds Data Centers Backed by Hyperscaler or Sovereign Contracts
“We're now doing it in data centers, building gigafactories on the on the back of long-term contracts with hyperscalers or sovereign offtakes.”
Teskey: Data center investors now fund chips, power, and supply chains
“There's more data centers being built. The data centers that are being built are bigger than the ones that used to get built. And then the third thing is where historically the investor would fund the rack and the shell. Increasingly now that investor is fundi…”
Teskey: Tech giants backing AI infrastructure hold unprecedented historical credit quality
“These are literally the greatest companies in the world, the highest credit quality counterparties in the world, the large tech companies. They're the greatest companies in the world today. They're almost undoubtedly the greatest companies of all time. That is…”
Teskey: Brookfield's top deal-breakers are counterparty and construction risk
“Of deals that we choose to pursue, but then, you know, in diligence or in structuring decide to walk away, there's two reasons that Are most common. One, we don't like the revenue construct or the corporate credit counterparty that backstops that revenue const…”
Teskey: Brookfield Underwrote Westinghouse Base Case on Controllable Operating Improvements
“So we focused on the downside. We made sure our downside was protected. Our base case of an attractive return was delivered by things within our control, but there was asymmetric upside if some uncontrollable things that we thought or hoped would happen did, b…”
Teskey: Brookfield's balance sheet is the largest investor in Brookfield products
“Today the largest investor in Brookfield products is still Brookfield's balance sheet.”
Teskey: Operators that master health and safety perform best long-term
“People that get health and safety right tend to be the best operators long-term.”
Teskey: Markets consistently undervalue liquidity right when investors need it most
“We are huge believers that you, liquidity is almost consistently undervalued.
liquidity is this funny thing, which is, it's every time it's overvalued when you don't need it, and it's incredibly undervalued when you do need it.”
Teskey: AI data centers and power are Brookfield's fastest-growing investment theme
“And that at a simple level is, is the data centers and the power that supports them. And that is the largest and fastest growing investment theme at Brookfield.”
Teskey: AI robotics adoption will happen slower but impact more than expected
“The role that robotics can play in so many production functions and industrial functions around the world. Now that that robotics can be reinforced by computers that can think and run a million simulations in real time, like everything what's, what's the term?…”
Teskey: The global AI infrastructure market will unequivocally experience an overbuilding cycle
“And we often get the question, will there be overbuilt? Absolutely, unequivocally, yes. There's overbuilt in almost every product, in every asset class, everywhere in the world, in every economic cycle.”