2019 Early Achievement Award – Natalie Adomait
Natalie Adomait, BIB/11, graduated from the Sprott School of Business only eight years ago, but she has accelerated in her career trajectory and currently is a senior vice president responsible for the European portfolio management of a global asset management firm.
After graduating from the Bachelor of International Business in 2011, Natalie launched her career with Brookfield Asset Management working in the Mergers and Acquisitions team in Ottawa. After her initial internship contract came to an end, she accepted a permanent role in Toronto.
“After a few years working in Toronto, the chief investment officer of the Renewable Power group was selected to move to London, U.K. to set up a team for Brookfield there,” said Natalie. “He asked me to join him, and I relocated in 2014 to take on a key role in building the Brookfield name in the renewable power sector in Europe.”
After helping Brookfield successfully invest in Ireland, Portugal and the U.K., including acquiring Ireland’s second largest renewable energy portfolio from the Government of Ireland, an opportunity came to switch into the Real Estate group. Now, Natalie leads the portfolio management function in Europe and has grown the team to 10 people, overseeing over US$30 billion of assets under management and sitting on the boards of 12 separate businesses spanning office, hospitality, logistics and alternative real estate sectors.
“No day is typical,” said Natalie. “The job changes day-by-day, and the projects we prioritize are really driven by the stage each business is at, in its individual business plan which can vary from 5 to 10 years. I love that no day is the same and I am constantly challenged with new and exciting projects.”
While at Carleton, Natalie completed an international exchange to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This experience opened the door to working abroad in her career.
“Sprott’s Bachelor of International Business program requires you to move abroad for a year into a completely new country or culture”, said Natalie. “For my exchange, I lived in Argentina, and for me it was the first time I had lived outside Canada. Having had that experience, the idea of living abroad again seems much more accessible and also in fact, made me more excited to relocate to London when the opportunity came up.”
Reflecting on her time at Carleton, Natalie has fond memories of the connections she made with her professors.
“I also had a fantastic set of professors when I attended university, some of whom I still stay in contact with today. Throughout my time at Carleton and then also in my early days of my career at Brookfield, they were kind enough to make themselves available to me outside of the classroom for career advice when I needed it.”
Being a part of clubs and societies such as the Sprott Student Investment Fund were very also important to Natalie. The Fund, as it often called, is a real public securities investment portfolio managed by a select group of top finance students, who make decisions in a similar fashion to a real investment firm. Natalie remembers the real-world experience gained on the Fund as being crucial to her success in her career.
“It was probably the best and most directly relevant career training I had while at Sprott. I participated in many different clubs and activities on campus, such as the Sprott Business Students’ Society, the Student Ambassador program, and becoming a campus tour guide. This allowed me to not only learn more about what type of work I liked to do, but more importantly gave me an opportunity to network with my peers across different concentrations and also Carleton staff.”
On November 25, Natalie was presented with the Sprott School of Business Early Achievement Award at the annual Sprott Business Students’ Society Banquet. The Early Achievement award honours a Sprott graduate of the Bachelor of Commerce or Bachelor of International Business within the last 15 years who has achieved significant professional accomplishments since graduation.
“It is a huge honour and a privilege to receive this award,” said Natalie. “It gives me the opportunity to look back and remember how far I have come professionally. When you are in university, I think everyone has aspirations and hopes about what type of career they will have. Once you are in your career, it is so easy to spend your time focusing on what’s next rather than to look back and appreciate how far you have come and what you have achieved. This award is so special of course because it comes from an organization that I was so actively and passionately involved in while I was a student, and I am so thrilled to be recognized as an alumni that is doing the Sprott name proud!”
For Natalie, networking and getting involved on campus was the best way for her to prepare for life after graduation.
“Networking ultimately got me my first job,” said Natalie. “My friend Ben Cimon, who I had worked alongside for two years in the Fund heard about a job opening at Brookfield and suggested I put my resume in. If I was going to give one piece of advice to students, it would be to take every experience while you are here to network, get involved, learn and work hard. Your education is an investment, and you want to make sure you are doing everything you can to get the best return on that investment. That way, when the opportunity to get into the career of your dreams finally comes around, you will be ready to grab it!”