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“When private equity managers are raising a new fund, past performance and continuity of the management team are critical inputs into the investment decision,” he said, adding that he “successfully” invested money through CAI Capital when he ran bcIMC, a global fund manager that invests on behalf of British Columbia’s public sector.
McVicar said the performance of CAI Capital’s 2008 fund reinforced the firm’s strategy of taking positions in businesses that serve regulated industries and governments.
“We really like businesses that have to exist,” she explained, pointing to an investment in Denver-based GeoStabilization International, a firm that shores up and repairs roads vulnerable to landslides, and another in the northeastern United States, Feeney Utility Service Group, that is responding to a 20-year backlog in services and equipment tied to natural gas distribution.
We really like businesses that have to exist
Tracey McVicar
In Canada, such investments include Corix Group, which designs, supplies, builds, installs, finances and operates local utility infrastructure on behalf of municipal, institutional, military, and private-sector customers.
With more recent funds, CAI Capital has invested in B.C.-based firms including Custom Air Conditioning, which does maintenance on commercial and institution building heating and cooling systems, and Universal Group, a provider of traffic management services to municipalities and utilities — a regulatory requirement in the province when a roadway is disrupted by construction.
