Category: Uncategorised

New funding follows a year of sustained growth, with revenue up 16x and adoption across the top 100 U.S. government contractors

NEW YORK, USA — As government contracting teams face growing pressure to deliver more with fewer resources, GovDash, the AI-powered platform transforming how companies win, manage, and deliver government contracts, announced today that it has raised $30M in an oversubscribed Series B round. The financing was led by Mucker Capital and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), with participation from existing investors Northzone and Y Combinator.

Since its Series A, GovDash has experienced significant growth. Revenue increased 16x, customer count expanded 18x to nearly 200 companies, and the team scaled from three employees to more than 45. The company expanded its headquarters in New York and opened a second office in Arlington, Virginia. GovDash also signed multiple companies from the top 100 U.S. government contractors, demonstrating strong adoption across both middle-market and enterprise customers.

In addition, GovDash achieved FedRAMP Moderate Equivalency, a critical security milestone that enables the company to serve defense contractors and enterprise customers handling Controlled Unclassified Information. This certification aligns GovDash’s infrastructure and controls with rigorous federal cybersecurity standards.

GovDash began as an AI-native business development platform and has rapidly evolved into a full AI-driven enterprise resource planning platform for government contracting. Its product suite includes Discover, which automatically identifies relevant bid opportunities; Capture, a CRM for pipeline management and solution development; Proposal, which enables faster creation of high-quality, compliant submissions; Contract, which manages the full contract lifecycle; and Dash, an intelligent AI agent that synthesizes data, maintains context, and executes workflows across the organization.

GovDash customers won more than $5B in government contracts in 2025, pursuing three times more opportunities and reducing proposal cycles to as little as 24 hours. SPATHE Systems cut draft turnaround 90% and scaled IDIQ no-notice responses from two per month to seven or eight without new staff. PowerTrain tripled drafting efficiency and boosted weekly pursuits 150%. Sumaria Systems cut RFI turnaround from 2.5 weeks to three days and standardized nearly 400 resumes. These businesses submit high-quality bids, win more often, and grow faster.

The government contracting market experienced significant turbulence in 2025. Government shutdowns and operational disruptions forced teams to operate with fewer resources. More than 50 percent of GovDash customers were directly impacted, and all required ways to maintain productivity without adding headcount.

“Companies are not just reacting to temporary disruptions,” said Sean Doherty, CEO and founder of GovDash. “They are rethinking how they run their government business and leaning into technology to become more resilient and efficient for the long term.”

This need is especially acute in the defense technology sector, where companies rely on modern, fast, and secure software to operate effectively. GovDash packages decades of operational knowledge from established contractors into a single platform, enabling technology-first organizations to execute at speed while meeting the strict requirements of government work.

Forward-leaning defense and government services providers, including SPATHE Systems, Blue Rose Consulting, Aviation Training Consulting, Threat Tec, PowerTrain, Schatz Group, Brite Group, iWorks, JSL, BrennSys, Sumaria Systems, and Scale AI, now use GovDash as the backbone of their government contracting operations.

“GovDash has become a force multiplier for SPATHE Systems,” said Darren Williams, VP of Solution Development at SPATHE Systems. “It has strengthened our ability to lead complex capture efforts, maintain real-time visibility across the business development pipeline, and drive accountability throughout the proposal lifecycle. As a result, we have enhanced our responsiveness and strategic alignment across the enterprise.”

“The U.S. government depends on a strong private sector to execute critical missions, but the systems supporting that relationship have not kept pace,” said Sanjiv Kalevar of Mucker Capital. “GovDash is building the modern infrastructure that allows companies to work with the government at the speed and scale the moment requires. We believe this platform will play a foundational role in strengthening public and private sector collaboration.”

The Series B funding will support expansion of GovDash’s engineering teams across all product areas, including Discover, Capture, Proposal, Contract, Delivery, and its AI agent. The company will also invest in customer success and continue growing its presence in New York and Virginia.

GovDash plans to further integrate workflows across the platform, enabling teams to operate government businesses at near-autopilot levels. “In five years, GovDash customers will spend far less time on administrative overhead and far more time improving the products and services they deliver to the country,” said Doherty.

2025 marked a major year of product advancement for GovDash. Discover expanded to include GSA eBuy and state, local, and education opportunities. Capture evolved into a full-featured CRM for government work, providing end-to-end visibility from opportunity identification through proposal kickoff. Proposal underwent a major backend overhaul, improving compliance tracking, multi-proposal support, and citation automation. Contract Cloud matured into a post-award management system, supporting contract modifications, CLINs, and complex hierarchical structures. Dash became more autonomous and deeply integrated, delivering context-aware assistance across the organization.

New research provides evidence of how ESG drives returns in private markets

VICTORIA, B.C. & STANFORD, CALIFORNIA – January 7, 2026 – British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), one of Canada’s largest institutional investors, and Stanford University’s Long-Term Investing Initiative (SLTI) today released new research in a whitepaper demonstrating how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors can contribute to measurable value creation in private equity investments.

The whitepaper, ESG Value Creation in Private Equity: From Rhetoric to Returns, combines BCI Private Equity’s operational investment insights with SLTI’s research methodology to show how financially material ESG initiatives can contribute to EBITDA improvements, reduce operational risk, and strengthen exit readiness. Drawing on illustrative case studies from BCI’s global private equity portfolio, the publication offers evidence-based pathways for integrating ESG into core value-creation strategies.

“ESG integration in private markets is not just about managing risk; it is about creating value,” said Jim Pittman, Executive Vice President & Global Head, BCI Private Equity. “This research demonstrates how rigorous ESG practices can enhance portfolio performance while advancing the sustainability outcomes our clients expect.”

“For too long, the ESG discussion in private markets has been dominated by labels, ratings, and broad commitments. What has been missing is financial evidence,” said Evan Greenfield, Managing Director, ESG, BCI Private Equity. “This research shows that when ESG is treated as a financially material operating discipline, it strengthens the fundamentals that matter to investors:  higher earnings, lower risks, and clearer pathways to enhanced value at exit.”

“Academic–practitioner research collaborations like this one are essential for moving beyond rhetoric to evidence,” said Ashby Monk, PhD, Executive Director, Stanford Long-Term Investing Initiative. “BCI Private Equity brings real-world operational insights and data that most researchers never access. The findings help the industry understand not only whether ESG creates value, but how and under what conditions it does so.”

The whitepaper provides a practical framework that investors, general partners, and policymakers can apply to assess ESG materiality, quantify certain financial outcomes, and embed ESG across the private equity investment lifecycle from due diligence and ownership to exit strategy. The findings offer new insights in a field often challenged by inconsistent definitions and data limitations.

The publication builds on BCI’s longstanding leadership in responsible investing. BCI integrates ESG factors across its C$295 billion global portfolio and publishes an annual Stewardship Report outlining its approach to engagement across all asset classes and long-term value creation.

View the full whitepaper at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6000614   

Planet First Partners leads round, reinforcing commitment to climate-focused technology

 VANCOUVER, British Columbia, January 6, 2026 — Photonic Inc., a global leader in distributed quantum computing, announced today that it has raised $180M CAD ($130M USD) in the first close of its latest investment round, led by Planet First Partners, with participation from new investors Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), TELUS, and others. This significant raise underscores strong investor confidence and the company’s rapid growth. Existing investors – including BCI and Microsoft – also returned for this round, bringing the total raised by the company to $375M CAD ($271M USD).

Photonic is accelerating the path to fault‑tolerant quantum systems with their Entanglement First™ Architecture – a unique approach that combines silicon‑based qubits and native photonic connectivity, enabling seamless scaling across existing global telecom infrastructure. With this new funding, the company will continue advancing key product milestones toward commercialization, expanding its technical and business teams, and deepening customer and partner engagements.

“Quantum computing can unlock breakthroughs in clean energy, advanced materials, and human health that are beyond the reach of classical systems,” said Nathan Medlock, Managing Partner at Planet First Partners, who is joining the Board. “Photonic’s distributed architecture provides a credible path to rapidly scale towards utility-scale systems – enabling innovations in areas such as battery materials, low-carbon catalysts, and drug design that can meaningfully accelerate climate solutions and improve global wellbeing.”

“Photonic’s game‑changing approach to deliver on the decades‑old promises of quantum computing continues to be fueled by committed investors and best‑in‑class employees,” said Paul Terry, CEO of Photonic. “This funding round attracted not only new financial investors but also partners from sectors poised to be transformed by quantum technology—including sustainability, telecommunications, finance, and security.”

“This marks our first direct equity investment in a quantum computing company, and we’re proud to support Photonic as they pioneer the next era of distributed quantum technologies,” said Barrie Laver, Managing Director, Head of Venture Capital & Private Equity with Royal Bank of Canada. “We believe Photonic’s scalable quantum architecture has the potential to unlock key applications in the financial sector, ranging from security through to portfolio optimization and risk modelling. In our view, Photonic’s team and technology helps position them as a leader in bringing practical quantum capabilities to market.”

“At TELUS Global Ventures, we invest in breakthrough technologies that create tangible value today and for the future and believe quantum computing represents a transformational technology that will fundamentally reshape secure telecommunications infrastructure,” said Terry Doyle, Managing Partner at TELUS Global Ventures. “Photonic’s approach to distributed quantum computing and networking is exactly the kind of game-changing innovation we seek. Together, we’re not just investing in technology, we’re building Canada’s quantum future and delivering solutions that will transform industries worldwide.”

Gordon J. Fyfe, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer at BCI, added: “Since our initial investment in Photonic, the company has achieved significant technical milestones and demonstrated exceptional capital efficiency. Photonic is advancing secure quantum solutions while forging strategic commercial partnerships. As one of Photonic’s largest shareholders, BCI is proud to support the Photonic team in the pursuit of developing one of the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computers.”

Creating value through a disciplined investment strategy

2025 was a transformational year for BCI Private Equity, as the team refined its strategic focus, leaned further into high‑conviction direct investing opportunities, and continued to build out its in‑house value‑creation capabilities – demonstrating the strength of its platform, the depth of its partnerships, and its disciplined approach to investing more than $34 billion under management.

In today’s private equity landscape, generating strong, sustainable returns increasingly depends on active ownership and operational value creation, rather than traditional reliance on balance sheet structuring. Reflecting this shift, direct investments became a larger focus of our private equity strategy – and now represent approximately 48 per cent¹ of the portfolio, growing from $1.7 billion less than a decade ago to more than $16 billion in 2025.

With sector specialization across business services, consumer, financial services, healthcare, industrials, TMT, and venture & growth, Private Equity invested $3.1 billion across 23 direct investments, including six follow-on investments that supported growth within existing companies, in addition to ongoing fund commitments.¹ Key direct investments that closed during the year include Pave America, BroadStreet Partners, and Yinson Production.

We also advanced a focused strategy in GP partner‑led continuation vehicles (CVs) backed by proven, high‑conviction managers, completing four new or rolled‑over CV investments this year. This disciplined strategy allows Private Equity to maintain exposure to high‑performing assets, or gain access to new opportunities with robust growth expectations.

BCI Private Equity also grew its global footprint in 2025 by establishing London as its dedicated European hub, adding local investment professionals to originate, execute, and manage opportunities across the region. The expanded team deepens BCI’s access to European deal flow, reinforces long‑standing GP relationships, and supports the program’s strategy of disciplined, high‑conviction investing in global private markets.

Collectively, these actions deepened Private Equity’s geographic diversification, with approximately $13.2 billion of the portfolio now invested in Europe. The team also partnered with five new high-calibre GP co‑investors, underscoring BCI’s expanding global presence and growing capabilities in private markets.

“This year underscored the importance of being selective, global, and disciplined in how we deploy capital,” said Jim Pittman, Executive Vice President & Global Head, Private Equity. “With a larger share of our program in direct investments, a growing in-house value creation team, and a stronger foothold in Europe, we’re better placed than ever to partner with leading businesses and support their next stage of growth.”

Alongside new investments, the team continued to actively manage the existing portfolio, generating approximately $3.8 billion¹ in proceeds through secondary transactions and exiting two major positions – Hayfin Capital and Ziply – delivering meaningful value for clients and releasing capital for redeployment.

With a team of more than 80 professionals across Victoria, New York, and London, our Private Equity group continued to expand their value‑creation capabilities during the year. The team works closely with portfolio companies to enhance operations, accelerate digital transformation, and embed sustainability and climate‑related initiatives that drive long‑term resilience and performance. This strength and partnership‑driven approach earned BCI Private Equity industry recognition early in 2025, when the team was named ‘2024 Limited Partner of the Year’ by Private Equity International.

Looking to 2026

In a global private equity market characterized by a gradual rebound in deal activity and a heightened emphasis on operational value creation, BCI Private Equity’s disciplined, high‑conviction strategy has positioned the portfolio well to navigate a more discriminating investing environment. We remain focused on identifying high‑quality opportunities with strong fundamentals and sustainable growth drivers, leveraging an integrated approach that combines investment discipline, operational expertise, and active partnership to pursue high‑impact opportunities and drive long‑term value creation.

¹ Updated Jan. 8, 2026

Transforming opportunity into long-term value

BCI’s Infrastructure & Renewable Resources (I&RR) team carried strong momentum through 2025 and delivered a record year, committing more than $4.6 billion¹ to new investments – the highest annual deployment since the program’s inception. This milestone reflects the team’s success in identifying high‑quality opportunities around the world, the expanding global influence of BCI as a direct infrastructure and renewables investor, and the strong expertise embedded within the program.

Over the year, the infrastructure group invested directly in 10 new assets and increased its investment in four existing holdings to support continued growth.

Paramount to these new investments were several firsts: the first take-private transaction BCI accomplished as a sole investor (of BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A.), our first direct investment in the Philippines (Frontier Towers), and our first investment in the recycling and circular economy sector (Renewi PLC). In addition, we continued to increase program exposure to private infrastructure debt – growing this aspect of our strategy to nine significant direct investments.

“Our record year speaks to the talent of our team, the strength of our partnerships, and the clarity of our strategy. We’re building a globally diversified portfolio designed to capture growth, foster sustainability, and create client value that endures for decades,” said Lincoln Webb, Executive Vice President & Global Head, Infrastructure & Renewable Resources.

The infrastructure group’s diversified portfolio provides BCI’s clients with a resilient mix of income-producing and long-term tangible assets across a broad range of sectors and geographies. This mix continues to evolve in line with the program’s growth and several long-term structural trends, including the convergence of energy and digital infrastructure, global population growth, rising demand for private infrastructure capital, and the transition toward sustainable energy. Several renewable resource transactions were announced during the year, including equity stakes in sustainably harvested timberlands in South America and in one of the largest onshore wind farms in North America. Renewable resource investments now represent nearly 28 per cent of the portfolio, reflecting a globally diversified strategy that integrates ESG considerations.

Today, our infrastructure team of more than 60 professionals operate from offices in Victoria, London, and Mumbai. This international reach supports the team in sourcing new opportunities, managing investments effectively across markets, and cultivating close relationships with co-investment partners. Together, our London and Mumbai-based teams help manage 13 direct investments – about 25 per cent of the I&RR portfolio by value – underscoring the importance of local proximity and expertise in building and sustaining long-term international partnerships.

Looking ahead

In 2025, the global infrastructure investing environment remained resilient, with strong long‑term demand for energy, transport, and digital networks helping to support the program’s record deployment and growing international footprint. Looking ahead to 2026, the team is focused on opportunities in energy‑transition infrastructure – including renewables, grids, storage, and circular‑economy assets – as well as digital infrastructure and select emerging markets in South America and Asia, where they invest significant time building relationships and conducting rigorous due diligence. Backed by strong momentum and an expanding global presence, the infrastructure group is well‑positioned to continue building a portfolio of resilient, high‑quality assets that deliver lasting value. With a robust pipeline and clear direction, 2026 is shaping up to be another impactful year.

¹ Updated December 30, 2025. 

New investment partners join to support company’s next phase of growth

BOSTON – December 18, 2025 – Ethos Capital LP (Ethos) announced today that it has completed a continuation vehicle (CV) transaction for its portfolio company Identity Digital, bringing in institutional investors including TPG GP Solutions, funds managed by Neuberger, Accel-KKR, Coller Capital, CVC Secondary Partners, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and 10 East, among others. The transaction enables Ethos to support Identity Digital’s next stage of growth, while offering existing investors the opportunity for liquidity.

“This transaction reflects our conviction in Identity Digital’s long-term potential,” said Erik Brooks, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ethos Capital. “We’re grateful to our new investment partners for joining us in this next phase and to our existing investors for their continued trust. Identity Digital’s leadership team has built a performant company that sits at the center of the digital-identity ecosystem, and we’re excited to support their next chapter. Ethos is committed to a long-term investment strategy that employs our deep operational experience to drive long-term profitability and growth.”

Identity Digital operates mission-critical internet domain name system infrastructure that powers trusted online identity and helps organizations establish and secure their digital presence. Since Ethos’ initial investment in 2021, the company has expanded its platform, integrated acquisitions and continued to innovate in response to evolving market opportunities.

“This new investment affirms the strength of our business and supports our continued focus on innovation and client success,” said Akram Atallah, CEO of Identity Digital. “We look forward to deepening our partnership with Ethos and welcoming our new investors as we pursue our next stage of growth.”

“We are delighted to partner with Ethos and the Identity Digital management team for the next chapter of the company’s growth,” said Michael Woolhouse, Co-Managing Partner TPG GP Solutions. “Internet and digital infrastructure has been a key thematic focus area for TPG for over a decade, and Identity Digital has established itself as a clear market leader within this highly attractive market.”

“Neuberger Private Markets has a longstanding, successful partnership with Ethos Capital,” said Frank Guglielmo, Managing Director of Neuberger. “We continue to be impressed with Ethos’ thoughtful approach to value creation. As an existing shareholder in Identity Digital, we are excited to continue supporting the company’s strategic growth through the continuation vehicle transaction.”

Evercore (PCA) served as lead financial advisor, and Moelis & Company LLC (TMT) served as a co-advisor for the transaction. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel.

In the highly competitive global investment landscape, innovation is crucial for delivering long-term, sustainable value to our clients. This is why accelerating innovation is one of three strategic ambitions guiding BCI through fiscal 2025 to 2027. 

Two recent industry awards from Info-Tech Research Group, for being an Innovator of the Year 2025, and CIO Awards Canada 2025, for using IT in innovative ways to deliver business value, recognize this approach and reflect more than just technical achievements at BCI. They showcase how we’re building the capabilities and culture needed to compete as a world-class asset manager. 

Why innovation matters to BCI 

The investment environment is ever-changing, and to keep pace, BCI is adopting the latest technology to automate complex analysis, create scalable processes, and mitigate risks associated with manual workflows. Artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics have become essential tools for maintaining competitive advantage while growing operational efficiency on a global scale. 

For BCI, innovation creates three critical advantages: it optimizes how our talent works, enhances decision-making capabilities, and maintains the agility needed to navigate changing markets successfully.   

“Innovation is fundamental to how we operate as a global asset manager and deliver sustainable value for our clients,” said Shauna Lukaitis, Chief Operating Officer. “These awards recognize something essential about our approach – we’re building differentiated capabilities in-house. What’s most meaningful is seeing our teams embrace an innovation mindset and challenging how we’ve traditionally operated. This internal capability building is critical to executing our strategic ambitions and maintaining the agility required to navigate increasing complexity”. 

Building a culture of experimentation 

Innovation requires more than adopting new systems. It requires cultural transformation. We’ve focused on empowering employees across all business functions to experiment, take measured risks, and challenge existing processes. 

This shift began with our inaugural Innovation Challenge in early 2024, which invited employees to reimagine how BCI operates. Strong employee uptake transformed this initiative into a structured innovation ecosystem, including an internal idea platform and training programs to build capabilities across the organization. 

The Info-Tech Research Group’s Innovator of the Year 2025 recognition acknowledges this transformation. It reflects a sustained commitment to embedding innovation into BCI’s operating model, highlighting how we create and execute solutions internally. This same philosophy guided our transformation into an active, in-house global asset manager more than a decade ago.  

From concept to impact: AI-powered invoice processing 

The CIO Awards Canada 2025 recognition demonstrates how cultural ambition translates into practical results. Our Technology and Finance teams developed an AI-powered invoice processing system entirely in-house, applying a build-versus-buy approach. 

Previously, BCI processed hundreds of invoices weekly through manual workflows that were time-consuming and prone to error. The new platform automates the full invoice lifecycle — from receipt through approval and reconciliation — using machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing. 

The outcomes demonstrate clear value: processing time is significantly reduced without sacrificing accuracy, the system continuously improves through machine learning, and a mobile interface supports our global operations by enabling approvers to review invoices from anywhere. 

Building capabilities for sustainable growth 

These awards reflect collaborative efforts across BCI to find new ways to deliver value while building capabilities that will serve BCI for years to come. As we continue to execute our fiscal 2025-2027 strategic ambitions, innovation remains central to how we compete globally and deliver sustainable growth for our clients. 

Discover how we’re delivering on our ambitions in our F2025 Annual Report. 

BCI is pleased to announce that Peter Milburn has been reappointed as Chair of BCI’s Board of Directors by the Honourable Brenda Bailey, Minister of Finance for British Columbia.

The reappointment extends Peter’s term to December 31, 2026.

“I am honoured to continue to serve as BCI’s Board Chair. During my tenure, I have had the privilege to be part of BCI’s transformation into a $295 billion global asset manager designed to deliver long-term, sustainable value for our clients,” said Peter. “I am also grateful for the trust our clients continue to place in us, as well as the dedication of BCI’s leadership and employees. In an ever-changing world, the Board and I remain committed to the strong governance and client service that has defined BCI for more than 25 years.”

Peter was first appointed as Chair in 2016. He previously served as the provincial Deputy Minister of Finance and Secretary to the Treasury Board. He built his career within the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and retired after 33 years serving in various roles including Deputy Minister, Chief Operating Officer, and Executive Project Director for the Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project. Peter holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia.

About the BCI Board of Directors

BCI’s Board is structured in accordance with the Public Sector Pension Plans Act. BCI’s four largest pension plan clients each appoint a member from their Board of Trustees, with the Minister of Finance appointing the Chair and two Directors to comprise a seven-member Board.

Peter’s full biography and additional information about BCI’s Board of Directors can be found at BCI.ca/governance.

Every decision, innovation, and advantage in today’s fast-moving investment landscape is underpinned by data – even the most cutting-edge AI tools are only as powerful as the data beneath them.     

That’s why at BCI our Data & Analytics (D&A) team is a strategic partner: embedding expertise directly into the business, scaling AI capabilities, and empowering our world-class talent with data-backed insights.  

Jennifer Hartfield, Senior Vice President, Corporate Data & Operations, shares how data and analytics at BCI goes beyond foundational infrastructure to create competitive advantage. 

Q: As a global investor, how does BCI think about data and analytics?  

JH: We see data and analytics as both a backbone and a strategic asset. BCI is one of Canada’s largest institutional investors, managing more than $300 billion in AUM on behalf of our clients – about 85% of that asset management is done in-house. The scale and complexity of what we do, from global operations to executing multi-billion-dollar deals, means we manage incredible volumes of data. Our ability to transform that data into something useful so we can act with agility and create value from within isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s critical to delivering on our ambitions.  

Our D&A team supports day-to-day decision making across BCI by delivering accessible, high-quality data and insights. That’s the foundational piece, but the real edge comes when data and analytics are leveraged as an enabler and strategic tool to find opportunities others might miss. When you get governance and infrastructure right, it positions you to do more with your data, and that’s when it becomes a competitive advantage. We’ve structured our D&A team to lean into and accelerate those value-add opportunities.  

Q: You’ve embedded data expertise directly into the business. Why this approach, and how do you stay aligned while working across such diverse asset classes? 

JH: When the D&A team was fully centralized, they were stretched across BCI – addressing needs on a reactive basis with few opportunities for project continuity and relationship building. Now, we operate in a “pod model” that combines deep business partnerships with the power of unified, enterprise-wide governance and oversight.  

We’ve assigned dedicated data experts for each asset class – Private Equity, Infrastructure & Renewable Resources, and Capital Markets & Credit Investments – that work alongside the teams and can dive into their unique context, challenges, and goals. With the nuances and highly skilled nature of investing, this approach has been a game-changer in scaling our impact and working collaboratively to find the biggest wins. Importantly, while our experts are where the business needs them, we still have a central team that stitches everything together, facilitates knowledge sharing, and manages our central Enterprise Data Platform.  

The pod model helps us build trust and deliver tailored solutions without falling into siloed thinking or missing opportunities that benefit the entire organization. It’s also allowed us to expand our impact, particularly on the value creation side. Recently, our D&A experts collaborated with the Private Equity team to help one of BCI’s portfolio companies build a scheduling optimization model, lowering labour costs and delivering direct business outcomes.  

Q: BCI has been an early adopter of AI. How does the D&A team help the organization move beyond individual applications to create enterprise-level solutions? 

JH: It’s exciting to see AI experimentation happening across BCI. Our Technology team is making AI tools widely accessible for people at every level to take advantage, and we’re already seeing numerous innovative use cases and incremental benefits. 

The D&A team is focused on tackling strategic projects that will drive repeatable, organization-wide improvements – so we don’t only have one-off wins. We help to scale solutions by supporting reliable data, creating proper governance, and building trust in the outputs. This ensures that AI is a dependable partner as it becomes more formally integrated into our work.  

A good example is the AI-powered model we developed for private equity that extracts key data from unstructured sources like PDFs, which has historically been a challenge. The broader investment team can now access high-quality, consistent, and filterable datasets at scale, eliminating the need for manual reviews and refocusing that time on high-value work like analysis and decision making.   

Q: This space is evolving quickly. What’s next for the team, and how will you define success in the coming years? 

JH: We expect automation and AI will continue to streamline basic foundational tasks so the D&A team can spend even more time delivering advanced capabilities and insights that drive business advantage. One of BCI’s strategic ambitions is to accelerate innovation across the organization and we see ourselves as a key enabler of this – unlocking possibilities and turning ideas into reality.  

At a higher level, the best indicator of our success is continuing to enable a culture where using data and analytics is second nature for everyone. BCI has world-class talent, and we want to make it easy for people to combine their expert judgment with data-backed insights to deliver better investment outcomes for our clients and the people they serve. We’re driven by purpose and know that every deeper insight, sharper decision, and efficiency gain we enable ultimately benefits British Columbia and beyond. It’s truly investing that matters.  

Daniel Garant, Executive Vice President & Global Head of Capital Markets & Credit Investments, recently participated in CFA Montreal’s webinar “Should Investors Worry About Market Concentration?” 

When investors ask whether they should worry about market concentration, they may be missing a bigger challenge: how do you build portfolios when a handful of companies dominate public equity benchmarks? 

From left to right: Stephen Hui (Moderator, Pembroke); Owen Lamont (Acadian); Daniel Garant (BCI).

Today’s market concentration landscape  

The S&P 500’s top 10 holdings now represent roughly 40% of the index, up from nearly 19% in 2010.¹ Technology giants drive this concentration — the so-called Magnificent Seven: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla.  

This could create real portfolio construction challenges for some investors. When benchmark allocations tilt heavily toward similar names, in this case technology, active stock selection becomes difficult and passive investors find themselves with significant exposure to a handful of companies.  

Some investors draw parallels to the 1990’s/2000’s dot-com era, yet the fundamentals tell a different story. At the time, the S&P 500 index included several overvalued tech companies with speculative business models. These companies traded at high valuations with minimal earnings, valuing potential rather than actual profitability. Pets.com, the poster child of dot-com excess, raised US$82.5 million in its February 2000 IPO but filed for bankruptcy by November of the same year. 

Today’s reality differs. The Magnificent Seven generated over $1 trillion² in combined annual revenue in 2024, representing established businesses that make dot-com comparisons inappropriate. Tech stock market leadership only becomes problematic when valuations disconnect from underlying performance.  

AI infrastructure deployment: The timing challenge 

Raising a bigger question for the entire technology sector: when will AI investments deliver expected returns and how long will it take? Companies across the industry are investing heavily in AI infrastructure but not everyone can be a winner.  

Daniel Garant: “My biggest worry is it might take longer and it might cost more. Some of these assumptions about translating revenue into profit are optimistic.” 

Garant’s timing concerns become clearer when examining actual deployment challenges. Physical constraints create unexpected bottlenecks. McKinsey estimates AI demand requires $5.2 trillion in capital expenditure through 2030, translating to adding 156 gigawatts (GW) of AI-related data center demand.³ The challenge then extends beyond building data centers — powering them creates the real timing gap.  

McKinsey identifies a mismatch between data center builds, which can be done in 18 to 24 months, and power infrastructure development, which can take anywhere from three to ten years to complete.⁴ This mismatch means today’s AI infrastructure investments may not be operational until the late 2020s. 

Northern Virginia Reality Check: Data center operators seeking space in Northern Virginia – the United States’ largest data center market – face six to eight years wait times for power generation, revealing capacity constraints even in the most established markets. 

Despite massive capital commitments, the pace of AI adoption and actual economic impacts remain uncertain. Garant expects the winners will be the companies that can execute, rather than just announce investments. 

How BCI addresses concentration risks through portfolio construction 

For BCI, the concentration discussion underscored a challenge with public equity benchmarks. Garant explained how the quality of public equity benchmarks has deteriorated. Over the past 15 years, private equity firms have increasingly acquired troubled public companies. Improved growth of these delisted companies occurs outside of public markets, leading to benchmark degradation across multiple sectors, not just technology. This has changed the risk-return profile available to public equity investors. 

Our approach emphasizes robust portfolio construction across asset classes, geographies, and risk factors rather than attempting to solve concentration through individual stock selection alone.  

With strong funded ratios, clients have reduced overall public equity allocations from approximately 50% five years ago to 25% today. To align with this shift in client allocation, BCI has identified opportunities in areas such as private debt.  

Building a winning strategy: BCI’s private debt program launched in 2018 and has become a portfolio cornerstone for our clients. Dive deeper into Garant’s insights on the strategy and asset class evolution with Top1000Funds here.   

Key takeaways  

The AI transformation is real and permanent. Companies are investing heavily in AI to improve productivity, decision-making, and operational efficiency. Yet not all AI investments will deliver proportional returns. 

The next five years will test which institutional investors can adapt fastest. AI deployment realities will separate winners from losers, while private markets will likely continue to absorb growth opportunities. Success will depend less on predicting market concentration and more on positioning portfolios where value creation can occur. 

While market concentration dominates the investment landscape, BCI is focused on: 

• Multi-factor analysis: BCI analyzes various factors, such as data center capacity gaps to factor into decision making  

• Staying ahead of market changes: BCI’s total portfolio approach adapts to market changes demonstrated by our move into other strategies such as private debt and investment grade private debt.    

• Investing with purpose: BCI invests where returns make sense for clients. Our mandate is simple: generate returns for our clients. 

References 

¹ Source: Bloomberg. S&P 500 Index data as of November 13, 2010, and November 13, 2025. 

² Source: Bloomberg. USD sales revenue data as of December 31, 2024. 

³ https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/the-cost-of-compute-a-7-trillion-dollar-race-to-scale-data-centers  

⁴ https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-a-data-center