Jen Wilson: Women in PE, class of 2024

When Jen Wilson was growing up on a third-generation soybean farm in south central Minnesota, she knew one thing for sure: the farming life was not for her.

“I literally grew up in the middle of nowhere,” recalls Wilson, who leads private equity at Midwest financial services firm Thrivent. “The nearest town had 169 people. It wasn’t what I wanted for myself.”

Though farming’s loss is private equity’s gain, Wilson said her background instilled her with an exemplary work ethic. Since joining Thrivent in 2006, Wilson has grown the firm’s private investments’ portfolio from around $250 million to $7 billion. It’s a staggering sum but not unexpected considering Wilson’s resourcefulness and abundance of energy. Prior to the birth of her son, Wilson held down a side job as a popular spin instructor at a gym in Minneapolis for many years, while maintaining her busy schedule at Thrivent.

“There are many more women in private equity now than they were 20 years ago, but there still aren’t many”

“It was a great way to mix in the music I love and be more creative,” she says.

Armed with a degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wilson launched her career at accounting titan Arthur Andersen, where one of her experiences was working in corporate development for client United Health Group. From there, Thrivent brought the rising star to help build out its private investments group. In 2019, she was named senior managing director.

Aside from ramping up the firm’s private investments’ portfolio, Wilson expanded the mid-market buyout program to include alternative asset strategies, structured solutions and other opportunities. In 2023, Wilson and her team issued the largest LP-led collateralized fund obligation offering to manage the private investments portfolio, offer capital-efficient access to alternative investments and better control liquidity as an LP.

Wilson, who also has an MBA from the University of Minnesota, prides herself on being a role model for women in private equity and is involved with several initiatives, including some at Thrivent, focused on promoting and advancing women in this space.

“I think it’s one of the most important things I can do to give back,” she says. “There are many more women in private equity now than they were 20 years ago, but there still aren’t many.”

Asked if there’s a philosophy that informs both her personal and professional life, Wilson said she subscribes to adopting a collaborative attitude and has learned to “control the controllable.” “I believe that many decisions in a vacuum are not optimal,” she explains. “Being inclusive and trying to think through the options and the possibilities is an important part of how I approach decision-making in all aspects of my life.”