Omers posts 15.7% return with surge in private equity, stocks
BNN Bloomberg
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System returned 15.7 per cent last year, driven by gains in its private equity and stock holdings.
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System returned 15.7 per cent last year, driven by gains in its private equity and stock holdings.
The increase, which exceeded the 6.6 per cent benchmark, pushed net assets to $121 billion (US$95.4 billion). Net investment income stood at $16.4 billion, the Toronto-based pension fund said in a statement Monday.
The fund’s private equity holdings returned 25.8 per cent “both organically and through acquisitions,” according to the statement. The fund earned 20.7 per cent in equity markets and 15.9 per cent in real estate.
“Last year was a spectacular year for us and and those are hard to replicate,” Chief Executive Officer Blake Hutcheson said in an interview Monday. “But we believe in our people and we certainly have optimism for this year” even with rising interest rates, accelerating inflation and political risks, he said.
Omers has no direct investments in Russia, Hutcheson said.
Omers has 25 companies in its private equity portfolio. “We are incrementally a net buyer, and that tends to be our strategy every year,” he said.
