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The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System posted a 2.3 per cent return for 2018, pulling in $2.2 billion.

In 2017, the fund saw a return of 11.5 per cent for the year and boosted its funded status to 94 per cent. For 2018, the funded status saw further gains, landing at 96 per cent.

“The 2018 improvement in our funded status primarily reflects our five-year net investment return of 8.1 per cent,” said Jonathan Simmons, chief financial officer of the OMERS, in a press release.

During 2018, the fund deployed $10 billion toward new private investments. “A return of 10.7 per cent from private investments and positive returns on our credit portfolio buffered the impact of public markets in a year when all major indices were lower compared to where they were at the beginning of the year,” said Michael Latimer, chief executive officer of the OMERS.

The fund also opened a new investment office in Singapore last year, where managers in all asset classes will explore further opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Breaking down the fund’s returns, fixed income saw a 1.8 per cent return, boosted by a three per cent return in credit, while inflation-linked bonds and government bonds yielded negative returns of 0.4 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively. Public equity returns dragged down the performance of the overall public segment of the portfolio, returning negative 8.3 per cent.

Private assets, on the other hand, performed much better, with private equity at 13.5 per cent, infrastructure 10.6 per cent and real estate at 8.7 per cent.

This article originally appeared on CIR’s companion site, Benefitscanada.com. Read the full story here.