The Ontario Municipal Employers Retirement System (OMERS) has opened up a London office to accelerate its expansion into private market investments and to take the next step in establishing a global footprint.
The London office, under the OMERS Worldwide brand, will have a 20 member team, including investment professionals in real estate, infrastructure, private equity and capital markets.
The pension fund has four investment arms under the OMERS Worldwide banner: Oxford Properties Group, Borealis Infrastructure, OMERS Private Equity, and OMERS Capital Markets.
As of Dec. 31, 2007 OMERS had 30% of its net investment assets in real estate, private equity and infrastructure, compared with the 9% average invested in alternative assets by large North American and European pension funds.
“Our long term goal is to invest 42.5% of our net investment assets in private markets on a global basis,” says Michael Nobrega, the president and chief executive officer at OMERS.