The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), one of Canada’s largest pension funds, plans to open an office in Singapore in January 2018 as part of its strategy to seek investment opportunities in emerging markets.
“OMERS is proud to establish a presence in Singapore, which is recognised internationally as a major financial hub,” Michael Latimer, president and chief executive officer of OMERS, says in an October 25 statement.
He adds: “We appreciate the many distinct advantages Singapore offers, including the deep expertise of its financial services community, ease of doing business, world-class infrastructure, and connectivity to the rest of Asia.”
According to the Canadian pension fund, setting up shop in Singapore is part of a multi-year strategy it is carrying out to identify promising emerging market investment opportunities. It says that at the end of 2016, 40% of its assets were in Canada, 37% in the US, 17% in Europe and 6% in other parts of the world.
“Our decision to locate in Singapore is consistent with our overall effort to further diversify OMERS global investment holdings,” says Michael Rolland, chief investment officer, OMERS Private Markets, who was brought in to lead the development of the fund’s presence in Singapore.
He elaborates: “Earlier this year, our OMERS Infrastructure team made its first-ever direct investment in South America. Also in 2017, Oxford Properties, OMERS real estate arm, became a co-investor in Berlin’s Sony Center, marking its first investment in Germany. In 2016, OMERS Infrastructure made its first major investment in Australia, in the Port of Melbourne. This is in addition to ongoing global mergers and acquisitions completed by various companies in OMERS Private Equity’s portfolio.”
Mr. Latimer adds: “Our engagement in Singapore begins with many strong business and government relationships in the region. The opening of the Singapore office demonstrates the potential we see in the Asia-Pacific region, both from the perspective of making direct investments and from cultivating new investment partners. It is the logical next step in evolving our international footprint.”
The OMERS office in Singapore will look to take advantage of its deep expertise in capital markets, infrastructure, private equity and real estate. The pension fund believes its work will complement the success of its existing OMERS Infrastructure office located in Sydney, Australia.
Founded in 1962, OMERS is one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans, with more than C$85 billion (US$67.02 billion) in net assets as at December 31, 2016.
It invests and administers pensions for more than 470,000 members from municipalities, school boards, emergency services and local agencies across the province of Ontario.
