Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Toronto, returned a net 8.3% in calendar year 2024, above its 7.5% benchmark, said a news release Feb. 24.
Net assets as of Dec. 31, totaled C$138.2 billion ($96.1 billion), up from C$128.6 billion at the end of 2023.
Over the past 10 years, OMERS has delivered an annualized net return of 7.1%. No benchmark was provided for the 10-year period.
OMERS had returned a net 4.6% in 2023.
By asset class, the top performers in 2024 were public equities, which returned a net 18.8%; followed by private credit, 12.6%; private equities, 9.5%; infrastructure, 8.8%; public credit, 6%; and government bonds, 1%.
The poorest performance came from real estate, which returned a net -4.9%.
“OMERS public equity investments delivered double-digit performance supported by strong contributions from private credit and infrastructure,” said Jonathan Simmons, chief financial and strategy officer, in the news release. “Our net investment results benefited from our active strategy to maintain currency exposure to the U.S. dollar. Our real estate assets continue to generate strong operating income, but returns were held back due to lower valuations. Our asset mix continued to shift toward a higher exposure to fixed income, where return opportunities remain attractive.”
As of Dec. 31, OMERS’ actual asset allocation was 23% infrastructure; 20% each public equities and private equity; 13% real estate; 12% each private credit and public credit; 9% government bonds; and -9% cash and funding.
By region, the U.S. investments accounted for 53% of the portfolio’s assets, followed by Canada (19%), Europe (17%) and the rest of the world (11%).
On Feb. 1, U.S. President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on most imports from Canada and 10% tariff on energy imports from Canada, which have led Ottawa to impose some retaliatory tariffs on certain U.S. goods.
Blake Hutcheson, president and CEO at OMERS, said it was “far too early” to assess the potential impact of these tariffs, although he conceded he and his staff are monitoring developments between Trump and the Canadian government to “see how this thing plays out.”
Hutcheson reiterated that OMERS is a long-term investor but is always watching shorter-term events.
“We are very well positioned whatever this market may bring; we will focus on what we can control. We are hopeful that our two nations, with deep mutually beneficial roots and friendships, will find a way forward together,” he said.
He added that he does not see “wholesale shifts” in the portfolio’s asset composition in 2025.
Trump’s tariffs are scheduled to become effective March 4.
