Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System

Ralph Berg became Chief Investment Officer in 2023, overseeing the fund's $128.6B portfolio across public equities, fixed income, and private markets. He reports to President and CEO Blake Hutcheson, who has led OMERS since 2020. Investment decisions are executed through four dedicated platforms — Oxford Properties, OMERS Infrastructure, OMERS Private Equity, and OMERS Capital Markets — each with its own senior leadership team.

OMERS serves exclusively Ontario municipal employees, while CPP covers all Canadian workers outside Quebec. Both are large direct investors with global private-markets platforms, but OMERS operates through wholly owned subsidiaries that manage assets in-house rather than primarily through external fund commitments. The two funds are frequent co-investors, especially in Western Canadian office portfolios and select infrastructure deals.

OMERS strongly prefers direct ownership. The fund uses Oxford Properties for real estate, OMERS Infrastructure for energy and transport, and OMERS Private Equity for direct buyouts. Fund commitments are rare — the model is built around acquiring controlling stakes and operating assets with in-house teams across offices in Toronto, London, New York, and Singapore.

OMERS co-invests selectively with other large pension funds and sovereign investors, particularly CPP Investments on Canadian office properties and infrastructure. The fund's wholly owned subsidiaries can also serve as co-investment vehicles for external partners — Oxford Properties has brought in institutional co-owners on trophy assets, including Hudson Yards, where it is a joint venture partner with Related Companies.

OMERS does not publish explicit exclusion lists, but its direct investment portfolio is entirely absent from tobacco, controversial weapons, and thermal coal extraction. The fund is a PRI signatory and has committed to net-zero portfolio emissions by 2050. Private equity sector focus skews toward business services, healthcare, and technology, avoiding speculative exploration-stage resource extraction.

Oxford Properties is the real estate arm of OMERS and is wholly owned by the pension plan. Established in 1960, Oxford manages approximately $70B in assets across logistics, office, residential, and retail sectors globally. The entity operates as a fully integrated developer, investor, and property manager with its own CEO and management team, distinct from the pension's infrastructure and private equity platforms.

OMERS Infrastructure is one of the largest direct infrastructure investors globally, targeting energy, digital, and transport assets with long-duration, regulated cash flows. The platform favors control positions or significant minority stakes that allow for operational influence. Recent activity includes the 2024 acquisition of a Hoosier Energy stake, extending exposure to contracted U.S. power generation.