Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System returned 4.8% in the first half of the year, gaining C$6.9 billion from a strong US dollar and rising stock market.
The pension “had a pleasing start to 2026” despite “an increasingly complex global dynamic,” Chief Executive Officer Blake Hutcheson said in a statement Tuesday.
Net assets rose to C$151.6 billion as of June 30. Every asset class delivered positive returns, with stocks and private credit advancing 12.2% and 7.8%, respectively. Currency appreciation, particularly of the US dollar, added a net 1.4% to returns.
Private equity holdings eked out a 1.1% gain, held back by “market headwinds,” according to the statement.
“We’re in a fairly high inflation, fairly high interest-rate environment and a fairly slow-growth environment in a global context,” Hutcheson said in an interview. That combination makes it difficult for operating companies to have a “leap in value,” he added.
Omers is seeing opportunities in public equities, credit and real estate, Hutcheson said.
The Toronto-based pension plan invested C$1 billion into Canadian equities in the first half of the year and plans to add at least C$10 billion of investments in the country over the next five years, Hutcheson said. Canada makes up 25% of Omers’ portfolio, with 52% invested in US holdings.
Omers sold several assets since the start of the year, including specialty care management company Paradigm. It also announced the sale of utility and infrastructure provider Network Plus.
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