OMERS, the pension plan for municipal workers in Ontario, will open an office in Singapore in January 2018 with an infrastructure team. Its work will complement the existing OMERS Infrastructure office in Sydney.
Bringing OMERS to Singapore is part of a multi-year strategy to identify promising investment opportunities in emerging markets. At the end of 2016, the geographic distribution of OMERS holdings saw 40% of its assets in Canada, 37% in the US, 17% in Europe and 6% in other parts of the world.
Michael Rolland, chief investment officer at OMERS Private Markets, is to lead the development of the company's presence in Singapore. He said: "Our decision to locate in Singapore is consistent with our overall effort to further diversify OMERS global investment holdings."
Michael Latimer, president and chief executive officer of OMERS, added: "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."
Last month, the fund changed the name of the infrastructure investment advisory and management arm from Borealis to OMERS Infrastructure.