OMERS
Encyclopedia
OMERS, officially the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, is a pension fund
created by statute
in 1962 to handle the retirement benefits of local government employees in the province of Ontario
, Canada
. It has become one of the largest institutional investor
s in Canada. About 70% of the plan is funded by investments, and 30% by pension contributions. , OMERS has about 53.3 billion Canadian dollar
s worth of net investment assets. The system now includes firefighters, police, emergency services staff, Children's Aid Society
workers, school staff other than teachers, and transit and hydro workers.
Under the 2006 law, OMERS is actually composed of two corporation
s:
The OMERS top investment assets as of December 31, 2007, were:
Outline of assets:
Borealis also owns 16 school buildings, leased to the Province of Nova Scotia, and 12 nursing home
buildings, leased to the Province of Ontario.
(purchased at the end of 2006) and Oxford Properties
(purchased at the beginning of 2003).
OMERS and Apax Partners
(a fund OMERS invests in) jointly own Cengage Learning
, a large education resource company formerly known as Thomson Learning before OMERS and Apax Partners
bought it on May 11, 2007. Some parts of Thomson Learning had been sold off to other groups before this sale. Among Cengage's major brands are Gale (formerly Thomson Gale) and Nelson Education (Nelson Canada, not Nelson USA Education).
Outline of assets:
Pension fund
A pension fund is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income.Pension funds are important shareholders of listed and private companies. They are especially important to the stock market where large institutional investors dominate. The largest 300 pension funds collectively hold...
created by statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
in 1962 to handle the retirement benefits of local government employees in the province of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It has become one of the largest institutional investor
Institutional investor
Institutional investors are organizations which pool large sums of money and invest those sums in securities, real property and other investment assets...
s in Canada. About 70% of the plan is funded by investments, and 30% by pension contributions. , OMERS has about 53.3 billion Canadian dollar
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
s worth of net investment assets. The system now includes firefighters, police, emergency services staff, Children's Aid Society
Children's Aid Society (Canada)
The Children's Aid Societies of Ontario, Canada, are independent organizations empowered by the Ontario government to perform child protection services. The declared goal is to "promote the best interests, protection and well being of children"...
workers, school staff other than teachers, and transit and hydro workers.
Structure
OMERS is regulated by the "Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Act, 2006" (S.O. 2006, chapter 2), an Ontario provincial law which superseded the older "Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System Act".Under the 2006 law, OMERS is actually composed of two corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s:
- The Administration Corporation, which used to be known as the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board, is responsible for day-to-day operation, including management of pensions and investments.
- The Sponsors Corporation, which represents the plan's members, is responsible for overall plan design and sets the rules for appointment and compensation of its own board and the Administration Corporation board.
Investments
OMERS has four major investment divisions:- Borealis Infrastructure, which invests in public infrastructureInfrastructureInfrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
- OMERS Capital Markets, which manages investment in the public markets, such as government bonds and stock in publicly traded companies
- OMERS Capital Partners, which concentrates on private equityPrivate equityPrivate equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
investment - Oxford PropertiesOxford PropertiesOxford Properties is an investor, owner, developer and manager of commercial real estate of more than . of commercial & industrial space, more than half of it in the city of Toronto and its suburbs, from where the company is based, but also has regional head offices in New York and London...
, which owns real estateReal estateIn general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
such as office buildings and shopping centers
The OMERS top investment assets as of December 31, 2007, were:
| Investment | Amount (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Province of Ontario and provincial bonds | $2,725,000,000 |
| Government of Canada bonds | $3,354,000,000 |
| Real Return Bond Inflation-indexed bond Inflation-indexed bonds are bonds where the principal is indexed to inflation. They are thus designed to cut out the inflation risk of an investment. The first known inflation-indexed bond was issued by the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1780... s |
$2,039,000,000 |
| Private debt | $619,000,000 |
| Corporate bond Corporate bond A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation. It is a bond that a corporation issues to raise money in order to expand its business. The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, generally with a maturity date falling at least a year after their issue date... s |
$582,000,000 |
| Cash and short term deposits | $11,374,000,000 |
| Mortgages | $814,000,000 |
Borealis Infrastructure
OMERS' investment strategy since 2003 has been to increase its investment in infrastructure from to 15% the former 7.9%.Outline of assets:
- Associated British Ports (33.3%)
- BPC Generation Infrastructure TrustBPC Generation Infrastructure TrustBPC Generation Infrastructure Trust is a trust established by Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System as part of the consortium to run the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario. The trust owns 31.2% of Bruce Power, following the sale by British Energy of its share in 2003....
- Bruce PowerBruce PowerBruce Power Limited Partnership is a Canadian business partnership composed of several corporations. It exists as a partnership between Cameco Corporation , TransCanada Corporation , BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust , the Power Workers Union and The Society of Energy Professionals...
Limited Partnership (BPLP) (31.2%, bought from British EnergyBritish EnergyBritish Energy was the UK's largest electricity generation company by volume, before being taken over by Électricité de France in 2009. British Energy operated eight former UK state-owned nuclear power stations and one coal fired power station....
in 2003) — including Bruce Nuclear Generating StationBruce Nuclear Generating StationBruce Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, in the communities of Inverhuron and Tiverton, Ontario. It occupies 932 ha of land. The facility derives its name from Bruce County in which it is located, in the former Bruce Township...
Bruce B facility (reactors 3 and 4) and overall management of the station - Bruce Power A Limited Partnership (BALP) (47.4%; created in 2005) — to run Bruce Nuclear Generating StationBruce Nuclear Generating StationBruce Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, in the communities of Inverhuron and Tiverton, Ontario. It occupies 932 ha of land. The facility derives its name from Bruce County in which it is located, in the former Bruce Township...
Bruce A facility (reactors 1 and 2)
- Bruce Power
- BPC Maritime Corporation
- Strait Crossing Development Inc. (65%) — operator of the 12.9 kilometres (8 mi) Confederation BridgeConfederation BridgeThe Confederation Bridge is a bridge spanning the Abegweit Passage of Northumberland Strait, linking Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick, Canada. It was commonly referred to as the "Fixed Link" by residents of Prince Edward Island prior to its official naming. Construction took place...
between Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
and New BrunswickNew BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
until 2032
- Strait Crossing Development Inc. (65%) — operator of the 12.9 kilometres (8 mi) Confederation Bridge
- Ceda Holdings Ltd. (owned since 2005) — factory and refinery maintenance
- Ciel Satellite GroupCiel Satellite GroupCiel Satellite Group is a private Canadian satellite operator, established in 2004, providing services throughout the Americas as a result of Borealis Infrastructure, a financial institution, partnered with satellite operator SES. The headquarters are located in Ottawa, Ontario...
(partly owned) — owner of the 129°W satellite orbit slot: currently occupied by Echo-V; will be replaced by Ciel-2Ciel-2Ciel 2 is a commercial broadcast communications satellite owned by Canadian Ciel Satellite Group. It was launched on December 10, 2008 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan by ILS Proton-M/Breeze-M vehicle. The satellite is built by Thales Alenia Space and is based on Spacebus-4000C4 bus. It is...
in late 2008 - Coliseum at Toronto's Exhibition Place (shares income in equity partnership)
- Detroit River Rail Tunnel (part owner)
- EnwaveEnwaveEnwave is a private corporation jointly owned by the City of Toronto and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and is one of the largest district energy systems in North America...
(majority owned) — district heatingDistrict heatingDistrict heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating...
operator for TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from... - Enersource Corporation (10%) — an electric companyElectric companyElectric company can mean:*Electrical power industry*Electric Company *The Electric Company *The Electric Company...
in Ontario - Express Pipeline System (partly owned) — major oil pipeline network, including the Platte Pipeline
- LifeLabs (formerly MDS Diagnostics) (owned since 2007) — local diagnostic laboratories in Ontario and British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
- Porter Aviation Holdings (part investor)
- Porter AirlinesPorter AirlinesPorter Airlines is a regional airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Porter operates regularly scheduled flights between Toronto and locations in Canada and the United States using Canadian-built Bombardier Dash-8 Q 400...
- Porter Airlines
- Scotia Gas NetworksScotia Gas NetworksScotia Gas Networks is a holding company of Scotland Gas Networks and Southern Gas Networks based in Horley.- History :The company was formed following National Grid plc's decision to sell four of its local gas distribution zones in order to raise funds for expansion...
(25% owned) — gas works for southern parts of EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and 75% of ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... - High Speed 1
Borealis also owns 16 school buildings, leased to the Province of Nova Scotia, and 12 nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
buildings, leased to the Province of Ontario.
OMERS Capital Partners
Among the private companies OCP owns are MarketwireMarketwire
Marketwire is a full-service newswire and communications workflow solutions company headquartered in Toronto, Canada with offices throughout Canada, the United States, South America, and Asia. Marketwire was founded in 1993 and incorporated in the U.S in 1999...
(purchased at the end of 2006) and Oxford Properties
Oxford Properties
Oxford Properties is an investor, owner, developer and manager of commercial real estate of more than . of commercial & industrial space, more than half of it in the city of Toronto and its suburbs, from where the company is based, but also has regional head offices in New York and London...
(purchased at the beginning of 2003).
OMERS and Apax Partners
Apax Partners
Apax Partners LLP is a global private equity and venture capital firm, headquartered in London. The company also operates out of eight other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel-Aviv, Madrid, Stockholm, Milan and Munich. The firm, including its various predecessors, have raised...
(a fund OMERS invests in) jointly own Cengage Learning
Cengage Learning
Cengage Learning is a publisher of print and digital information services for the academic, professional and library markets, and delivers customized learning solutions for colleges, universities, professors, students, libraries, government agencies, corporations and professionals around the...
, a large education resource company formerly known as Thomson Learning before OMERS and Apax Partners
Apax Partners
Apax Partners LLP is a global private equity and venture capital firm, headquartered in London. The company also operates out of eight other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel-Aviv, Madrid, Stockholm, Milan and Munich. The firm, including its various predecessors, have raised...
bought it on May 11, 2007. Some parts of Thomson Learning had been sold off to other groups before this sale. Among Cengage's major brands are Gale (formerly Thomson Gale) and Nelson Education (Nelson Canada, not Nelson USA Education).
Outline of assets:
- Affinia GroupAffinia GroupThe Affinia Group, a motor industry company, was formed in 2004 and specializes in the design, manufacture and replacement of parts for and on and off-road vehicles...
Inc. (20%) — aftermarketAftermarket (automotive)The automotive aftermarket is the secondary market of the automotive industry, concerned with the manufacturing, remanufacturing, distribution, retailing, and installation of all vehicle parts, chemicals, tools, equipment and accessories for light and heavy vehicles, after the sale of the...
car parts manufacturer - Avago
- Cari-All Group Inc. — shopping cart and shelving manufacturer
- CHG Healthcare Services — provider of locum tenens (temporary physician staff)
- Constellation Software Inc. (34%) — vertical market softwareVertical market softwareVertical market software is aimed at addressing the needs of any given business within a discernible vertical market...
maker - Cookie Jar Group (formerly Cinar) — television production and educational material publisher
- Cookie Jar Education
- Carson-Dellosa — classroom educational material publisher/manufacturer
- HighReach Learning — retail educational material publisher/manufacturer
- Cookie Jar EntertainmentCookie Jar EntertainmentThe Cookie Jar Group is an American and Canadian producer of children’s entertainment, consumer products and educational materials...
- DIC EntertainmentDiC EntertainmentDIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...
(to merge in late 2008)- KidsCoKidsCoKidsCo is an international children's entertainment brand founded by Canadian broadcaster Corus Entertainment's Nelvana Enterprises, American-based producer DIC Entertainment, and European broadcaster Sparrowhawk Media Group in April 2007. By the end of 2007, Sparrowhawk was purchased by media...
(33.3%) — children's television channel
- KidsCo
- DIC Entertainment
- Cookie Jar Education
- Faiveley Transport — railroad equipment manufacturer
- Give and Go Prepared Foods Corp. — Toronto wholesale bakery
- Golf Town — largest Canadian golf retailer
- Honsel International Technologies (partly owned since 2004) — auto part metal manufacturer
- Jostens
- MarketwireMarketwireMarketwire is a full-service newswire and communications workflow solutions company headquartered in Toronto, Canada with offices throughout Canada, the United States, South America, and Asia. Marketwire was founded in 1993 and incorporated in the U.S in 1999...
— press release firm - MAAX Inc. (partly owned since 2004) — bathtub and cabinet manufacturer
- Nelson Education (Nelson Canada) (OMERS is majority owner, but brand is treated as part of Cengage LearningCengage LearningCengage Learning is a publisher of print and digital information services for the academic, professional and library markets, and delivers customized learning solutions for colleges, universities, professors, students, libraries, government agencies, corporations and professionals around the...
) — education publisher - Q9 Networks (partly owned since 2001) — Internet infrastructure and datacenter operator
- SitelSitelSitel is a telemarketing and outsourcing business headquartered in Nashville, TN. It maintains over 140 call centers in 27 countries.Prior to its acquisition by ClientLogic, described below, it had 70 call centers in 25 countries and over 30,000 employees...
(formerly Client Logic) (9%) — outsourced customer care and back officeBack officeA back office is a part of most corporations where tasks dedicated to running the company itself takes place. The term "Back office" comes from the building layout of early companies where the front office would contain the sales and other customer-facing staff and the back office would be those...
operations - SunGard Data Systems Inc.
- TeraGo Networks Inc. — wireless broadband Internet service provider
- Trident Exploration Corp. — natural gasNatural gasNatural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
(coalbed methaneCoalbed methaneCoalbed methane or Coal Bed Methane, coalbed gas or coal mine methane is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, and other countries...
) exploration in the Western Canadian Sedimentary BasinWestern Canadian Sedimentary BasinThe Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin is a vast sedimentary basin underlying of Western Canada including southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories. It consists of a massive wedge of sedimentary rock... - Warner ChilcottWarner ChilcottWarner Chilcott is a pharmaceutical company based in Rockaway, New Jersey, USA. It has production and research facilities in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Larne, Northern Ireland, Dundalk, Ireland and Weiterstadt, Germany. It is primarily focused on two core therapeutic areas: women’s healthcare and...
(less than 5%) — pharmaceutical companyPharmaceutical companyThe pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies are allowed to deal in generic and/or brand medications and medical devices... - Xantrex (partly owned since 1999) — power inverter manufacturer
External links
- Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System Act, 2006 — Ontario government edition
- OMERS — main site
- Major Investments — lists investments, including bonds and major public companies
- OMERS Capital Partners — private equityPrivate equityPrivate equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
site, including private funds and directly funded companies