OMERS, Japan pension funds target $20b infrastructure vehicle

OMERS has so far contributed $5 billion, with Japan's Pension Fund Association and Mitsubishi's Infrastructure Investment Partners fund each putting in $1.25 billion. The fund is known as the Global Strategic Investment Alliance (GSIA).

"We're very pleased to be partnering with these sophisticated investors in pursuit of high-quality, large infrastructure investments that we can own over the long term," Jacques Demers, president and CEO of OMERS, said in a statement. "Based upon the feedback in the market, we anticipate welcoming a number of other forward-thinking pension plans and other long-term institutional investors from around the world into the GSIA over the next 12 to 18 months, thereby bringing significant additional (i.e. billion dollar plus) commitments to the program."

All investments will be originated and managed by Borealis Infrastructure, OMERS' infrastructure investment arm. Administrative support services will be provided by Rosewater Global, an OMERS affiliate.

The fund is notable in that it bypasses the traditional asset manager approach, whereby funds are sponsored by the likes of private equity firms or investment banks. In this sense it represents another move by LPs to become more proactive investors. Canada's pension funds are widely seen as being at the forefront. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has made investments in infrastructure, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has committed capital directly to corporate assets rather than go through a third-party fund manager.

OMERS, which has more than $55.1 billion in assets under management, has made a number of infrastructure investments in North America and Europe via Borealis.

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• Topics
• North America
• North Asia
• Infrastructure
• Infrastructure
• Japan
• Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Scheme
• Canada
• Infrastructure