OMERS Earns $8.2 billion in Net Investment Income in 2025

TORONTO, Feb. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OMERS, the defined benefit pension plan for Ontario’s broader municipal sector employees, earned a 2025 investment return of 6%, or $8.2 billion, net of expenses. Net assets grew from $138.2 billion at December 31, 2024 to $145.2 billion at December 31, 2025. The Plan’s smoothed funded status improved to 99%, from 98% in 2024, using a real discount rate of 3.70%. Over the past 10 years, OMERS has averaged an annual investment return of 7.1%, net of expenses, adding $73.9 billion to the Plan, and contributing significantly to improving the Plan’s funded status.

Steady progress in 2025

“OMERS performance in 2025 demonstrates the resilience of our plan amidst a turbulent market. Since becoming CEO, I have been proud to lead a team committed to delivering enduring value for our 665,000 members by maintaining a disciplined investment approach. Over the past five years, we have generated an average annual net return of 7.7%,” said Blake Hutcheson, OMERS President and CEO. “Our 2030 Strategy positions the Plan well for further success in the years ahead. We expect to have $200 billion in net assets by 2030, and will be more than 100% funded.”

OMERS is diversified by asset class and geography, and this broad asset base helps to insulate the Plan through the challenges that each market cycle brings. In any given year some asset classes will perform more strongly than others, depending on market and economic conditions.  

“Our portfolio served us well in 2025 generating steady performance against the backdrop of significant political and economic uncertainty, particularly around trade. Despite this, six out of our seven investment asset classes delivered positive returns, led by a third year of double-digit returns from public equities and supported by another strong year for private credit investments,” said Jonathan Simmons, OMERS Chief Financial and Strategy Officer. “We continue to navigate a persistently challenging private equity market.”

“We are pleased to see a recovery in our real estate portfolio, with good performance in office and retail, as the industry emerges from several difficult years,” remarked Hutcheson. “Volatile currency markets create challenges for many investors who invest abroad. We are certainly not alone in facing this issue, particularly as it relates to the U.S. dollar. Active decisions to hedge currencies protected 70 basis points of our return for the year. This helped to limit the foreign exchange impact on our results to negative 1.3% driven mainly by the strong decline in the value of the U.S. dollar."

Ready to Invest More in Canada

OMERS is well-positioned to invest across geographies of focus, including in Canada where we expect new opportunities to emerge.

“This is a pivotal time in Canada. As a nation, we have a significant opportunity to build a stronger and more resilient future, and OMERS wants to be part of that. We are a proudly Canadian pension plan with a deep history of investing in our home market. We like the advantage that our relationships and on-the-ground expertise offer,” said Mr. Hutcheson. “Any transactions we might undertake will have to meet the high bar we set for managing the Plan on behalf of our members, but we aspire for near-term opportunities in Canada that will support both our objectives and the country’s growth.” 

Building for the Future

Funded status is a key measure of the Plan’s long-term financial health.

“The improvement in OMERS smoothed funded status to 99% was attained while at the same time strengthening provisions to pay pensions by an additional $2.2 billion to reflect longer life expectancies,” said Simmons. “Canadians—including our members—are living longer and the Plan is ready to meet their retirement needs in the decades ahead.”

Our work continues to prioritize initiatives that safeguard future returns. OMERS is reporting a 65% reduction in its portfolio carbon emissions intensity relative to the 2019 baseline, and increased its green investments (as defined in the OMERS Climate Action Plan) to $26 billion.

Making an Impact

A recent study by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis found that OMERS 2025 activities in Ontario generated $15.3 billion in provincial GDP, supported more than 135,000 jobs, and positively impacted 1 in 11 households. Across our investments, pensions, and corporate teams, OMERS employees continue to look for ways to innovate and deliver on our pension promise with excellence.  

“Our members, who work to keep our communities healthy and safe, face a world that feels more complex every year. Our job is to provide a stable source of retirement income that helps bring them peace of mind,” said Hutcheson. “We have built a Plan that sees through cycles, periods of uncertainty and decades of change. I am proud of the way our teams have invested with conviction, provided excellent service to our members, and provided promised pensions, on time and as planned, for almost 65 years.” 

OMERS is highly rated across independent credit rating agencies, including ‘AAA’ ratings from S&P, Fitch, and DBRS.

Media Contact:
Don Peat
dpeat@omers.com
416.417.7385

About OMERS
OMERS is a jointly sponsored, defined benefit pension plan, with more than 1,000 participating employers ranging from large cities to local agencies, and 665,000 active, deferred and retired members. Our members include union and non-union employees of municipalities, school boards, local boards, transit systems, electrical utilities, emergency services and children’s aid societies across Ontario. OMERS teams work in Toronto, London, New York, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Singapore, Sydney and other major cities across North America and Europe – serving members and employers, and originating and managing a diversified portfolio of high-quality investments in government bonds, public and private credit, public and private equities, infrastructure and real estate.

Net Investment Returns for the years ended December 31

Investment Performance Highlights

Over the year ended December 31, 2025:

• Currency detracted 1.3% from our returns, particularly impacting public and private equity. The U.S. dollar depreciated against all other G7 countries in 2025, marking its worst annual performance in years, weakening almost 5% against the Canadian dollar over the year. Our active decisions to hedge our currency exposure protected 70 basis points of returns. This currency management strategy, combined with our diversification in the euro and British pound sterling, mitigated some of the negative U.S. dollar impact on the portfolio.
  
  
• Our ongoing strategy to allocate funds to fixed income contributed to our overall returns. Government bonds, public and private credit each delivered positive performance primarily due to interest income and a decline in bond yields.
  
• Public equities delivered double-digit performance from core large-cap holdings in information technology, communication services and financial sectors, with most other sectors contributing positively.
• Private equities continued to face a challenging market. Deal market activity was low and valuations continue to be impacted by slow earnings growth and headwinds within certain industry sectors.
• Infrastructure continues to deliver steady results. While the majority of our portfolio performed well, headwinds on select assets softened the asset class return.
• Real estate delivered a positive return after a series of challenging years for the industry. Results were supported by strong operating fundamentals, particularly in office and retail.
  
  

2025 Highlights
By the numbers

• 2025 investment return of 6%, or $8.2 billion, net of expenses
• $145.2 billion in net assets
• 10-year average annual net return of 7.1%
• 665,000 OMERS members
• 99% smoothed funded ratio
• 3.70% real discount rate
• $6.8 billion total pension benefits paid
• We are reporting a 65% reduction in the portfolio carbon emissions intensity, relative to 2019
• $26 billion in green investments (as defined in the OMERS Climate Action Plan)
• 97% OMERS member service satisfaction
• 99% Employer satisfaction
• 93% of employees are proud to work for OMERS and Oxford (+5 points above best-in-class)
  
  

Transactions in 2025

OMERS remains focused on deploying capital in line with our target asset mix. We are a disciplined investor in high-quality assets that meet the Plan’s risk and return requirements. Highlights of transactions made in 2025:

• Announced the acquisition of a Manchester industrial estate from Network Space Developments. This transaction was the first for the newly formed Oxford Properties and AustralianSuper joint venture.  
• Completed offerings of EUR 1 billion, 10-year term note at a yield of 3.253% and USD 1 billion, 5-year term note at a yield of 4.434%.  
• Participated in the Series B financing round for Float Financial, a finance platform for Canadian businesses. 
• Acquired full ownership of a high-quality, $1.5 billion Western Canada office portfolio.
• Announced a transformative co-investment of over $200 million to retrofit the existing office buildings at Canada Square in midtown Toronto.
• Broke ground on the first major purpose-built housing project in Scarborough in over a generation. The development will consist of three residential towers of 1300 units with the aim of delivering critically needed housing, including a 21% allocation for affordable housing.
• Completed Canada’s largest co-op housing renewal project in Vancouver.  
• Participated in a US$275-million private investment supporting Xanadu Quantum Technologies, a Toronto-based leader in photonic quantum computing.  
• Completed the inaugural senior unsecured bond issuance for BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust (BGIT), the holding company for OMERS investment in Bruce Power. The offering totaled C$1.5 billion.
• Secured €770 million in new debt facilities at Borealis Spain Parent B.V., the holding company for OMERS ~25% stake in Exolum.
  
  

We rotate capital out of assets with the same level of discipline with which we invest. This activity generates capital, which we deploy into future investment opportunities that align to our strategy. Highlights of realizations announced or completed in 2025: 

• Completed the sale of a 9.995 per cent stake in Australian electricity network firm Transgrid to the Future Fund Board of Guardians.  
• Sold our stake in London City Airport.
• Announced the sale of CBI Health LP’s home care business to Paramed Inc – the closing of the transaction is expected to be completed in Q1 2026.
  
  

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at 

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7e23ec4f-be6c-407c-a8df-b46e3b8ee389

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8c6f91fd-fdf0-4b3f-9123-a01facc57c38

Asset Mix

As at December 31, 2025

Asset by Geography

As at December 31, 2025

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.