OMERS CEO Revamps Leadership Structure
The OMERS pension plan is redrawing its leadership structure to create more direct reporting lines to chief executive officer Blake Hutcheson after investment chief Ralph Berg left the fund this week to take a new job.
Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System announced Thursday that it is giving expanded roles to Michael Hill, who will oversee the plan’s infrastructure and private equity divisions worldwide, and to Scott McIntosh, who takes on responsibility for the plan’s equities team.
OMERS will not name a new chief investment officer, and Mr. Hutcheson will take on duties from Mr. Berg, whose departure to take a new role at Singaporean state-owned fund Temasek Holdings Ltd. was announced in June.
Five senior executives will report directly to Mr. Hutcheson, giving him clear responsibility for the fund’s investing activities on a daily basis. Those other executives will also share some of the duties that Mr. Berg used to perform, Mr. Hutcheson said in an interview.
“I have executives that are ready, executives I wanted to deputize,” he said. “I also, frankly, wanted to get closer to the investment business where I can lean in, add value, use my own relationships, and really help influence outcomes more than I have been able to in recent years.”
The Toronto-based pension fund manager has $145.2-billion of assets, as of the end of 2025, and invests on behalf of nearly 665,000 Ontario public-service workers at school boards, transit systems, electrical utilities and emergency services, among other employers.
Mr. Hill already led OMERS’s infrastructure investing program, and adds oversight of private equity. The plan’s head of private equity, Alexander Fraser, will report to Mr. Hill. So will head of private capital Michael Block, whose role is expanding to include leadership of key relationships with investment partners, as well as certain investments that do not neatly fit into a single business line, such as OMERS’s stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors.
Mr. McIntosh, who leads global multiasset strategies, will now oversee the global equities team led by Kannan Venkataramani.
Kenton Bradbury, who leads total portfolio management, global credit head Kal Patel, and Oxford Properties CEO Eric Plesman are keeping their current roles and will report to Mr. Hutcheson.
OMERS earned a 6-per-cent return on its portfolio in 2025, and Mr. Hutcheson has said he is looking to add at least $10-billion in new investments in Canada to increase the plan’s domestic assets from 18 per cent to 25 per cent of the overall fund.
The CIO role had been part of OMERS’s top leadership team since 2018, when Satish Rai took on responsibility for several asset classes. Mr. Berg succeeded him in 2023.
But not all of Canada’s largest pension funds have CIOs.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board each have a CIO who reports to the CEO.
But British Columbia Investment Management Corp. CEO Gordon Fyfe also serves as CIO, and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has no investment chief under CEO Charles Emond.
In 2024, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan split its CIO job in two, naming Gillian Brown as investment chief for public and private investments, and putting Stephen McLennan in charge of asset allocation.
Earlier today, OMERS announced changes to its investment leadership structure:
OMERS today announced changes to its investment leadership structure. They include new leadership responsibilities for several senior executives and updated reporting relationships across a number of investment businesses.
As part of these changes, Michael Hill, Scott McIntosh, Kenton Bradbury, Kal Patel and Eric Plesman will report directly to OMERS President and CEO Blake Hutcheson.
“These changes will simplify decision-making and reporting lines, create new opportunities for growth for several executives, and position OMERS very well for the future,” said Mr. Hutcheson.
Michael Hill, who currently leads OMERS global infrastructure investing program, has been appointed Global Head of Infrastructure and Private Equity. In addition to continuing to lead the infrastructure business, Hill will assume oversight of private equity. His infrastructure leadership team and reporting structure remain unchanged.
Reporting to Hill, Alexander Fraser will continue to lead OMERS private equity business, including the firm's growing global co-investment activities.
Also reporting to Hill, Michael Block will take on an expanded mandate leading OMERS private capital investments. This includes deepening the Plan’s private funds investments and relationships and leading select investment opportunities that sit outside OMERS existing private market platforms.
Scott McIntosh has been appointed Global Head of Equities & Multi-Asset Strategies. In addition to his existing responsibilities overseeing Global Multi-Asset Strategies, McIntosh will oversee OMERS Global Equities platform.
Kannan Venkataramani will report to McIntosh and continue to lead the Global Equities business. The existing leadership teams within both Multi-Asset Strategies and Global Equities will continue to report through their current structures.
Kenton Bradbury, Kal Patel and Eric Plesman will continue to lead OMERS Total Portfolio Management, Global Credit, and Oxford Properties business units, respectively.
The changes are effective immediately.
I had a brief chat with OMERS CEO Blake Hutcheson earlier today to discuss the leadership changes.
I want to thank him for taking some time to discuss the leadership structure and also thank Don Peat for setting up the call.
Blake had warned me at the time of Ralph Berg's departure from the organization that he was going to reorganize leadership and make an announcement soon, so I wasn't surprised.
The timing of the announcement threw me off a bit, a day after Canada Day, but it's probably best to get it over with, so when troops come back from vacation, knowing what to expect.
I told him that Ralph Berg's departure allowed him to rethink the reporting lines, give Michael Hill more responsibility as he takes over Private Equity on top of Infrastructure, Eric Plesman will contiue reporting to him and a few others will now report directly to him instead of the CIO.
Blake replied:
Correct, that's exactly right, and there's one layer eliminated. We syndicate some of the CIO responsibilities to some other strong executives who have proven their bona fides, and and we we move forward with strength. As you know, our evolution at OMERS, we used to have multiple CIOs. We went to one for a period of time for the foreseeable future. I just think this is the best structure for us, and we feel good about it. People are excited about it, and we're looking forward, not back.
I asked Blake if Ralph Berg was just handling private markets and he clarified:
No, Ralph was technically the CIO of the business, not real estate, but overseeing the other aspects of the business.
I noted this is a more decentralized structure where he's giving managers closer to the action more responsibility.
He responded:
Exactly right, and frankly, it allows me to get a lot closer to the business and help improve and direct outcomes.
I asked Blake if there was a particular reason he put Michael Hill in charge of global private equity and whether it had to do with the transition that the portfolio is undergoing.
He responded:
No, I mean, Michael is a very able executive. He has proven himself, in short order, to be a terrific leader, and he happens to be living in New York, and the primary business of private equities in New York. So we have another executive to help Alexander Fraser and that team with the business. He was the logical choice, and it's deserving, and we know he'll add value to not only infrastructure but to private equity.
I agree, Michael Hill is a solid executive who will add value to their private equity portfolio. I note he came from CPP Investments where he also worked on private equity deals.
Blake confirmed this.
I asked him about Michael Block's role handling strategic fund relationships and he responded:
Funds both within private equity, but also strengthening our bonds to a lot of our fund relationships. We have big relationships with Brookfield, Blackstone, KKR and Fairfax. So more more of a consolidation of the OMERS's top of the house relationship, so we can do more with our, with our best customers and counterparties. He will also play a role in our expansion in Canada, and our desire to spend more in Canada. He's been working closely with me on things like MLSE, Xanadu, and some of these other Canadian-based assets that don't necessarily fit in the other real estate, PE or infrastructure portfolios. That is a growing piece of our business, that's also within his responsibilities.
I ended by asking him if he will be more hands-on going forward.
Blake responded:
You know me, Leo, I've never been hands-off, nor am I going to start now. No, this is simply an opportunity to elevate some others, syndicate some of the responsibilities, and yes, get closer to the business, and lean in, and try to really help drive outcomes.
That's the way I see it. At the end of the day, it's all about driving performance and outcomes.
Blake is the CEO, he thought this structure through very carefully.
Alright, let me wrap it up there and wish everyone at OMERS the best of luck in their new roles.
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