OMERS Hires CAAT’s Adam Buzanis to Lead its PE Funds Business

Layan Odeh of Bloomberg reports OMERS hires CAAT’s Buzanis to lead private equity funds business: 

Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System hired a longtime executive from CAAT Pension Plan to help build its private equity funds strategy as it makes such investing a more central part of its buyout business.

CAAT’s head of private markets, Adam Buzanis, will join Omers as head of funds. In that role, he’ll develop the external private equity funds strategy and advance efforts to ramp up co-investments, according to the pension plan.

The move is the latest change in Omers’ investment team over the past several weeks after the departure of chief investment officer Ralph Berg, who left to join Singapore’s Temasek. Earlier this month, the pension plan elevated Michael Hill to global head of infrastructure and private equity and gave Michael Block a wider mandate for private capital investments.

Omers has revamped its private equity unit in the past two years, halting direct buyout investments in Europe and shifting its focus to investing alongside partners and through external private equity managers.

Buzanis worked for CAAT for about seven years, running its private equity strategy before becoming head of private markets. He joins Omers on Aug. 3 and will report to Block.

“Omers has made meaningful progress building our funds program, and Adam’s arrival marks an important next step in that work,” Block said in a statement emailed to Bloomberg. “He brings deep experience across global private markets, strong expertise in fund investing and portfolio construction, and a broad network of manager relationships.” 

I wasn't going to blog today, and will keep this short and sweet.

Adam Buzanis was hired at OMERS for one reason: to bolster its private equity funds program, which is where the strategy is shifting.

He has a stellar reputation and was the Head of Private Markets at CAAT Pension Plan, where he oversaw the Plan’s global private markets platform, spanning private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate.

More specifically, he was responsible for overall strategy and portfolio construction and led a team that originates, executes, and actively manages investments across these asset classes, delivering long-term performance and diversification for the Plan.

He is a CFA charterholder and holds a Master of Finance from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University.

I wish him much success in this new and important role at OMERS.

I also want to dispel any rumours that he left CAAT Pension Plan because of the governance brouhaha that hit that organization.

He loved working at CAAT Pension Plan and it wasn't an easy decision to leave, but he had a better offer and will play a pivotal role in transforming the way OMERS invests in private equity funds.

It was a tough decision, but he made the right one and will add value at OMERS.

As far as CAAT Pension Plan, they can hire from within to replace him or go external.

There is a lot of talent out there and CEO/ CIO Kevin Fahey will hire the right person for this important job.

That's all I have to say on this subject. I typically do not cover these executive moves but think this is an important addition to OMERS PE.

I am sure OMERS will make a formal announcement on LinkedIn, and I will edit this comment when it does.

Below, the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast sat down with Brookfield Private Equity CEO Anuj Ranjan. They were live from Berlin at the marquee private equity conference, SuperReturn Berlin (June). 

Great discussion, take the time to listen to it.