OMERS Names a New Global Head of PE; BCI Wins PE 2024 LP of the Year
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System hired Alexander Fraser, a former partner of a Temasek-backed fund, as the global head of its private equity arm.
Fraser will be based in New York and will report to the pension fund’s chief investment officer Ralph Berg, according to a statement Thursday.
“Alexander is a growth-focused leader, with deep experience in leading strong teams and building businesses, having had much success with top global firms,” Berg said. Fraser succeeds Michael Graham, who retired earlier this year. He starts March 17.
Omers has implemented some changes to its investment strategy in private equity, which manages about C$27.5 billion ($19.1 billion) in assets. Last year, the Toronto-based fund halted direct private equity investments in Europe and opted to shift its exposure by investing alongside partners and third-party managers. The pension also launched a global funds strategy within a new group called Private Capital.
Fraser joins from 65 Equity Partners, where he was a founding partner of a multibillion-dollar private equity initiative and the US head of investing. The $3.3 billion middle-market investor was established by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte. in 2021. Prior to that, Fraser was a partner at European private equity manager Bridgepoint Group Plc and co-led technology investments.
Last week, OMERS announced that Alexander Fraser was appointed to lead OMERS Private Equity:
Toronto, March 13 – OMERS today announced the appointment of Alexander Fraser as Executive Vice President & Global Head of Private Equity. Alexander will join OMERS on March 17, succeeding Michael Graham, who retired earlier this year. He will be based in New York and will report to Chief Investment Officer Ralph Berg.Big news, OMERS hired a top private equity expert to run OMERS Private Equity.
Alexander is a highly respected investment professional and leader with decades of diversified, global investment experience. At OMERS he will have accountability and oversight for our global Private Equity business, which includes our Buyout and Private Capital groups covering various sectors and strategies. OMERS Private Equity manages approximately C$27.5 billion in assets and has achieved a 10-year average net return of 9.2% through the end of 2024.
“Alexander is a growth-focused leader, with deep experience in leading strong teams and building businesses, having had much success with top global firms," said Ralph Berg, Chief Investment Officer. “This is an exciting time for private equity, and the current investment landscape offers new and diverse opportunities for growth. Under Alexander’s leadership, I am confident we will continue to build on the strong foundation of our private equity business.”
Alexander joins OMERS from 65 Equity Partners US, where he was a founding partner of a multi-billion-dollar global private equity initiative sponsored by Temasek. Previously, he was a Partner at Bridgepoint, a European PE firm, where he launched the firm’s San Francisco office, co-led technology investments, and managed relationships with select U.S.-based LPs. Alexander also spent approximately 16 years at GI Partners, a private investment firm in San Francisco, where he held various investment roles.
“I am excited to join OMERS Private Equity and work alongside a talented team of global investment professionals," said Alexander Fraser. "I look forward to leveraging our collective expertise to drive growth, build lasting partnerships, and create long-term value for our portfolio companies while delivering results for nearly 640,000 OMERS members.”
Based out of New York, Alexander Fraser will be reporting to CIO Ralph Berg who has refocused the investment programs to focus on returns (performance), risk (volatility) and liquidity.
Fraser has tremendous experience at 65 Equity Partners where he was a founding partner of a multi-billion-dollar global private equity initiative sponsored by Temasek.
Prior to that, he was a partner at European private equity manager Bridgepoint Group and co-led technology investments.
He's obviously not coming to OMERS just for the money as he is very successful in his own right prior to joining the organization.
Now, there have been a lot of changes at OMERS Private Equity since it announced in September last year that it stopped making direct private equity investments in Europe.
Michael Graham stepped down as Head of Private Equity a couple of weeks ago but remains a senior advisor and as far as I can tell, Eric Haley is still the Head of Private Equity, Buyout and is still Head of Private Capital overseeing OMERS Ventures, Growth, Green Tech, Life Sciences, European and Asia-Pacific private equity, as well as the development and execution of the new global funds strategy.
Both of them will now report to Alexander Fraser.
What will Fraser's strategy be at OMERS Private Equity? I have no idea but my guess is there will be elements from the investment strategy at 65 Equity Partners:
The focus will be global mid-market but as a large LP who also manages third party assets, OMERS Private Equity will be a doing a lot more fund investments, especially in Europe and Asia, that's clear.
Alright, congratulations to Alexander Fraser who succeeds Michael Graham, a top-notch professional at OMERS.
In other news, BCI announced last week that its private equity group won limited partner of the year 2024 at PEI awards:
Victoria, British Columbia – The Private Equity group of British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) was recently named Limited Partner of the Year in the Americas by Private Equity International (PEI). The annual PEI Awards celebrate the best in class across firms, funds, deals, exits and other investment categories.
“We are pleased to have been selected by PEI as LP of the Year and the recognition of the strong returns and value creation we’ve generated across our growing portfolio for our clients,” said Jim Pittman, Executive VP & Global Head, Private Equity. “Our performance has been led by both our strategic pivot towards more direct investing as well as the global growth of our program and portfolio, led by our team in Victoria, New York, and London.”
Driving the strong performance is BCI Private Equity’s platform and strategy, focusing on direct investing, continuing to back leading GPs, driving value creation within the portfolio, and attracting world-class talent. Last year, BCI announced the sale of one of its first direct investments, Hayfin Capital Management, to Arctos Partners, as well as the sale of Ziply Fiber, of which BCI was a significant investor in the consortium led by Searchlight Capital Partners, to Bell Canada.
The award follows the strong momentum of BCI’s PE program, which has broadened its global presence through the expansion of its investment team in New York and London, as well as its growing portfolio of companies and fund partners.
To learn more, please visit: https://www.privateequityinternational.com/pei-awards-2024-americas-winners/
Jim Pittman and his team are doing an excellent job managing BCI's private equity portfolio, using secondaries market to manage liquidity and exiting investments at the right time to capitalize on big gains. Congratulations to them although I take all these industry awards with a grain of salt.
In other news, the Four Pillars Society, a not-for-profit organization representing 325 First Nations across Canada, has selected BCI as an investment manager to support its nationwide mandate. You can read the press release here.
BCI also appointed Tom Vincent to its Board on February 14, 2025. The Minister of Finance for British Columbia has appointed him for a three-year term:
Tom succeeds Sheila Taylor, who completed her term as director on December 31, 2024. Sheila was first appointed to the Board in 2018 and served as chair of the Human Resources Committee and Governance Committee.
“We thank Sheila for her many contributions to BCI, including her work as chair of our Human Resources and Governance Committee. Sheila’s insights and leadership were crucial to the Board’s success. We wish her the very best in her future endeavors,” added Peter.
Tom has served in several key roles, including member and Chair of the Public Service Pension Plan Board; Chair of the Interplan Investment Committee for the Public Service, Teachers’, and College pension plans; member of the Teachers’ Pension Board; and member of the Municipal Pension Board. He has also been the Government Partner representative to these plans and chaired the Public Service Pension Plan Benefits Committee. His prior roles include Chair of the British Columbia Medical Services Commission; Vice President of the Public Sector Employers’ Council Secretariat; Assistant Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Advanced Education; Executive Financial Officer for the Ministries of Education, Advanced Education, and Labour; and Executive Director in BC’s Treasury Board Staff.
BCI’s Board is structured in accordance with the Public Sector Pension Plans Act. BCI’s four largest pension plan clients each appoint a member from their Board of Trustees, with the Minister of Finance appointing the Chair and two directors to comprise a seven-member Board.
Alright, let me wrap it up there.
Below, Joseph Bae, Co-CEO, KKR discusses what's driving private equity returns and where its finding value across the market with Bloomberg's Sonali Basak at Bloomberg Invest.
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