OMERS has teamed up with a Dutch pension fund in a venture capital program aimed at knowledge economy start-ups in both Canada and the Netherlands.
The Netherland’s Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP (ABP) and OMERS have launched INKEF Capital, a 15-year program intended to deploy €200 million in both countries over the first five years. An acronym for Investing in the Knowledge Economy of the Future, the capital invested will be aimed at providing stable returns for both pension funds as well as the development of Canadian and Dutch high-level knowledge economies.
According to a press release, INKEF Capital’s long term investment strategy is “especially suitable for pension funds” in that the strategy fits in with “both the long term characteristics of the pension funds’ liabilities and with the connected long term investment horizon used by them”.
Funding for the program will be split evenly between the pensions funds and is expected to total €100 million in the first five years.
The program is a bold step in an industry that has seen better days. According to data from the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, European venture capital firms have returned a mere 0.7% annually on average over five years, and -1.9% annually over 10 years.
The funds believe the program will be different from other venture capital firms due to the “long term investment horizon and active mentoring of the start-ups”.
To comment on this story, contact us.